Spelling the qu words

 Spelling the qu words Spelling the qu words
  queen question


Teaching point The rules for qu are simple;

1. When you hear the sound /kw/ the spelling is always qu.
2. In English words, q is never seen without u: qu.

"Never?" - Well, almost never! A true story:

word lists
 
For many years the author of this course used to stress the qu spelling to all her classes by promising a big reward to any student who could find an English word containing q without u. She was confident she would never have to pay up but, in 1993, Andrew (age 12) found the word 'qwerty' in his dictionary. This word describes a computer keyboard and is made from the first six letters on the keyboard. It has become part of the language and is one of the very few English words to break the qu rule. Can you find two more words that break the qu rule?
 
word lists
word lists word lists

Some examples of qu words:

quick
quite
quilt
request
require
equal
aquarium
earthquake
inquisitive		 qua and quar
quads
quality
quantity
squash
squat
squalor
quarter
quartet
quartz

After qu, the short vowel sound /o/ is usually spelled with the letter a. The sound /or/ is spelled ar.
Learn the Words:
Study this word list 'Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check' spelling exercise English spelling games spelling test
Learn the Words:
Study this word list 'Look, Say, Cover, Write, Check' spelling exercise English spelling games spelling test

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Unit 3: Spelling the consonant sounds, part 2

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