What are silent letters?

Part of English and LiteracySounds and patterns

Silent letters

Silent letters are letters that can’t be heard when the word is spoken.

For example in the word ‘sword’, you don’t pronounce the letter ‘w’. And the letter ‘h’ is silent in the word 'ghost'.

There are lots more examples of words with silent letters in English. So keep an eye out for them, because you won’t be able to hear them!