Silent Letters - k, b, u, h, w, c, g

Silent Letters
Silent letters are letters that you can’t hear when you say the word, but they are there when you write the word. Learn about the silent letters k, b, u, h, w, c, and g.

The following diagram shows a list of silent letter words for the silent letters: k, b, u, t, h. Scroll down the page for more examples and explanations when saying words with silent letters.

Common Silent Letters and Examples
Silent B:
Often after ’m’ at the end of a word: climb, comb, dumb, lamb, thumb, tomb, numb.
Before ’t’: debt, doubt, subtle.

Silent C:
In ‘sc’ combinations: science, scissors, ascend, muscle, scene.

Silent D:
In ‘dg’ combinations: bridge, edge, hedge, ledger.
In specific words: handsome, handkerchief, Wednesday.

Silent E:
Most commonly at the end of words, often indicating a long vowel sound: make, home, hide, give.
In specific words: vegetable.

Silent G:
Before ’n’: design, align, foreign, sign, gnome, gnaw.

Silent GH:
After a vowel: high, light, night, though, through.
Sometimes pronounced like ‘f’: cough, enough, laugh, rough, tough.

Silent H:
After ‘w’: what, when, where, while, white.
At the beginning of some words (often of French origin): honest, hour, honor, heir.
After ‘c’, ‘g’, or ‘r’: chaos, night, rhythm.

Silent K:
Before ’n’ at the beginning of a word: knee, knife, know, knock, knight, knot.

Silent L:
After ‘a’, ‘o’, or ‘u’: calm, half, salmon, folk, would, should, could.

Silent N:
After ’m’ at the end of a word: autumn, column, damn, hymn, solemn.

Silent P:
At the beginning of words, especially before ’s’, ’t’, or ’n’ (often of Greek origin): psychology, pneumonia, pseudonym, pterodactyl, receipt.

Silent S:
Before ’l’: island, aisle, isle.

Silent T:
In words ending in ‘-sten’ or ‘-stle’: fasten, listen, castle, whistle. In other common words: Christmas, often, ballet, gourmet.

Silent U:
After ‘g’ and before a vowel: guess, guide, guitar, guard.

Silent W:
Before ‘r’ at the beginning of a word: wrong, write, wrap, wrestle. In some specific words: answer, two, sword.

Learn to Read
Silent Letters - k, b, u, h

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Silent Letters for Kids
h, k, w, b

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silent b - Phonics - lamb, limb, climb

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Silent c words - Phonics - scene, science, muscle

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Silent g - Phonics - sign, gnome, gnat

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