Knife which is NOT prounounced k-nife but nife. Why? I have no idea but always thought it was funny. Knight is another word with a silent K. Soooo, I had to look it up. Seems as though the answer is time…
And it’s not just the K but also the G as in gnaw, gnat, and gnome.
Curious, do you find yourself using the silent letter when thinking the words to your self? Like Ga-nome and Ga-naw, or K-nife or K-night? I sometimes do. Does that make me strange?
I don’t think so – the English language itself is strange. Think about the ‘ei’ words…
And then those words like ‘read’ which is pronounced two different ways depending on usage and ‘red’ – you get the idea.
Admit it, you expected me to write something gory or at least tied to a mystery when you saw the word of the day, right? I mean, after all, I am a mystery book author. LOL!
My A-Z this year are random thoughts, ideas, and whatever pops into my mind for the letter of the day. As in previous years, I will keep it short and sweet.
Till next time!
My husband loves to cook, and he knows (a word with a silent K and a word you can confuse with “no”) how to care for his knives. Alana ramblinwitham
Perfect response!!
It’s funny because I’m trying to learn Spanish and I said to my son (who is doing fluency testing for French) that I’m struggling with the letter combinations. However, English and its strange letter combination aren’t any easier to master. As a side note, I think word origin stuff can be interesting.
Stopping in from A-to-Z: https://brewingcoffeetwistingwordsbreakingpencils.ca/2025/04/12/knowledge/
We learned a little Spanish when we lived in Ecuador for two years. Much harder to learn in your late 60s than when you’re young. Funny thing, I took three years of French in jr/sr high school and then forgot it all. When we got to Ecuador, French words were popping up in my head!
I have this weird thing where I see the words in my head when someone is speaking to me. So I often get distracted by silent letters. Someone will say “Hand me that knife” and in my mind, I see the words: Hand me that nife. Then I mentally correct my vision by saying “kuh-nife” to spell the word correctly. It can get messy in my head sometimes, haha!
– Allison
https://lightningflashwriting.blogspot.com/
Hubby and I often say words phonetically, not correctly, just to have fun.
I think the English language is a mystery. I taught my children to read using phonetics. Oh my goodness, I would say so many times this is the rule except… I also taught ESL. It is a confusing language to learn. 🙂
Yes it is confusing!!
Yes yes I do!!
I must admit I don’t say the silent k or g. I think it pictures and not in words, I mean I will hear the conversation, but I don’t SEE the words.
Interesting…now I have to see if I see the item or the word. Hmmmm….
With the silent g and k letter words as a first grade teacher, I’d teach the rule, the word and then process to mispronounce it for the rest of the year, so they ALWAYS spelled it correctly. They thought it was funny, and so it was a memorable “mistake” that helped them know the rule, know the spelling and know that you could make things fun to learn. Yes, I did say Wed-nes-day.
I like that!
So many silent letters in English.
Someone once asked which is the silent letter in “scent”–the S or the C. The same could be asked about “knock”–is the C or the second K the silent letter?
Good ones!!!
You have a lovely site here. Hopping around and learned about Knife!
The English language is rather odd sometimes. The silent letter words I often misinterpret. I hear ‘knife’ I do think of pain, blood, stabbing but maybe because I read one too many murder mysteries.
Have a lovely day.
You gave me a grin as a mystery author…
I don’t pronounce the silent letters in my head, but I do always say “fry end” in my head when writing “friend” and “bee ay yoo tiful” when writing “beautiful.”
https://nydamprintsblackandwhite.blogspot.com
I admit it, you made me laugh. I do pronounce words in strange ways in my head, too.