Often can be said OFF-en or OFF-ten. Both are correct. The T was dropped from speech long ago, and then it came back because people could see it in the spelling.
First, how do you pronounce it?
OFF-en (no T)
OFF-ten (with T)
Dictionaries accept both. Merriam-Webster says the two versions are equally accepted today.
The weird part
Look at the letters: O-F-T-E-N. There is a T in the middle, and many people don't say it.
spelling: often
sound 1: offen
sound 2: off-ten
Most silent letters are silent for everyone. In often, the T is silent for some people and said by others, in the very same country.
Where does "often" come from?
Often grew out of a much older word, oft, which meant "again and again". English had oft in Old English times. By the 1200s and early 1300s, people were also saying often.
At that time, the T was said. But over many years, the T faded from speech, the same way it does in words like listen and soften. By the 1400s, the pronunciation offen was recorded.
So why did the T come back?
In the 1600s, more and more people could read and write, and they saw the T on the page. Some of them started to say it. According to Merriam-Webster, most careful speakers in the 1600s said the T, and that habit spread.
This kind of change is called a spelling pronunciation: the letters change how we say the word.
Today you can hear both, and neither is a mistake.
📌 Good to know
You may see oft in old books and poems, as in oft-told tale. It is the shorter, older form, and now it feels very old-fashioned.
Often is a word that fits well with its opposite, seldom. Word historians think seldom may even have helped shape the -en ending.
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Spelling by sound.
❌ offen, ofen, offten
✅ often
Neither pronunciation is wrong.
❌ "You must say the T."
✅ Both OFF-en and OFF-ten are correct.
💬 In a Conversation
Sam: How often do you practise?
Mia: Every day.
Sam: You said it without the T.
Mia: You said it with the T.
Sam: Who is right?
Mia: We both are. That's the odd part.
⏳ The OddLingo Timeline
Old English oft: "again and again"
↓ 1200s to early 1300s: often, with the T said
↓ by the 1400s: the T fades, and offen is recorded
↓ 1600s: the T returns, because of the spelling
↓ today: both OFF-en and OFF-ten are correct
🥡 The OddLingo Takeaway
A silent letter can be a missing sound, or it can be a letter waiting to be said again.
In often, the T left and came back. So you can say it either way.