Words with Silent Letters
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Basics on the topic Words with Silent Letters
Join Dee and Kala and learn all about silent letters.
Transcript Words with Silent Letters
It’s nap time and Dee is very tired. But, Kala is reading aloud. "Don't worry, Dee! I will be very quiet, I'll only read words with silent letters." "I don't think it works that way." Let's help explain words with silent letters to Kala. We know that letters make sounds and that letters can change their sounds when they are partnered with other letters in a word. But sometimes, when two letters are paired together in a special order, one of those letters stays silent! We still need both letters to spell the word correctly, but we do not hear one of them when it is pronounced, like in the word write. This can help us to see the difference between words that sound the same but are spelt differently and mean different things. Silent letters can be found in the beginning, middle and end of words. But, the pairs we will learn about today are mostly found at the beginning and end of words. Let's start with W R as in wrist. The W at the beginning is silent. We only hear the letters R I S T, but we write it W R I S T. The next pair is R H as in rhino. The H in the second spot is silent. We only hear the letters R I N O, but we write R H I N O. Another silent letter pair is M B like in the word lamb where the B at the end is silent! The only letters we hear are L A M. But, we still write the letter B at the end of the word. Next is the pair G N as in gnat. In this pair, the letter G doesn't make a sound. We only pronounce the letters N A T. But, we still must write the letter G first when we spell the word. K N is a silent letter pair as well. We see it in a word like knit. We don't hear the K at the beginning, we only say the letters N I T but we spell it with the K. M N is another silent letter pair. Let's look at the word autumn. We do not hear the letter N at the end when we say it. But we can see that it is there when we write it. Finally, there is the pair G H as in ghost. The letter H is silent here. We only pronounce the letters G O S T, even though H is written in the second spot. Now that we know about the silent letters, let's try to spot them in some examples. Here is the word climb. Which letter is silent? The letter B is silent here. It is part of the pair M B. Here is the next word, sign. Which letter is silent? The letter G is silent. It is part of the pair G N. Today we learnt about these silent letter pairs. When we see them in a word, one is silent, but we still need both letters to spell the word correctly. "All of that learning made me tired! I need a nap!" "Really?! I found it positively energising. I think I'll stay up to learn more!"
Words with Silent Letters exercise
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Which letters are silent?
HintsThink about which letter you cannot hear in words with these letter pairs.
Here we can see pictures of the words.
Say the names out loud, which letter sound do you not hear?
Solution- In rhino, the h is silent.
- In gnome, the g is silent.
- In knee, the k is silent.
- In wrong, the w is silent.
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Can you find the silent letter pairs?
HintsCan you think of a word that has each letter pair in it?
For example, the word small starts with the letters sm. We hear both the s and the m so this is not a silent letter pair.
Saying the word you think of out loud can help you work out if there are any silent letters in it.
If you say a word out loud that has a letter pair from above, but you can only hear one of the letters, that means it is a silent letter pair.
For example, write starts with the letters wr. In this word, you can only hear the letters r, i, t and e. You cannot hear the letter w. This means wr is a silent letter pair.
Hear is a list of words using the letter pairs above:
- gnome
- ghost
- track
- stop
- autumn
- knee
- small
- plan
- write
- lamb
SolutionAbove shows all the silent letter pairs in yellow.
- In the pair gn, the letter g doesn't make a sound, like in the word gnome.
- In the pair kn, the letter k doesn't make a sound, like in the word knee.
- In the pair wr, the letter w doesn't make a sound, like in the word write.
- In the pair gh, the letter h doesn't make a sound, like in the word ghost.
- In the pair mn, the letter n doesn't make a sound, like in the word autumn.
- In the pair mb, the letter b doesn't make a sound, like in the word lamb.
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What word is it?
HintsHere we can see some silent letter pairs. Think about the sounds these pairs make and which words could contain one of these pairs.
Three words have silent letters in.
One of the words has a silent k.
One of the words has a silent n.
One of the words has a silent w.
SolutionWe do not hear the letter sound n when we say the word autumn. mn is a silent word pair.
We do not hear the letter sound k when we say the word knit. kn is a silent word pair.
We do not hear the letter sound w when we say the word wrist. wr is a silent word pair.
The word rice does not have any silent letters in it.
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Which words have a silent letter in them?
HintsRead each word carefully out loud.
Can you find any of the silent letter pairs you have learnt about?
This story has the silent letter pair lk.
In the words chalk and talk you do not pronounce the letter l.
Can you find a word that uses this silent letter pair lk in the story?
There are three words to highlight.
The silent letter pairs used in these words are:
- kn
- lk
- mb
SolutionKnock has the silent letter pair kn.
We don't hear the letter sound k at the beginning of the word.Walks has the silent letter pair lk.
We don't hear the letter sound l in the word.Lamb has the silent letter pair mb.
We don't hear the letter sound b in the word. -
Which letter is silent?
HintsLook at the word carefully, do you see any silent letter pairs in the word?
Read the word out loud, which letter sound do you ** not hear**?
mb is a silent letter pair.
Which letter, m or b, do you hear when you say the word out loud?
Which letter is silent?
SolutionThe letter b is a silent letter in the word crumb.
When you say crumb out loud, you only hear the sounds c, r, u and m. But we still must write the letter b at the end when we spell the word.
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What is the missing silent letter?
HintsLook at each picture carefully, what is it?
Now look at the letters next to the missing letter, can you think of what silent letter pair they might make?
Which letter could you add to each word in order to make a silent letter pair?
SolutionThe image above shows the four words spelled correctly.
Sign has the silent letter pair gn.
We don't hear the letter sound g in the word.Comb has the silent letter pair mb.
We don't hear the letter sound b in the word.Knife has the silent letter pair kn.
We don't hear the letter sound k in the word.Wrinkle has the silent letter pair wr.
We don't hear the letter sound w in the word.
