Silent letters: Unstressed vowels

Silent letters are letters that can’t be heard when the word is spoken.

For example:

• the ‘t’ is silent in castle

• the ‘s’ is silent in island

This can make learning to spell the words quite tricky!

Watch this short video to see some more examples of silent letter words.

Vowel sounds are made by the letters 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o' and 'u'.

Unstressed vowels are vowel sounds that are hard to hear when we say a word out loud. Because we don’t stress these vowels, it can be easy to miss them out when we’re spelling!

For example:

When we say the word library we often pronounce it more like ‘lie-bree’.

The ’a’ is an unstressed vowel.

In this Teacher Talk, Mr McPartlin shares some more examples of silent letters and unstressed vowels.

Listen carefully and join in with the activities. You’ll need a pen or pencil and some paper.

Copy out the word list below and underline the unstressed vowel in each word.

The first one has been done for you.

Remember

It can be useful to say the word out loud – once as you normally would, then a second time syllable by syllable.

1. dictionary

2. library

3. separate

4. miserable

5. poisonous

6. jewellery

7. marvellous

8. frightening

9. interesting

10. metre

11. centre

12. desperate

13. general

Check your answers using this answer sheet.

The answer to each of these clues is a word that contains an unstressed vowel!

Figure out the answer then write it down. When you’ve written out the word, underline the unstressed vowel.

The first one has been done for you.

Remember

The unstressed vowel is the sound we do not hear when the word is said out loud.

1. A book with words in A to Z order. (10 letters, begins with d)

dictionary

2. Rings, necklaces, bracelets and brooches. (9 letters, begins with j)

3. It means deadly or venomous, in the way some snakes are. (9 letters, begins with p)

4. How hot or cold something is. (11 letters, begins with t)

5. Not the same as something else. (9 letters, begins with d)

6. Wonderful, tremendous and absolutely amazing. (10 letters, begins with m)

You can check your answers using this answer sheet.

Continue the story of The Desperate General using as many words that contain silent letters or unstressed vowels as you can!

Score a point every time you use a word with a silent letter or an unstressed vowel.
Can you score above 20?

Here are three points to get you started!

The Desperate General

The desperate General marched into the library. He …

Top tip!

Here are some words you could use.