October 4, 2014　=========
☆ silent　　無言の
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Today we have another word that has multiple ways to use it. For example, someone who is silent is not speaking – they are being quiet. “They both fell silent when they heard the news.” Or “He spoke no English and was completely silent during the visit.”
You can also describe a person as being a “silent person” meaning that they do not talk much and they might even give the impression of being unfriendly. “Her father was a serious, silent man.”
You could be “silent about something” meaning that you don’t tell anyone anything about something because you want to keep the information private or secret. “He was always silent about his feelings for her.” “He was silent about the mistakes that his boss had found in the report.”
Of course, you’ve probably heard of a “silent film” which is a film that usually has music, but does not have any actors’ voices or other sounds. Charlie Chaplin was very famous for his silent movies.
And one more use that you might know of; in English, we have “silent letters”. A silent letter is a letter that is written but not pronounced. For example, in “know” and “knee” the “k” is silent. In “doubt” and “debt” the “b” is silent. Silent letters are part of what makes English so confusing, right?!
Bye,
Chris