Silent "b"

[Rachel Adams]

When is "b" silent in words? It's silent in "climb," "plumber" and "thumb," but it's pronounced is "thimble".

 

[GoesStation]

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.

 

[Rachel Adams]

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.

 

[emsr2d2]

Looking for rules to English pronunciation will, ultimately, drive you insane!