Spelling
In this concept, the students will learn about words with silent letters in the English vocabulary. As there are many words that are difficult words to spell with silent letters , this chapter will help the students with the concept of pronunciation words with silent letters. They will find resourceful insights by reading the definition, rules and common mistakes.
In this learning concept, the students will learn:
- To understand some silent letters in English rules.
- To identify words with the letter ‘h’ that remains silent.
Each concept is explained to class 2 students using examples, illustrations, and concept maps. After you go through a concept, assess your learning by solving the two printable worksheets given at the end of the page.
Download the words with silent letters worksheets pdf and check your answers with the worksheet solutions for the concept Silent Letter Words provided in PDF format.
Definition
- In the English Language, a silent letter refers to a letter or combination of letters that is not pronounced in a word.
- There are many words that have silent letters. For example, Castle (silent letter ‘t’), Christmas (silent letter ‘t’), School (silent letter ‘h’).
Examples:
- In the word, ‘scissors’, the ‘c’ is silent. You don’t get to hear the pronunciation of the ‘letter c’.
- In the word, ‘bridge’, the ‘letter d’ is silent here. Thus, you don’t get to hear the pronunciation of the letter d.
Silent Letters in English Rules
The alphabet ‘B’ is silent when a word has an ‘M’ after it.
Examples:
In both the words, ‘B’ is silent.
Other Silent letters
For some words like ‘ghost’ and ‘honest’, the ‘letter h’ tends to remain silent. Don’t pronounce the ‘h’ while saying the words. Other common words that fall into this category are ‘hour’, ‘what’ etc.
Common Mistakes
Silent letters can be confused with similar sound words. The pronunciation of these words slightly varies as it stretches the sound of the repeated letter.
For example, in/inn; be/bee.
