Silent letters are everywhere in English. That is why some people see the English pronunciation is very hard to learn, so today you’re going to learn how to pronounce the words with unvoiced H. I hope this article will help you pronounce the English words correctly.

Here are the basic rules:

1. If the H is preceded by the letters G, K, or R, the letter H is silent, as in ghost, khaki, rhino.

2. The letter H is not pronounced when following W. Some speakers whisper the H before the W as in what,why, when, whether.

3. The letter H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words. We use indefinite article an with unvoiced H, for examples, hour – an hour, honor – an honor,honest – an honest man, herb – an herb.

Let’s see if you can pronounce the H words in this sentence correctly. Which words that should be pronounced with silent H?

“Honestly I don’t know how to pronounce heir. It took me about half an hour to figure it out.”

Silent Letter L

You must have been wondering why there are a lot of silent letters in English. This is because English took many of its words from foreign languages, such as Greek and French, and although the pronunciation of some words have changed over the last two or three hundred years, the spelling has stayed the same.

I have explained the silent letter H in the previous article. If you haven’t read it, click here. So today, you’re going to learn the silent letter L.

Here are the basic rules:

1. If a word ends with ‘alk’, the letter L is silent and the letter A is pronounced with the ‘o’ sound.

UK: talk /tɔːk/ US: /tɑːk/ Audio Player

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2. If a word ends with ‘alf’, the letter L is unvoiced and the letter A is pronounced as the short ‘a’ sound.

UK: half /hɑːf/ US: /hæf/ Audio Player

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3. If a word ends with ‘ould’, the letter L is invoiced and the ‘ou’ is pronounced with the short ‘u’ sound.

UK: could /kʊd/ US: /kəd/ Audio Player

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4. If a word ends with ‘olk’, the letter L is silent and the letter O is pronounced with the long ‘o’ sound.

UK: folk /fəʊk/ US: /foʊk/ Audio Player

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Now try this. Which words in this sentence should be pronounced with the silent L?

“Colonel Lincoln ate half of the salmon steak. He put the other half in his lunch box and walked back home.”

American English Pronunciation: Can or Can’t

(US) Can /kən/ – Can’t /kænt/

(UK) Can /kæn/ – Can’t /kɑnt/

How can we tell the difference between “can” and “can’t”? Though it’s subtle, there is still a difference in the pronunciation of these two words.

I can go.

I can’t go.

You can instantly tell the difference between “can” and“can’t” when the British pronounce them because there’s a clear difference in the vowel sound between the two words “can” /kæn/ and “can’t” /kɑnt/.

However, it is a bit difficult for non-native speakers to tell the difference between “can” and “can’t” when the Americans pronounce those words, especially when they speak fast.

The trick is to pay more attention to the length of the vowel in “can” and “can’t”. In “can’t” the vowel sound ‘a’is pronounced longer /æ/ while in “can” the vowel sound‘a’ is de-stressed; it is pronounced a bit quicker and reduced to a schwa /ə/, sometimes it sounds sort of like /ɪ/.

I /kən/ go.

I /kɪn/ go.

Check out this video from Elemental English: