Words with silent (mute) letters – Why English spelling is difficult

July 26, 2012 | Posted by profanglais

All of the following words have a silent letter:

k is silent in know, knee, knife, knit knuckle
P is silent in psychology, psychiatrist, pneumonia and pneumatic
W is silent in wrap, wrinkle, wrath, wrist, write
L is silent is would, could, should, half, calf
S is silent in isle, aisle, island (the first two are homophones, but do not mean the same thing)
B is silent in debt and doubt. It’s also silent in plumber, bomb and lamb, but is pronounced in crumble (because there is a consonant after it)
T is silent in castle, listen, soften, and often (depending on where you come from. I sometimes pronounce the t in often)