Check your Vocabulary for IELTS.pdf

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Answers
Some common examples of silent letters include:
Silent A: February parliament marriage
Silent B: comb bomb womb doubt
Silent C: conscience scene discipline scissors
Silent D: Wednesday handsome
Silent G: campaign design
Silent H: ghost school vehicle rhythm
Silent I: business hygiene nuisance
Silent N: autumn column condemn
Silent T: listen mortgage
Silent U; biscuit colleague (which also has a silent e at the end) guarantee guess
Silent W: answer whole
Silent GH: though thorough weigh height
4. swimming = swimming
We double the last letter of single-syllable words ending with a single vowel and a single consonant when we add a
suffix (e.g., -ing):
swim - swimming run - running dip - dipped
We usually do the same thing if a two-syllable word is stressed on the second syllable:
begin - beginning regret - regrettable prefer - preferring
We do not double the last letter in the following cases:
- when a word ends with w, x or y
- when the suffix begins with a consonant (e.g., bad - badly)
- when a word ends with I and the suffix -ly is added (e.g., playful - playfully)
- when two vowels come before the final consonant (e.g., weep - weeping)
5. thiefs = thieves
Most nouns are regular. This means that we add an s to make them plural (e.g., car - cars). However, some nouns are
irregular - we either do not add an s to the word to make it plural or we add s plus some other letters.
In nouns which end with a consonant and y, the y changes to i and we add s:
party - parties baby - babies worry - worries
In nouns which end with s, sh, tch and x, we add es:
bus - buses dish-dishes watch - watches box - boxes
In some nouns which end in f or fe, we replace the f with a v and add es.
calf-calves half-halves knife-knives life - lives wife - wives
In some words which end with o, we add es.
cargo - cargoes echo - echoes hero - heroes
Some words do not change at all.
fish, deer, sheep
And some words have their own individual rules:
man - men child - children woman - women person - people
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6. hopeing = hoping
We drop the e from a word when a suffix which begins with a vowel (e.g., -ing) is added to a word which ends in a
consonant plus a silent e:
hope - hoping tape - taping give - giving immature - immaturity
Peter Collin Publishing. © 2001. For reference, see the English Dictionary for Students (1-901659-06-2)