8th Grade spelling
8th Grade Advanced Silent Letter Words
Silent letters in psychology, rhythm, column, design and foreign. Sort ps, rh, mn and gn words, then play hangman or print a worksheet.
Read the spelling list
The pattern: Silent letters left over from Greek, Latin and Old English: the p in psychology, the h in rhythm, the n in autumn, the g in gnome.
Silent letters are the fossils of older pronunciations. In Greek words like psychology and rhythm those letters were sounded, and English kept the spelling while losing the sound. In words like column and condemn a final n follows an m, and in design and foreign the g sits before an n. Each type has its own pattern, which is why the list is sorted into four groups.
The ps group includes psychological, psychic, pseudo, psychiatry and psychotherapy. The rh group includes rhythm, rhetoric, rhymes, rhythmic, rhinos, rhapsody, rhubarb and rhinoceros. The mn group has column, condemn and solemn. The gn group has design, foreign, campaign, resign, sovereign, assign, benign and ensign. Eighth grade is the right time for these, because the majority are Greek and Latin in origin and students can see the connection to roots like psych (mind) and rhythm.
34 entries. Our solver needed 1.8 wrong guesses on average: 17 easy, 15 medium and 2 hard. The toughest is rhythm (5 misses), the quickest psychological (0).
ps
- psychological Easy · 0
- psychic Medium · 3
- pseudo Easy · 0
- psychiatry Medium · 2
- psychologists Easy · 0
- psyche Medium · 4
- psychologically Easy · 0
- psalms Easy · 1
- psychiatrists Easy · 0
- psychotherapy Easy · 1
rh
- rhythm Hard · 5
- rhetoric Easy · 0
- rhymes Medium · 4
- rhythms Hard · 5
- rhythmic Medium · 3
- rhetorical Easy · 0
- rhinos Medium · 2
- rhapsody Medium · 3
- rhubarb Medium · 3
- rhinoceros Easy · 1
mn
- column Medium · 4
- autumn Medium · 3
- condemn Medium · 4
- solemn Easy · 1
gn
- design Medium · 2
- foreign Medium · 2
- campaign Easy · 1
- resign Easy · 0
- sovereign Easy · 0
- assign Medium · 3
- benign Medium · 3
- redesign Easy · 0
- ensign Easy · 0
- gnawing Easy · 1
Words worth a closer look
- psychologicalPsyche is Greek for mind or soul. The ps at the start is silent. Psychology is the shorter relative.
- rhythmTwo h letters and one y, with no other vowel. One of the hardest common words to spell.
- columnThe final n is silent here, but it is heard in columnist.
- designThe g is silent. It comes back in designation.
- foreignThe g is silent and the ei is said like a short i, so the word cannot be sounded out.
Teaching it
Start by pronouncing the first sound and ignoring the letter in front of it: sychology, rythm. Then show students that the silent letter appears in a family: psychology, psychiatry, psychic; rhyme, rhythm, rhythmic. In the mn and gn groups the silent letter often returns when you add a suffix: column becomes columnist, condemn becomes condemnation, design becomes designation, resign becomes resignation. That is a strong trick for memory.
Hangman works well with the ps and rh groups because the first two letters are the whole pattern. Give the first two letters free. Print the worksheet and ask students to circle the silent letter in each word and say where it appears in a longer relative.
Print a 8th Grade Advanced Silent Letter Hangman worksheet
Eight puzzles on one US Letter page, with a clue, letter blanks, an empty frame to draw in, an alphabet strip to cross off and circles to count misses. Page two is the answer key.
Need another sheet?
Draw eight different words from this list, right here. Same layout, new answer key.
Keep going
- 8th Grade Words Ending in IbleWords ending in ible: visible, possible, edible, tangible, irresistible, audible. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Words Ending in Cious and TiousSort words ending in cious and tious: gracious, spacious, cautious, nutritious, infectious. Play hangman or print a worksheet with answers.
- 8th Grade Words Ending in IentWords ending in ient: patient, ancient, client, ingredient, convenient, sufficient. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade PH WordsWords where ph spells the f sound: physical, philosophy, atmosphere, alphabet, dolphin. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Ceed, Cede and Sede WordsSpell the /seed/ ending: exceed, proceed, succeed, precede, concede, supersede. Play hangman with the list or print a spelling worksheet.
- 8th Grade Words With Two Sets of Double LettersWords with two sets of double letters: committee, accommodate, embarrass, necessary, occasionally. Play hangman or print a spelling worksheet.