Q q — cu
«cu» is a consonant of Catalan, the “The Catalan Latin alphabet” script, read as “k (always with a silent u)”. Always k, and the u after it is not sounded: què sounds like "keh". For example, in the word “què” — what. The Catalan alphabet has 35 letters in total. When the u must be heard, a diaeresis is added: qüestió sounds like "kwees-tee-OH". It appears, for example, in the word “què tal?” — how's it going?
In short
| Character | Q q |
| Name | cu |
| Sound | k (always with a silent u) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 21st of 35: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are p and r, appears in 171 words of this site.
How it sounds
Always k, and the u after it is not sounded: què sounds like "keh"
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- quèwhat
The character in the “the letters that mislead” group
Here Catalan parts ways both with Spanish and with what the eye expects: j is a zh, s between vowels is a z, a final r goes silent.
- H hsilenthac
- J jzhjota
- G gg before a, o, u; zh before e and ige
- V vv (sounds almost like b)uve baixa
- B bb; sounds like p at the end of a wordbe alta
- C ck; s before e and ice
- S ss; z between vowelsesse
- Ss sss (always voiceless)essa doble
- R rr; usually silent at the end of a worderre
- Rr rra rolled r (between vowels)erra doble
Words with this character
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «cu» it is “k (always with a silent u)”, as in the word “què”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 35 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Catalan character q read?
As “k (always with a silent u)” — it is a consonant of the “The Catalan Latin alphabet” script. Always k, and the u after it is not sounded: què sounds like "keh". For example, in the word “què” — what.
What is the letter q called?
Cu. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Catalan script: it is called “cu” and reads as “k (always with a silent u)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can q be confused with?
When the u must be heard, a diaeresis is added: qüestió sounds like "kwees-tee-OH". Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.