How to Pronounce B (including the silent version)
My Brazilian students always talk about their “DEBIT”. At first it seemed so confusing to me when they spoke about their debit for their apartment, their debit for their car, their debit for a vacation. Years ago I would try to help them understand the definition of the word, but quickly realized it was a problem with pronunciation, not vocabulary. What do they mean? DEBT- the money owed for something. The problem is that DEBT is not pronounced with the B. It is /det/. Even if you are not Brazilian, you’ll LOVE this short lesson on the B and the Silent B.
The B is a stop consonant which means that at the beginning of the sound, the lips briefly block the air from leaving the mouth but once it is released from its ‘stopped’ position, there is a puff of air.
How to pronounce the B? Your lips should be closed and folded a little bit inwards.Vibrate your vocal cords, and push air out of your mouth against your closed lips. Release the air in one moment. Example words: Baby, Bird, Bother, Big, Uber, Mobs
Shh! There are many silent letters in English, but today we are going to talk about the Silent B.
You have to remember that English is an ever-changing language.The silent 'b' has an interesting origin. In fact, it used to be pronounced as b-sound: climb was Old English climban, doubt comes from Latin debere and bomb comes from Italian bomba. The b-sound was lost by about 1300. Thus, there are many words where although the B appears in the spelling we do not pronounce it.
Common Words with silent B:
Doubt
Debt
Subtle
Climb
Thumb
Plumber
Climbing
Tomb
Numb
bomber
Example Sentences:
“I doubt that you can climb that high. If you try it, all of your fingers including your thumb will become numb. I would rather see you alive and not have to visit your tomb,” the mother told her risk-taking son.
Did you try the exercises with me? Type YES in the comments and I’ll email you the “How to Practice English Pronunciation” guide as a gift! Good job for being a serious learner!