English spelling is a historical record, not a pronunciation guide. Many silent letters were pronounced five hundred years ago and simply stayed in the spelling.
Silent letter patterns
- kn- — the k is silent: know, knife, knee, knock
- wr- — the w is silent: write, wrong, wrist
- -mb — the b is silent: climb, thumb, comb, bomb
- -gh — often silent: though, through, daughter, light
- ps- — the p is silent: psychology, psychiatrist
- -stle — the t is silent: castle, whistle, listen
Words commonly mispronounced
- Wednesday → "WENZ-day" (two syllables)
- comfortable → "KUMF-tuh-bul" (three, not four)
- vegetable → "VEJ-tuh-bul"
- business → "BIZ-nis" (two syllables)
- colonel → "KER-nul"
- receipt → "ri-SEET" (silent p)
- iron → "EYE-urn"
- determine → "di-TER-min", not "-mine"
The -ough problem
Seven different pronunciations from one spelling:
- through → "throo"
- though → "thoh"
- thought → "thawt"
- tough → "tuf"
- cough → "kof"
- bough → "bow"
- thorough → "THUH-ruh"
There is no rule. These are memorised individually, by everyone, including native speakers as children.
What to do
Check pronunciation the moment you learn a word, not after you have been saying it wrongly for two years. Most online dictionaries have an audio button, and using it takes three seconds.
If you learned a word by reading it, assume you may be saying it wrong until you have heard it.
