The silent t and spoken t

Silent letters

Did you hear how Mr Christmas said the word mustn't? One of the letters in that word is silent – do you know which one? Watch this video to find out and to practise your pronunciation. Then try the pronunciation exercises.

Watch the video

The silent t in mustn´t

To do

Read these sentences. Practise saying them by yourself.

1. You really must pay for that!
2. You mustn't worry.
3. You must arrive before 6am.
4. You must offer me a higher salary!
5. Mustn’t grumble.

Transcript:

FinnHello! I’m Finn, with another pronunciation tip.

Today we're looking at 'must' and 'mustn't'.

First, mustn't.

You'll notice that the middle 't' is silent.

Mustn't, mustn't. Not musTn't, but mustn’t

Now, 'must'. When you say the word on its own, it has a 't' at the end. It's pronounced 'must'.

But when it's followed by a word which starts with a consonant, that sound disappears. Listen to this.

I mus(t) go

You mus(t) come

'Muss go'

'Muss come'

And one last tip, when it's followed by a word which starts with a vowel like 'open', listen to what happens.

I must open

You must arrive

The 't' is there, but it joins on to the word afterwards.

'Mus topen'

'Mus tarrive'

There you go. That's the pronunciation tip for today. Bye.