![]() There are other words like this, which start with ‘kn’, but the ‘k’ is not pronounced. The word know starts with a silent letter: you say /nəʊ/ and not /knəʊ/. You should there was one in the question I just asked you! Right, so do you know any words which start with a silent letter? Silent Letters at the Beginning of a Word Share what you learn with a friend or family member.1. You can read through the list of words, mouse over a word to see silent letters highlighted, or click on the word to hear its pronunciation. For more practice with silent letters, explore Silent Letter Words online.Check out Silent Letters in English from A to Z to read and hear examples of silent letters throughout the alphabet. Sometimes it helps to read and hear the words to see which letters are silent. You're not alone! English can be a complicated language. Do you ever have trouble distinguishing which letters are pronounced and which are silent in words? Don't worry.How many names have silent letters? Based upon your informal research, do you believe names tend to have more or fewer silent letters than regular English words? Why? But if you're named Dwayne or Christopher, then the answer is definitely yes! Make a list of at least 10 names of friends and family members. Does your name have any silent letters in it? If you're named Fred or Kent, then the answer is no.Thanks to silent letters, you can know the difference between two, to, and too!Īre you ready to have some fun with words? Be sure to check out the following activities with a friend or family member: For example, silent letters help to distinguish between homophones (words with the same sound but different spellings and meanings) in writing. While people trying to learn English may find silent letters frustrating, they can be useful. In English, however, their spellings are retained while their pronunciations change, resulting in silent letters. In Scandinavian countries, these letters are pronounced. Knife, and many other words with a silent "k" or "g" at the beginning (such as gnaw and knee), are Viking words. Yet, it has a "k" at the start and an "e" at the end. Today, experts estimate that approximately 60% of English words have silent letters.įor example, the word " knife" could be spelled "nif" if you only used the letters that made sounds. Since their spellings were fixed, some letters became silent when pronounced in English. Often these new words didn't follow English rules of grammar. However, during the 15 th century, many words from other languages, such as Latin and French, were added to the English language. Historians believe that early on English had very few silent letters. With so many sounds and not enough letters, it's even more curious that more than half of the letters in the alphabet are silent at least part of the time. Many of those letters have more than one sound, and combinations of letters are often used to create other sounds. Unfortunately, the English language has about 45 sounds and only 26 letters. Some people think it would be ideal if a language had one letter for every sound. Why do so many words contain letters that aren't pronounced? No one can ever spell it.Ĭan you sympathize with the pterodactyl? Silent letters make the English language a bit frustrating. Rex: Say what? Why would you put a "P" at the front and not pronounce it? ![]() Tex: Actually, pterodactyl starts with a "P"…but the "P" is silent. Rex: Cool! We're both species of reptiles that start with a "T"! ![]() We were wandering through an old part of the Wonderopolis forest the other day when we overheard an interesting conversation between two ancient reptiles:
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