Show me a hero, and I'll write you a tragedy.
— F. Scott Fitzgerald
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- Common Rules for Silent Letters
- 1. Silent 'B' (after M or before T)
- 2. Silent 'C' (in 'SC' combination)
- 3. Silent 'D' (in 'DG' blends, etc.)
- 4. Silent 'E' (at the end, makes vowel long)
- 5. Silent 'G' (before 'N')
- 6. Silent 'GH' (often silent)
- 7. Silent 'H' (after W or at beginning)
- 8. Silent 'K' (before N)
- 9. Silent 'L' (before F, V, K, M, etc.)
- 10. Silent 'P' (at start of PN, PS, PT)
- 11. Silent 'S'
- 12. Silent 'T' (in STEN, STLE, FTEN)
- 13. Silent 'U' (after G and before a vowel)
- 14. Silent 'W' (before R or in some words)
Common Rules for Silent Letters
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Silent ‘B’
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Rule: ‘B’ is usually silent when it comes after ‘M’ at the end of a word (e.g., thumb) or before ‘T’ (e.g., debt).
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Silent ‘C’
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Rule: ‘C’ is usually silent in the combination ‘SC’ (e.g., muscle, scene).
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Silent ‘D’
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Rule: ‘D’ is often silent in common consonant blends like ‘DG’ (e.g., budget, judge – the ‘d’ blends into the ‘g’ sound).
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Silent ‘E’
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Rule: This is the most common silent letter. A silent ‘E’ at the end of a word usually makes the preceding vowel “say its name” (long vowel sound), but the ‘e’ itself is silent (e.g., hop vs. hope).
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Silent ‘G’
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Rule: ‘G’ is often silent when it comes before ‘N’ (e.g., gnome, sign).
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Silent ‘GH’
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Rule: ‘GH’ is almost always silent (e.g., night, though). (Note: It can sound like ‘F’ in words like laugh or rough).
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Silent ‘H’
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Rule: ‘H’ is silent in many words, especially after ‘W’ (e.g., what, why) and at the beginning of many words (e.g., hour, honest).
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Silent ‘K’
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Rule: ‘K’ is always silent when it comes before ‘N’ at the start of a word (e.g., knee, know).
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Silent ‘L’
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Rule: ‘L’ is often silent before ‘F’, ‘V’, ‘K’, ‘M’, and in ‘ALK’, ‘OLK’, ‘ALM’, ‘OLM’ combinations (e.g., calf, talk, calm).
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Silent ‘P’
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Rule: ‘P’ is silent at the beginning of many words starting with ‘PN’, ‘PS’, or ‘PT’ (e.g., pneumonia, psychology).
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Silent ‘S’
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Rule: ‘S’ is silent in a few words, most commonly in “island” and “aisle.”
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Silent ‘T’
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Rule: ‘T’ is silent in common words and blends like ‘STEN’, ‘STLE’, and ‘FTEN’ (e.g., listen, castle, often*).
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Silent ‘U’
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Rule: ‘U’ is silent when it comes after ‘G’ and before a vowel (e.g., guitar, guess) and in the combination ‘GU’ (e.g., guard).
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Silent ‘W’
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Rule: ‘W’ is silent at the beginning of a word before ‘R’ (e.g., write, wrong) and in a few other words (e.g., answer, sword).
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Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.
Winston Churchill
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