Let’s look at words that start with a silent H in English.
Most of the time, we pronounce H in English, but there are several words that contain a silent H.
Note: This is not a complete list of words with a silent H. These are just the words that start with a silent H.
1) heir
This is pronounced exactly the same way as “air”. It is not pronounced “hair”.
UK: /eə(r)/
US: /er/
The H is also silent in ”heiress” and ”heirloom”.
2) honest
UK: /ˈɒn.ɪst/
US: /ˈɑː.nɪst/
The H is also silent in ”honesty”, ”honestly”, ”dishonest”, ”dishonesty” and ”dishonestly”.
3) honour (UK), honor (US)
UK: /ˈɒn.ə(r)/
US: /ˈɑː.nər/
The H is also silent in ”honourable”, ”honourably”, ”dishonour”, ”dishonourable” and“dishonourably”.
(US: honorable, honorably, dishonor, dishonorable and dishonorably)
4) hour
UK: /aʊə(r)/
US: /aʊr/
The H is also silent in ”hourglass” and”hourly”.
5) herb
❗ Most speakers of American English do not pronounce the H in ”herb”, but it is pronounced in standard British English.
UK: /hɜːb/
US: /ɜːrb/
The same rules apply to ”herbal” and other words that begin with ”herb”.