Spelling 10 - More Fun with Q
We thought we'd end the spelling section of our Upper Primary English quizzes with a couple of easy ones just for fun! In this quiz, like the last, you have to find the words containing the letter Q.
The letter Q is the 17th letter of the English alphabet and the letter U is the 21st letter. The positions of the two letters in the alphabet have no particular numerical significance but the two letters combine to give some amazing words which enrich the English vocabulary.
Q is among the lesser used letters in English. Interestingly the letter is even more rarely used without an accompanying U. Almost all the words that contain the letter Q in their spelling do so in combination with the letter U, thus - QU. A standalone Q is limited to proper nouns.
Another facet of the QU combination is the fact that the letter that follows QU is always one of the vowels, or (very occasionally) a letter Y. Thus you will find words such as QUADRANT, QUEEN, QUIVER and QUOTIENT, but no words can be found with the QUU combination.
Another facet of the QU combination is the fact that most of the words begin with the combination QU. Very few words are found containing the QU combination in the middle of the word.
The QU combination has given us some extremely interesting words such as MASQUERADE, PICTURESQUE and CONSEQUENT which help to make our written English very colourful. What would the critics do if they did not have the CRITIQUE word? What would medical emergency care givers do without a TOURNIQUET? Take the quiz that follows and learn some new words containing the letter Q in their spelling.