The English language is full of words that have silent letters. Silent letters are ones that appear in words but are not sounded when the word is spoken. Although some silent letters are valid, such as the silent “K” in “Knife”, it is sometimes easy to make mistakes with them. Here are 10 of the most common errors that people make when it comes to silent letters in English.
The first common mistake is to confuse “L” and “R” in words. For example, the words “alight” and “aright” both have silent “L” and “R”, but they mean different things. “Alight” means “to light” and “aright” means “correct”.
The second mistake is to use the wrong silent letter in words when there’s a choice. For instance, “isle” and “aisle” are two similar words with different letters. The “L” in “isle” is silent, while the “S” in “aisle” is silent.
The third error to watch out for is the use of a “B” when a “P” is needed, and vice versa. For example, the words “doubt” and “debt” both have a silent letter, but the silent letter is different. The “B” in “doubt” is silent, while the “P” in “debt” is silent.
The fourth mistake is to forget the silent “E” in words that end in “-ed”. For example, the word “tread” has a silent “E” at the end of it.
The fifth common error is to use the wrong silent “H”. For instance, the words “heir” and “her” are often confused, but the silent “H” is different. The “H” in “heir” is silent, while the “H” in “her” is sounded.
The sixth mistake is to confuse words with the same sound but different silent letters. For example, the words “knight” and “night” are often confused, but their sound is the same. The “G” in “knight” is silent, while the “G” in “night” is sounded.
The seventh error is to forget the silent letters in words that have multiple syllables. For example, the word “accidentally” has four consecutive silent letters: “C”, “T”, “L” and “Y”.
The eighth mistake is to use the wrong silent letter in words when there’s a choice. For instance, “hay” and “hey” are two similar words but they have different silent letters. The “Y” in “hay” is silent, while the “Y” in “hey” is sounded.
The ninth error is to forget the silent “W” in words ending in “-ish”. For example, the word “English” has a silent “W” at the end of it.
The tenth mistake is to confuse words with different spellings but the same sound. For instance, the words “scepter” and “septer” are two words with the same sound but different spellings. The “C” in “scepter” is silent, while the “P” in “septer” is sounded.
These are 10 of the most common errors that people make when it comes to silent letters in English. It’s important to be aware of these mistakes so that you don’t make them when you’re writing or speaking.
