Day 11: silent letters

Hi everyone!

We're still on time! But don't worry,this will be quick, because it's about not doing something.

What consonants are not pronounced in these words? Can you pronounce them all together, like a tongue twister?

For today's challenge:

- Tell us what the silent consonant is in each word.

 - Which is the most difficult to pronounce for you? 

 - In one of the words, which letter is pronounced that normally is not?

 - Have you learnt any new words with this list? 


Enjoy!


knowledge
wretched
rustled
rhythm
heir
coup
indebted
exhilarating
denouement
pseudonym
doubt
mnemonic
condemn
apropos
penchant

Comments

  1. MiguelRMMarch 25, 2020 at 5:36 AM

    (k)nowle(d?)ge
    (W)retched
    Rus(t)led - difficult to pronounce
    R(h)ythm
    (H)eir
    Cou(p) - surprising pronounciation + didn't know the meaning before
    Inde(b)ted
    Exhilaratin(g)
    Denoueme(n?t) - didn't know the meaning
    (P)seudonym
    Dou(b)t
    (M)nemonic
    Condem(n)
    Apropo(s) - didn't know the meaning
    Penchan(t) - didn't know the meaning




    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shall I compare thee...March 27, 2020 at 10:54 AM

      Yay, great job, Miguel! The letter we don't pronounce in "exhilarating" is the h, which is silent and not aspired.

      Thank you!

      Delete
  2. fdgcMarch 25, 2020 at 10:47 AM

    Hi, Bea,

    (k)nowledge
    (w)retched - the 2nd "e" is pronounced and normally not
    rus(t)led - I didn´t know
    r(h)ythm
    (h)eir
    cou(p)
    inde(b)ted - I didn´t know
    ex(h)ilarating
    denoueme(nt) - I didn´t know
    (p)seudonym
    dou(b)t
    (m)nemonic
    condem(n)
    apropos(s) - I didn´t know and the most difficult to pronounce
    penchant(t) - I didn´t know

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shall I compare thee...March 27, 2020 at 10:53 AM

      Oh! I hadn't seen you had gone for the letter we normally don't pronounce! And you got it right, too!

      Congrats! And thank YOU.

      Delete
  3. AngelMarch 25, 2020 at 12:56 PM

    Hi Bea!

    (k)nowledge
    (w)retched -> I didn't know the meaning
    rus(t)led -> I didn't know the meaning
    r(h)ythm
    (h)eir
    c(o)up -> I didn't know the meaning
    inde(b)ted
    ex(h)ilarating
    denou(e)ment -> I didn't know the meaning
    pseud(o)nym -> Difficult to pronounce
    dou(b)t
    (m)nemonic
    condem(n)
    apropo(s) -> The pronunciation surprised me
    penchan(t) -> I didn't know the meaning

    ReplyDelete
  4. EvelitaMarch 25, 2020 at 3:33 PM

    Hi everyone! Here I go!

    (k)nowledge
    (w)retched
    rus(t)led
    r(h)ythm
    (h)eir
    cou(p): an unexpectedly successful achievement
    inde(b)ted: grateful because of help given:
    ex(h)ilarating
    denouemen(t) the end of a story, in which everything is explained, or the end result of a situation
    (p)seudonym
    dou(b)t
    (m)nemonic
    condem(n)
    apropo(s): used to introduce something that is related to or connected with something that has just been said
    penchan(t): a liking for, an enjoyment of, or a habit of doing something, especially something that other people might not like

    I’ve written in brackets the silent consonant in each word. The hardest words for me to pronunce have been wretched, coup, indebted and denouement.
    As for the letter which is pronounced and usually is not, I’d go for the t in wretched (not sure about this).
    Finally, I ‘ve leant all the words which I’ve provided the definition for... Quite a lot! Thanks Bea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shall I compare thee...March 27, 2020 at 10:52 AM

      You're the only one who tried the letter we normally don't pronounce! Thank you!
      Unfortunately, it's not that one... The letter is the "e" in the suffix, wretch(e)d, which, if we follow the rule for -ed, should be silent. There are a number of adjectives where it is pronounced, however, and this is one of them!

      Thanks to you!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 3: A crossword

Image
A classic challenge for any language lover! Full of synonyms, abbreviations, cultural references. Who's up for a crossword in English today? Instructions for Day 3: - Find the crossword I have more or less randomly selected for you here in this link . - Start as soon as you can! This crossword tells you the time it takes you to complete it, and the timer will start running as soon as you open the tab. A little convention on this page is that correct letters will appear in black and wrong letters in red. Every wrong letter will give you a 10-second penalty. - Complete the crossword to the best of your ability for 15 minutes ("I just feel like a mild challenge" mode) or 20 minutes ("I got hooked" mode).  - Take a screenshot after that time and show us your result.  Let's see who we consider to be the winner! You can see here my result for a different crossword. It took me a little while until I realised there were penalties, so my...
Read more

Day 10: catchy titles

Well hello! I found this little clip and the contrast between the title and the subject matter actually surprised me. Whoever wrote the title had a sense of humour. It's called "Alaskan money laundering". The video gives a new meaning to "money laundering" all right! What is the contrast between metaphorical and literal use of "laundering" that makes this title funny? Understanding this kind of humour, based on metaphor, is to me one of the signs of reaching a C2 level. So, for today's challenge: - Answer my question about the title: What is the contrast between metaphorical and literal use of "laundering" that makes this title funny? - Write a short summary of the video using these words: charred, denominations, distinguishable, rinse off, intact, stack, going the extra mile, salvage, tragic. See you in the comments!
Read more

Day 8: the pronunciation poem

Hi everyone! How do you feel after passing the one-week mark? Are you settling into a routine? Tell us in the comments about how you have incorporated this challenge into your daily life. Today's the day that the mystery of the pronunciation lists is revealed. There is this fiendish pronunciation poem that highlights the worst part of English pronunciation: the exceptions to the most useful of all findings for a learner of English--patterns. What happens when we have internalised a pattern of spelling-pronunciation and then--oh no--we find a word that doesn't follow it? "It's just a pattern", we tell ourselves, "it's not a rule". Oh well, we'll get over it. We write it down and try to learn it, cursing the English language mildly. We try to brush it off, but the truth is that it's frustrating. And the only antidote against that frustration is humour, and a sense of community that comes from acknowledging that even native speakers strug...
Read more