Learning English

Catherine   
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. I’m Catherine…

Rob             
And I’m Rob. In today’s show we’re going to look at a very important part of spoken and written vocabulary: silent letters.

Catherine   
Silent letters. We’ll look at what they are, where they appear and how to say them…

Rob             
There’ll be a quiz…

Catherine   
And we’ll leave you with a top tip for learning vocabulary.

Rob                
But first, let’s listen to Nick. He’s at the doctor’s, and it’s not good news.

Catherine     
No, it’s not. While you listen, try and answer this question: what treatment does the
doctor suggest for Nick?

INSERT

Doctor
Take a seat. What seems to be the problem?

Nick
It’s my wrist – it really hurts!

Doctor
Let’s see if we can work out what’s wrong. Do you have pain anywhere else? What about your elbows and knees?

Nick
No. They’re fine. But I can’t move my thumb and I don’t know why.

Doctor       
Well. Have you done anything physically demanding recently?

Nick           
I did play tennis yesterday…

Doctor       
You’ve probably just got a pulled muscle then. You’ll just have to rest your wrist. No playing tennis for a while I'm afraid.

STING

Catherine
So, we asked you: what treatment did the doctor suggest for Nick?

Rob             
And the answer is: he told Nick to rest his wrist.

Catherine   
He did: well done if you got that right. Now, wrist – that’s the bit of your body that joins your arm to your hand – is an example of the vocabulary area we’re looking at today – and that’s words with silent letters, Rob.

Rob             
Yes: we spell this word wrist, w-r-i-s-t, but when we say it, we don’t pronounce the first letter /w/. Instead, we start with the sound from the second letter in the word, which is the letter r - pronounced /r/.

Catherine   
Let’s listen to Nick again.

INSERT 

Nick         
It’s my wrist – it really hurts!

Catherine   
So we don’t say w-rist: we say wrist. Wrist. Some other words that start with a silent w are…

Rob             
Write: that’s w-r-i-t-e, like to write a letter, and wrong, w-r-o-n-g, meaning not correct. In fact, there’s a rule here, which is: we don’t usually pronounce the w in words that begin w-r. When did you last write a letter, Catherine? 

Catherine   
I wrote a letter on paper… I really don’t know Rob, to be honest, it’s all email for me now.

Rob
That’s a good idea, with your handwriting.

Catherine
Probably. Now, Nick said another word with a silent letter:

INSERT     

Nick
… but I can’t move my thumb and I don’t know why.

Rob             
The word was know, meaning: to recognise and understand something, is spelt k-n-o-w but we don’t say the letter k. So it isn’t k-now but know.

Catherine     
It’s know. So, another rule for you: we don’t normally say the k in words that begin k-n: like knee, the joint between your upper and lower leg, and knife, the tool we use to cut things. Knee and knife start with silent k. 

Rob             
Excellent. Now, Nick also said a word with a silent letter at the end.

Catherine   
He did, it’s a part of the hand: you’ve got four fingers, and then the fifth one that sticks out the other way is your thumb; that’s thumb spelt ­t-h-u-m-b, but we don’t pronounce the final b. We don’t say thum-b – we say thumb. Thumb.

Rob             
Some other words with a silent b at the end are…

Catherine    
Climb, like to climb a ladder, and lamb, a baby sheep.

Rob
Do you like lamb, Catherine?

Catherine   
I do like lamb! I like lambs when they are alive, I have to say, I also quite like eating them.

IDENT                     
6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English.

Catherine   
And it’s time for a quiz. Count the silent letters in these sentences. Number one. There’s  something wrong with my wrist.

Rob             
And the answer is two. Wrong and wrist both begin with a silent w.

Catherine   
Good. Sentence number two. I don’t know why my thumb hurts.

Rob             
And the answer is two again. Know starts with a silent k and thumb ends with a silent b.

Catherine   
And the last one. No, I can’t climb up there because I’ve hurt my knee.

Rob                
Well, climb has a silent b at the end, and knee starts with a silent k. But the word no at the beginning of the sentence is the opposite of yes, so it’s spelt n-o. So the answer is: there are two words with silent letters in this sentence. 

Catherine   
Well done if you got those right.

Rob             
And that brings us almost to the end of today’s programme.

Catherine   
Before we go, here’s today’s top tip for learning and recording vocabulary: when you learn a word, and you know it has a silent letter, mark the silent letter very clearly in your vocabulary notebook. That way you won’t forget how to say it. 

Rob
Thank you – I know what to do now! There’s more about this at BBC Learning English dot com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.

Both
Bye!