Silent Consonant: B

Silent consonants are letters that are written but not pronounced.
In this lesson, we practice words with silent B.

Silent B: you see written B but you don’t say it.

Now it’s your turn.
Here’s your audio pronunciation quiz.
Is the B silent?

Time's up

Where do we find silent B?

We find silent b in a small number of words:

• -mb at end of word
  • bomb, climb, comb, catacomb,
  • crumb, dumb, numb, thumb,
  • lamb, limb, womb, tomb,
  • to plumb , a plumb line, plumb crazy,
  • to succumb, a door jamb, a dithyramb
• -mb  +  suffixes
  • bombs, bombed, bombing, bomber
  • climbs , climbed, climbing,  climber
  • plumber, plumbing
• -bt
  • debt, debts, indebted, debtor
• b is pronounced when in separate syllables
  • -mb
    • am-bition, am-bulance, bam-boo, bom-bard,
    • bumblebee, combine, crumble, Dumbo,
    • lumber, number, symbol, tomboy, umbrella,
    • scramble, tremble, nimble, thimble,
    • crumble, stumble, tumble, September 
  • -bt
    • ob-tain, sub-total