"Often," as you obviously know, is an adverb that means many times; on many occasions; frequently.
As in, "I quite often hear 'Despacito' on the radio."
Or "Portion control regarding cheese often eludes me."
But did you know that if you're pronouncing "often" with a hard T — "off-ten" — you're wrong????
The T in "often" is silent, according to Merriam-Webster. That means we should be pronouncing it as:
The word originates from Middle English and the word "oft." In the 1500s, people used to pronounce the T, which was also pronounced in words like "soften" and "hasten."
The Webster's Second dictionary had this to say in 1934, when people were divided on whether to pronounce the T.
But over time, just like in those words, the T fell out of usage.
So even though pronouncing it "off-ten" might feel like it's more ~proper~, the official dictionary verdict is "offen."
