8. Mute Consonants

Mute letter	Combinations of letters	Examples
b	bt mb	Doubt, subtle, but: obtain Bomb, comb, lamb, tomb
d	Before consonants	Wednesday, handsome
g	gn gm	Sign, sovereign, gnat, resign, but: pregnant, magnet Paradigm, gnome
h	wh rh, h gh kh	Which, white, where, what Rhyme, hour, exhibition, honor Ghost, gherkin Khaki, khan
gh	igh	High, light, weight, fight
k	kn	Know, knife, knight, knee
l	ld (only in words) lf alk lm	Could, would, should Half, calf, but: golf, wolf Talk, walk, chalk Calm, psalm, but: film
n	nm	Autumn, column, condemn
p	pn pt ps	Pneumonia, pneumatic Receipt, but: helicopter, September, raptorial Psychology, psalm, but: laps, perhaps
r	after vowels	Far, farm, girl, turn, term
t	ften stle sten	Often, soften Whistle, castle Listen, fasten
w	wh (before –o) wr sw	Who, whose, whom, whole Writer, playwright, wrong, wrestling Answer, but: swallow, swan, sweet

Ex. 8.1 Find the homophones:

Lamb/ wood/ receipt/ rime/ hole/right/ reseat/ knew/ fought/ whine/ reign/ lam/ rain/ new/ fort/ wine/ would/ rhyme/ write/ whole.

Ex. 8.2 Find the rhymes:

Farm, boom, delight, hurl, gate, design, sign, who, calm, threw, court, reign, alarm, height, gloom, bite, polite, refine, weight, whirl, pine, chew, caught, refrain, incite, womb, psalm, night, charm, tomb, through, balm.

Ex. 8.3 Choose the odd word:

when, which, whose, where

lump, limb, lamb, comb

calm, palm, film, balm

knapsack, knowledge, knick-knack, acknowledge

Gypsy, pseud, perhaps, eclipse

pseudonym, psychosis, trapshooting, psyche.

Ex. 8.4 Choose the appropriate word:

1. That was really a very courageous _______.

a) knight b) night

2. She doesn’t _____ _____ her necklace is.

a) no, were b) know, where

3. He ______ his father was coming home because he heard his horse’s _______.

a) new, slay b) knew, sleigh

4. He became an ________ of a tremendous fortune after his ________ death.

a) heir, father’s b) air, father’s

5. The troops had to _____ the river.

a) wade b) weight

6. The rose was very beautiful but the thorns on the _______ hurt my fingers.

a) stork b) stalk

7. The king’s ________ his spouse’s glance and understood everything.

a) court b) caught

8. It was the first day of ______ for the ______.

a) rain, shake b) reign, sheikh

Ex. 8.5 Correct the mistakes:

I got court in the reign this morning and got wet threw.

I’d like to get some fire-would.

I no wot you mean.

I always get aches and peigns in winter.

We booked the tickets threw the Internet.

She can’t weight for you.

It’s very hot there, she won’t knead her fur-coat.

Rite! That’s the correct variant.

Ex. 8.6 Complete the word by adding the silent letter.

1. An _onest man never tells lies.

2. _hose spectacles are these?

3. A bom_ exploded just near the bridge.

4. The spirit of a dead person is called a g_ost.

5. Do you hear someone _nocking at the window?

6. His _nowledge of the subject is rather poor.

7. The clock strikes every _our.

8. I’m afraid he’s caught _neumonia.

9. You’d better _rap her present up.

10. If you don’t want to forget, tie _not in your handkerchief.