Is the T silent or not?
That’s a good question. You always ask such good questions.
The simple answer is, you can pronounce it either way. Often developed from oft, probably due to its relation to the related word seldan, which developed into seldom. Originally the T was pronounced in often, as it was pronounced in oft.
Meanwhile, around the 16th century, -en began to be added to a variety of words to make verbs, such as fasten, hasten, or soften. At first, these T‘s were pronounced, but at about the same time, the pronunciation of words with consonant clusters began to be simplified. Because all those consonants together can be cumbersome. This is evident in the silent letters in words like handkerchief, castle, handsome, and raspberry, as well as the words ending in -ten words above.
This is why the T in often also became silent. However, because it had so recently come into use, and people were still using oft, the T continued to be pronounced by some, as it is to this day. It’s still more common to pronounce the word with a silent T, and it generally sounds a little more formal to pronounce it, but you can go with either.
English-Language Thoughts 
I usually tell students that both ways are fine, but it’s cool that I can give them more information now! Thanks
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My pleasure 😊
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I always say it with a T but didn’t actually know both ways were ok!
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I never pronounce the t, and it irritates me when others do pronounce it. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.
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I certainly prefer it without it. It’s easier to say: pronouncing the T feels like a conscious effort, and always stands out!
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You have me sitting alone saying words out loud. Often. I can hear the t.
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I do that a few times a week!
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Interesting little bit! I didn’t know the T was left out, in English class over here, our teacher always exaggerated the T to get us to pronounce it. Not sure why!
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As it’s more formal sounding, a lot of people often assume it’s therefore more correct.
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Iv just said it to myself a few times, and I do sound the T. I love that your posts make me think about the English language!
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Thanks 😊
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I pronounce often with the T but I didn’t know it was fine to pronounce it without the T too!
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I think I’ve used both pronunciations. I even said it a few times in a sentence to check. I’ll have to ask my wife LOL. Great post as always.
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Thanks!
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Oooo feeling ancient here as I pronounce the p in raspberry and the d in handsome
I wonder if accent or region has anything to do with it?
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I’m sure it does. I could imagine pronouncing the d in “handsome,” but I’d find it very hard to pronounce the p in “raspberry” with the b right there after it!
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I had to say it a few times to myself and I think I pronounce the T. Although when thinking about a word too much I always think I’m saying it weirdly!
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I pronounce it without T but also heard with T from many people and i used to believe its the only difference of american and british accent.
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It’s certainly more common not to pronounce it with an American accent, and to pronounce it with a British accent.
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I just don´t pronounce the “T”…. Good to know it works well if you do too. Very interesting post, as always Niall 🙂
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Thanks 😊.
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone pronounce often WITHOUT the t! Hmm… Interesting…
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I remember being told that when singing, you do need the T. Sung pronunciation is slightly different to spoken because the words get elongated etc’, and some vowel phonemes end up flat and odd sounding, plus you can make space for multiple consonants.
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I can imagine not pronouncing the T sounding odd when sung, but pronouncing it seems to give a natural step from the first syllable to the second when singing.
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I think it’s still the influence of Germanium, as in German they say “oft” as often, and “Selten” is for seldom! for example: in Germany, they turn the numbers as they want to say; twenty-five, they say five and twenty! and as I read the books by Charles Dickens, I mentioned that the numbers were also used those days in this form as the German still use it. Anyway, it’s always amazing to read your research and I can learn a lot. Thank you 🙂
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My pleasure, and that’s a really interesting idea! I’ve certainly noticed numbers written like that in old books, but never thought about it in relation to German :).
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[…] The post was actually about the T in often and whether you should pronounce it. If you want to know the answer, you can read the post yourself! […]
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