QU

Q never travels alone in English. Qu is one unit representing /kw/ — two sounds from two letters that must be read together.

Digraphs

qu DIGRAPH_QU_01

Strong rule · High reliability · Occasional · Beginner · Reading and spelling

• /kw/ qu: queen, quick, quiet
• /k/ qu in French borrowings: unique, antique, mosquito

Where Wiggler teaches it: Skill 2: CVC Word Mastery

Child explanation

Q and u are best friends: you never see one without the other. Together they say /kw/, like in queen.

The rule

Q is always followed by u in English, and the pair represents /kw/. The u here is not a vowel — it is part of the consonant unit.

What is really going on

The q-u sequence is inherited from Latin via Norman French, where qu spelled /kw/. English has no native word with q alone. In later French borrowings the sequence spells plain /k/, usually word-finally as -que: unique, antique, plaque, boutique.

Position in the word

• Beginning of a word — The usual position, /kw/. For example: queen, quick, quiz, quiet.
• End of a word — As -que, plain /k/. For example: unique, antique, plaque.

Examples

Easy examples

queen, quick, quit, quiz, quack

More examples

quiet, quilt, quest, square, squash, squeeze, question, equal

Advanced examples

unique, antique, mosquito, bouquet, plaque

Pseudo-words

Made-up words that follow the rule. A child who reads these has the pattern rather than the vocabulary.

quab, quen, squin

Exceptions

• qu as /k/: unique, antique, plaque, boutique, mosquito, conquer. Later French borrowings, where French had simplified the sound.

Common reading mistakes

• queen: a child reads /k/ /juː/ /iː/ /n/, where the word is /kwiːn/. The u decoded as a vowel instead of as part of the unit.

Teacher note

Introduce qu as a single card from the first day it appears, so the u is never a loose end to explain. It is also worth pointing out that squ — square, squash, squeeze — is qu with an s in front rather than a new thing to learn.

Related rules

• The letter U — u — Short /ʌ/, two different long values, a /ʊ/ set after p and b, and a job as a silent partner to q and g.
• S blends — sc sk sm sn sp st sw — S plus a consonant. The easiest blends to hear, because /s/ can be held and stretched for as long as a child needs.
• CK after a short vowel — ck — One sound, /k/, and a strict position rule: ck only ever follows a short vowel at the end of a syllable. Never at the start of a word.
• French spelling patterns — ch=/ʃ/ / -que / -ette / ou / silent final consonant — Ch as /ʃ/, -que for /k/, -ette, and a silent final consonant in ballet and buffet. Later borrowings that kept French pronunciation.

• Previous in Digraphs: NK — nk — The n in nk is not /n/ — it is /ŋ/. Think is /θɪŋk/, which is why nk is taught as a glued unit rather than blended.
• Next in Digraphs: GH — gh — Usually silent, occasionally /f/, and /g/ only at the start of a word. The single most unreliable consonant spelling in English.
• All reading rules

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