English·Spelling & Word Study·procedural
Silent Letters in Words
Spell words containing silent letters that are remnants of earlier pronunciation or etymology, recognising common silent-letter patterns and using word origins to remember them
Suggested ages 9–10
Learning journey
Your child is tackling challenging spelling patterns — distinguishing between confusing word pairs, understanding Latin and French word endings, and mastering silent letters and complex suffixes.
Evidence of understanding
- Identify and spell words with silent initial consonants: knight, know, write, wrap, gnaw, psalm, applying knowledge that these letters were once pronounced
- Spell words with silent internal letters: doubt (b), island (s), muscle (c), solemn (n), using etymological connections to aid memory (e.g. doubt from Latin dubitare)
- Use word families and etymology to remember silent letters, e.g. sign is related to signal where the g is pronounced
Assessment prompt
When Silent Letters in Words writes words that have silent letters — like "knight," "wrap," or "lamb" — do they remember to include the silent letter even though you can't hear it?
Standards alignment
Eng.UKS2.Write.Trans.Spell.2GB · uk-nc-2013
Spell silent letters
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 2
Eng_App1_Sp_Y56_10GB · uk-nc-2013
Words with ‘silent’ letters
The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · Key Stage 2