Silent letters: knife, write, island and more

The rule

Some letters are written but not said: the k in knife, the w in write, the s in island, the first d in Wednesday (say WENZ-day), the b in climb and the h in hour.

Arabic is mostly written the way it is said, so learners read every letter: k-nife, is-land. English spelling often keeps letters that people stopped saying long ago, or never said.

Examples

In a conversation

A: When are we going to the island?

B: On Wednesday. The boat takes about an hour.

A: Great! Can we climb the hill there?

B: Sure. I'll write a list of things to bring.

Practice

Choose the best answer. The answers are at the end of the lesson.

1. Which word has a silent letter?
   • a) kind
   • b) know
   • c) kick
2. Which word has a silent letter?
   • a) thumb
   • b) number
   • c) member
3. The train leaves in ___ hour.
   • a) a
   • b) the
   • c) an

Tip

Learn the patterns: kn- at the start (know, knee), wr- at the start (write, wrong) and -mb at the end (climb, thumb). Because the h in hour is silent, we say an hour, not a hour.

Answers

1. b) know. The k in know is silent.
2. a) thumb. The final b in thumb is silent.
3. c) an. The h is silent, so hour starts with a vowel sound: an.

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