Silent "b"

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Rachel Adams

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When is "b" silent in words? It's silent in "climb," "plumber" and "thumb," but it's pronounced is "thimble".
 
Dumb, debt and subtle. Here's a comprehensive list of English words with silent letters. In future, please Google such questions before posting them here. You can post a link to what you find if you think it's generally interesting.
 
And it's silent in dumber but pronounced in lumber, silent in climber but pronounced in limber.

mb at the end of a word and any words formed from that word is generally pronounced /m/. In other places, it is generally /mb/.

I'm sure somebody will come up with some exceptions.


Yes, I was wondering if there is a certain rule.

"And it's silent in dumber but pronounced in lumber, silent in climber but pronounced in limber" - then there are no rules. Only this one: "mb at the end of a word and any words formed from that word is generally pronounced /m/. In other places, it is generally /mb/." I used the word "climb" and "thumb" and it's exactly at the end of them.
 
Looking for rules to English pronunciation will, ultimately, drive you insane!
 
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