The rule goes that the article ‘a’ is used before a consonant and ‘an’ is used before a vowel, so with silent H we would say “an honest” and with
pronounced H we would say “a hotel”
.
What is the silent letter in hotel?
The
letter ⟨h⟩
is also silent at the beginning of words borrowed from other languages, such as hotel.
Is the H in WHO silent?
Why is the “
w” silent
and the “h” pronounced in “who”, but the other way around in “what”, “when” and “where”? Both words were originally pronounced with /hw/. In Middle English, /w/ was dropped in clusters before long rounded vowels (this also explains the silent “w” in sword).
Is the H in horrible silent?
Not all such words that have come into English from French
still have a silent h
, however. Over the centuries we have come to pronounce the h in words like horrible, hospital, host, human, and humour.
Do you pronounce the h in hotel?
In the past, both “an hotel” and “a hotel” were commonly used because English words of French origin beginning with an “H” (such as “hotel”)
used to be pronounced without it
(so “hotel” would be pronounced just “otel”). … There are other Hs that are truly silent (not pronounced at all in any form of the word).
Why is the H in Spanish silent?
The first silent letter in Spanish is the letter H.
This letter is always silent unless it is
next to the letter C. … In the Spanish alphabet, the word that represents the letter H is hache. Since this word starts with an H and has a ch, it makes for a great first example to demonstrate the pronunciation of H and ch.
What word has a silent l?
L is also
silent in could
, should, would, as well as in calf and half, and in chalk, talk, walk, and for many people in calm, palm, and psalm.
What are some silent p words?
- raspberry.
- receipt.
- psithurism.
- ptyalism.
- ptilopus.
- psychedelic.
- psionic.
- phthisis.
Is an hotel correct?
‘An hotel’ is
archaic
but may still be used by old-fashioned writers. The rule that somebody mentioned above is correct: an + ‘h’ when the first syllable is unstressed is acceptable. In my opinion, ‘an historic’ sounds a bit pompous but there you go.
Why P is silent in psychology?
‘Tsunami’ was borrowed from Japanese, and ‘psychology’ was borrowed from Greek. The initial consonant sounds in these words are not used in English, at least to start words. … The initial ‘p’ in ‘psychology’ (and ‘pterodactyl’, and other words from Greek)
has become silent in English
.
Is the H silent in while?
H is always silent in HONOUR, HOUR, HONEST, HEIR, VEHICLE & VEHEMENT
. You don’t say it after ‘g’ in GHOST, GHASTLY, AGHAST, GHERKIN & GHETTO, or after ‘r’ in RHINOCEROS, RHUBARB, RHYME and RHYTHM. It’s normally silent after ‘w’: WHAT?
Why is L silent in walk?
Many students try to pronounce these Ls, but in all these words,
the L is completely silent
. In walk, chalk, and talk, the L comes after an A, and the vowel is pronounced like a short O.
Why is the H silent in honor?
Honor derives from from Anglo-French honour, Old French onor, honor, but: The initial h in honest, honor, etc.,
is merely etymological, the sound having already disappeared when the word came into ME use
. (Century Dictionary).
Why do Americans not pronounce the h?
Our American cousins seem sometimes to arbitrarily decide that
they shall pronounce a word in the French style even
if it has been an English word for nearly a thousand years. Thus they leave the “h” silent in herb, just as the French do. … They pronounce the last “t” in trait when other English users often prefer tray.
Is the T silent in watch?
Is The T in watch Silent?
There are lots of lists of silent T words out there
. On some, you’ll find words ending with -TCH, like watch and match. … Of course, that T sound is just part of the CH sound, and also exists in words like attach: /əˈtatʃ/.
Is the H silent in Vehicle?
The H in the word vehicle doesn’t have a strong /h/ sound
. Some people may use an /h/ sound, but you really don’t need to. If you say ve➝hicle with a distinct /v/ sound and a long clear vowel in the first syllable, Americans will understand you when you say it! Dropping the /h/ sound is up to you.
