Glossary · Spelling rules and patterns
What are silent letters?
Definition
Silent letters are letters in a spelling that don't spell a sound of their own, such as the k in knee, the w in wrap and the b in lamb.
Most silent letters were pronounced once. Knight began with /k/ in Old English, and the gh spelled a sound too. The spelling stayed while the speech changed, which is why modern English has kn, wr, gn, mb and others.
For teaching, treat them as part of a grapheme. Kn is one grapheme for /n/, wr one grapheme for /r/, mb one grapheme for /m/ at the end of a word. Thinking of the letter as part of a team is clearer than calling it silent.
Some silent letters connect to related words. The g in sign is heard in signal; the b in bomb is heard in bombard. Those links make spelling easier to remember.
In a lesson
Show sign and signal side by side. Ask the student to read both and listen for the g. Then try bomb and bombard. The silent letter in one word is heard in the other.
Examples
Each word with its spelling units, one per sound.
- wrapwr·a·p
- lambl·a·mb
- signs·i·gn
- signals·i·g·n·a·l
Words come from our lexicon, checked against a pronouncing dictionary. Words a student sees in our assessments are left out.
Why does this matter for the record?
Silent-letter spellings are low frequency. Track them as a small list, not as a pattern to rate every week.
Rate each skill as you teach it
Needs support, Developing, Secure. The rating schedules the review and builds the report.