Decoding the letter T

The letter T, lowercase t (pronounced /tiː/) normally represents IPA phoneme /t/. For examples see IPA phoneme /t/.

Silent T

 * Exceptionally "t" can be silent.
 * castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, mustn't, mortgage,, whistle


 * In many words of French origin final "t" is silent
 * ballet - buffet - cabaret - gourmet - valet
 * fillet, filet /ˈfɪlɪt, fɪˈleɪ/ - Chick-fil-A /ˌtʃɪk fɪˈleɪ/


 * "tth" as /θ/: Matthew (the spelling "Mathew" also exists)


 * Variant pronunciations
 * postpone /pəʊstˈpəʊn, pəʊsˈpəʊn, pəsˈpəʊn/

T in combinations

 * "tch" as /tʃ/: catch, kitchen, match, pitch, stretch, switch, watch
 * "te" as /tʃ/: righteous /ˈraɪtʃəs/
 * "th": see Decoding exercises: "th"
 * "ti" followed by a vowel
 * in many cases it sounds /ʃ/
 * as "tio": action - condition - definition - depression - education - function - generation - information - location - mention - nation - option - question - rational - station - tradition - variation
 * as "tia": essential - initial - initiative - partial - potential - substantial
 * as "tie": patience - patient - quotient
 * "ti" as /tʃ/: Christian - combustion - congestion - digestion - question - suggestion
 * "ti" as /ʒ/: equation
 * of course there is "ti" as /tɪ/ or /tiː/: activities - cities - parties - tiara
 * "tie" as /tɪə/: frontier


 * "tu"
 * "tu" as /tʃuː/: actual - situation
 * "tu" as /tʃə/: century - cultural - eventually - natural
 * "tu" as /dʒuː/ or /dʒə/: congratulate /kənˈgrætʃəˌleɪt/ or sometimes /kənˈgrædʒəˌleɪt/
 * "tu" as /tjuː/ or /tuː/ (exception to the exception): constitution - costume - gratitude - gratuitous - institution - intuition - magnitude - multitude - Neptune - obtuse
 * "ture"
 * as /tʃər/: adventure - capture - culture - feature - future - nature - furniture - future - literature - manufacture - picture - structure - temperature
 * as /tʃʊər/: mature


 * "tz" as /ts/
 * pretzel, Pulitzer, quartz, Switzerland, waltz /wɔːls, wɔːlts/