Silent H

Level 1

H is silent: hoxe sounds like "oxe", and home like "ome".

How It Works

Silent everywhere. H has no sound of its own. You write it, but you do not say it: hoxe (today), home (man), hora (hour), horta (vegetable garden), herba (grass). The verb haber and its form hai (there is, there are) also start with a silent h.

In the middle and at the end. H is kept inside words too, and it still makes no sound: prohibir (to forbid), ah!, oh!. A silent h between two vowels means no hiatus accent: prohibe (forbids) and prohibido (forbidden) are written without one.

Latin decides, not Spanish. Galician writes h where the word had it in Latin, apart from a few fixed exceptions such as España and Xoán. Some words that Spanish writes with h have none in Galician: irmán (Spanish hermano), ovo (huevo), óso (hueso), ombro (hombro), orfo (huérfano, orphan). Learn these as spelling words.

Ch is different. In ch, the h is part of a two-letter spelling for one sound, as in chave (key). See The Sounds CH, LL and Ñ. For hai, see There Is and There Are: Hai.

Examples (6)

  1. Hoxe fai bo tempo.

    The weather is nice today.

    Word by Word: Today makes good weather.

  2. Ese home é o meu tío.

    That man is my uncle.

    Word by Word: That man is the my uncle.

  3. Que hora é?

    What time is it?

    Word by Word: What hour is?

  4. Hai moita herba na horta.

    There is a lot of grass in the vegetable garden.

    Word by Word: There-is much grass in-the vegetable-garden.

    Hai, herba and horta all begin with a silent h.

  5. O meu irmán come dous ovos.

    My brother eats two eggs.

    Word by Word: The my brother eats two eggs.

    Irmán and ovo have no h in Galician, unlike Spanish hermano and huevo.

  6. Está prohibido fumar.

    Smoking is not allowed.

    Word by Word: Is forbidden to-smoke.

    The h in the middle of prohibido is silent too.

Common Mistakes

  • Adding an h that the word does not have.

    O meu hirmán vive en Vigo.
    O meu irmán vive en Vigo.

    Irmán has no h, even though Spanish hermano does.

  • Leaving out an h that the word needs.

    Oxe non traballo.
    Hoxe non traballo.

    The h of hoxe is silent, but it must be written.

  • Adding h to ovo because Spanish huevo has one.

    Quero dous hovos fritos.
    Quero dous ovos fritos.

    Ovo comes from Latin ovum and has no h. The same is true of óso (bone) and ombro (shoulder).

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Silent HLevel 1

Learn This First

Written h is silent in the words introduced here.