Silent letters are letters that appear in words but make no sound when pronounced. Examples include the b in "climb" and the k in "knife". Silent letters help distinguish similar words, differentiate short and long vowel sounds, tell soft consonants from hard ones, and connect words with the same root. Their inclusion has purposes related to pronunciation, spelling, and distinguishing word forms and meanings.

2. WHAT ARE 'SILENT LETTERS'?
A silent letter is a
letter that appears
in a particular
word, but does not
correspond to any
sound in the word's
pronunciation.

3. Silent B
/klaım/
/krʌm/
/dʌm/
/kəʊm/

4. /`hænkərʧı:f/
/`wenzdeı/
/ˈsænwɪdʒ/
ɡrænmʌðə/
/draıv/
/geıv/
/ˈraɪt/
/saɪt/

5. /`forən/
/saɪn/
/feɪn/
/ɵot/
/ɵru:/
/laɪt/
/maɪt/

6. /weə/
/ˈweðə/
/waɪ/
/naıf/
/nı:/
/nəʊ/
/nɒk/

8. These omissions have a motive and a cause
• Distinguish very similar words - whole of hole,
plumb plum, hour of our, etc.
• To differentiate vowels with short vowel sounds with
long sounds - rid / ride (when the word ends with a
'e' mute, the previous vowel sounds as in the
alphabet and is long / rid / - / raid /)
• To differentiate soft consonants from hard ones -
guest / gest (/ gest / - / ʤest /)
• To connect different forms of the same root - resign /
resignation