Avoid Pronunciation Mistakes: Common Words with Silent Letters

Spelling in English is not phonetic, meaning that the letters used to spell words don’t always make the same sounds. This is part of what makes English pronunciation tricky. You can’t just look at a word and know for sure how to say it.

And then you throw in the fact that English has silent letters, letters that appear in words but have NO IMPACT on how they’re said, and things start to get complicated.

So in this lesson we’ll talk about 20 common words with silent letters that you may be mispronouncing.

Sound good?

Let’s dive in…

Practice words and sentences used in this lesson:

1. Receipt
   Can I get a receipt for that?
2. Salmon
   I’ll try the blackened salmon.
3. Muscle
   My muscles are sore today.
4. Asthma
   I think she has asthma.
5. Honest
   You should be honest about it.
6. Hour
   It usually takes about an hour.
7. Subtle
   That’s not very subtle.
8. Doubt
   I have no doubt you’ll succeed.
9. Debt
   We try to avoid debt as much as possible.
10. Edge
    I’ve been on edge all day.
11. Handsome
    He’s extremely handsome.
12. Sandwich
    I love a good grilled cheese sandwich.
13. Wednesday
    Does next Wednesday work for you?
14. Echo
    Is there an echo in here?
15. could/would/should
    I would if I could but I don’t think I should.
16. Half
    I’m only working half a day today.
    Can I have half your sandwich?
17. Walk
    I walk every morning before work.
18. 18. Raspberry
    The raspberry truffles are amazing!
19. Aisle
    Keep your bags out of the aisle.
20. Island
    It’s a gorgeous little island off the coast of Florida.