This is a mistake that Spanish and Portuguese speakers often make.

❌ It’s related with another issue.

Probably because in these languages it’s “relacionado con/com”. However, in English, the correct preposition is “to”.

✔️ It’s related to another issue.

✔️ It’s related to them being on vacation.

✔️ She’s unrelated to that old man.

✔️ There’s a rumor in relation to the recent events.

In some rare cases, you can see “related with”, but you should normally say “related to”.

Words with a silent “B”

• debt /dɛt/, doubt /daʊt/, subtle /ˈsʌt(ə)l/

• bomb /bɔm/, womb /wuːm/, tomb /tuːm/

• comb /koʊm/, climb /klaɪm/

• lamb /læm/

• thumb /θʌm/, plumb, crumb etc

Words with a silent “P”

• receipt /rəˈsit/

Words with a silent “L”

• palm /pɑm/, calm /kɑm/

• salmon /ˈsæmən/

• folks /foʊks/

• half /hæf/

• could /kʊd/

• talk /tɔk/, walk, chalk

Words with a silent initial letter

• W: who /huː/ – no W!

• W: write, wrong, wrap, wreck, wrist – a W before R is never pronounced

• K: knight, know, knock, knee, knuckle – a K before N is always silent

• G: gnat, gnu, gnocchi – the same for G before N

• P, M: psychology, mnemonic, pneumatic – an initial P and M in words of Ancient Greek origin are often silent

• H: honest /ˈɑnɪst/, “H” /eɪtʃ/, honor – no H there!

Always check the IPA

The English spelling often dates back to when the word was pronounced the way it’s written, but then the sounds has changed.

In many of the examples above, the silent letter was at some point pronounced, but it’s not anymore.

As a general tip, you should always check the IPA of any new word that you learn. It’s impossible to predict how the English language will trip you up even with simplest-looking words.

Cover photo by Ernie A. Stephens on Unsplash

❌ Thanks God – incorrect

Explanation

“Thanks” is a noun

When we want to thank someone, we often say thanks, meaning “I give you [many] thanks”. Thanks in this case is a plural noun.

“Thank” is a verb

When we say Thank God, or thank goodness, to express relief or gratitude, it literally means “God should be thanked”. Cf. German Gott sei dank. In this case, thank is a verb in the subjunctive. So no “s” at the end please!

Let’s talk specifically about these three:

• Bomb /bɑm/

• Comb /koʊm/

• Tomb /tum/

Surprisingly (or perhaps not, if you’re used to English quirks), all three are pronounced very differently. As you can see from the IPA transcriptions above, the only feature these words share is that the final b is silent.

So, to answer the question in the title – how to pronounce comb – it rhymes with foam, and does not rhyme with bomb.

Audio on Forvo:

https://forvo.com/word/comb/#en

Honeycomb photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

❌ Is raining outside.

❌ I’ve checked and is working well.

In Spanish, it’s normal to omit the pronoun, so sentences like these are very common:

🇪🇸 Es muy rico.

🇪🇸 Esta lloviendo.

Although this is correct in Spanish, it doesn’t work in English. You should always specify a pronoun. In the sentences above the pronoun would be it.

✔️ It’s very good.

✔️ It’s raining.

✔️ I’ve checked and it’s working well.

👍 The rule of thumb is: if you find yourself beginning a sentence with an is, and it’s not a question, change the is to it’s.

✔️ In all these words it’s pronounced with a “ch” sound (like in cheese).

💡 IPA: /ɑɹt͡ʃ/

Audio on Forvo: https://forvo.com/word/arch-nemesis/#en

Unrelated in meaning, but pronounced also with a “ch”, is the word arch and its derivatives like overarching. Forvo

Words that are pronounced with “k”

However, more often than not, “ch” in words of Ancient Greek origin is pronounced like “k”: e.g. architecture, archeology, archaic, Plutarch, monarchy.

But not the arch prefix! That one is always pronounced “ch”.

Arch photo by Ulvi Safari on Unsplash

For example:

❌ If the weather is good, we’ll go for a walk, else we’ll stay inside.

It would sound much more natural to use otherwise:

✔️ If the weather is good, we’ll go for a walk, otherwise we’ll stay inside.

Else is mostly used in phrases like “someone else”, “what else”, “nothing else” etc.

✔️ Who else wants to play?

✔️ Open mind for a different view / And nothing else matters

Remember: English isn’t a C-like programming language!