PRIMARY SPELLING & PHONICS • GRADE 2–3 SILENT CONSONANTS • INITIAL K & FINAL B STUDENT WORKSHEET • PAGE 1 OF 2

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“Study words containing silent initial k (knife, knee) and silent final b (lamb, thumb). ‘Some say that little children should be like these silent letters — seen but not heard!’”

1

Silent Letter Detective — Cross out the silent letter in each word, then copy neatly:

Silent <b> after <m>

dumb, crumb, thumb, numb, lamb, climb, doubt, debt

Silent <k> before <n>

knot, knob, knock, knit, knife, knee, kneel, knew

2

Morphology & Suffix Doubling — Add -ed or -ing to root words with silent k:

knot + ed →
(Double the t)

knob + ed →
(Double the b)

knit + ing →
(Double the t)

3

Sentence Composition — Write sentences using silent letter words:

Sentence 1 (Use lamb and climb):

Sentence 2 (Use knock and knife):

Silent Consonant Rules to Remember:

1. Silent K before N (KN-): When k precedes n at the start of a syllable (knee, knife, knot, know), the k is completely silent (/n/).

2. Silent B after M (-MB): When b follows m at the end of a word (lamb, thumb, crumb, climb), the b is completely silent (/m/).

3. Silent B in Doubt & Debt: In doubt and debt, the letter b is silent, inserted during the Renaissance to honor Latin roots dubitare and debitum.