Silent letters

[rachid.tabi]

Silent letters
There is no clear way to know about all the silent letters in English. But is it a hopeless case? Well, the best we can do is to offer the following list of some silent letters:

• Mb at the end of a word (silent b), e.g. comb, lamb, climb.
• Sc at the beginning of a word followed by 'e' or 'i', (silent c), e.g. scene, scent, science, scissors (except for the word 'sceptic' and its derivations!).
• Kn (silent k), e.g. knife, knock, know.
• Mn at the end of a word (silent n), e.g. damn, autumn, column
• Ps at the beginning of a word (silent p), e.g. psalm, psychiatry, psychology
• Ght (silent gh), e.g. night, ought, taught
• Gn at the beginning of a word (silent g), e.g. gnome, gnaw, gnu
• Bt (silent b), e.g. debt, doubtful, subtle (but not in some words, e.g. 'obtain', 'unobtrusive'!)

The letter H is silent in the following situations:

• At the end of word preceded by a vowel, e.g. cheetah, Sarah, messiah;
• Between two vowels, e.g. annihilate, vehement, vehicle
• After the letter 'r', e.g. rhyme, rhubarb, rhythm

After the letters 'ex', e.g. exhausting, exhibition, exhort