Pronunciation of Q

Start first lesson

1. Lesson 1

14 questions

2. Lesson 2

15 questions

3. Lesson 3

12 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

The Spanish letter q is pronounced like the English q in queen (reina) or the k in king (rey).

In Spanish, qis often followed by the letter groups ue or ui, in which the letter u is silent. You can hear this in queso(cheese), química(chemistry), parque(park), and aquí(here).

The Sound of the Letter “Q”

“Q” Is a Consonant

The letter q represents the Spanish consonant sound, or phoneme, /k/. When a consonant sound is uttered, the flow of air out of the mouth is partially or completely blocked at some point.

Note that the sound /k/ in Spanish is not only represented by the letter q, but also by the letter c and the letter k.

The name of this letter is pronounced cu.

Where can you find the letter q?

It is almost always followed by the letter groups ue or ui, in which the letter u is silent: quemar(to burn), quinto(fifth).
In a few rare cases, it is followed by the letter groups ua or uo, in which the letter u is not silent: squash(squash), statu quo(status quo). This happens mostly with loan words from languages like Latin or English.
The letter q is very rarely followed by another vowel or located at the end of a word: Qatar(Qatar), Iraq(Iraq). This happens mostly with words taken from Arabic.

How to Pronounce "Q" in Spanish

The sound of the Spanish q is velar, which means it is pronounced by pressing the back of the tongue against the soft palate to stop the flow of air completely for an instant. Then the air is let out abruptly.

Additionally, the vocal cords do not vibrate when uttering q, so linguists classify it as voiceless, or sordain Spanish.

Is the Spanish "Q" Similar to the English "Q"?

Yes, it’s almost identical in sound, but without any trace of aspiration. Compare the sound of the q in the English word quiche and the sound of q (remember the u is silent) in its Spanish translation quiche.

It is also very similar to the English c in car or the k in kangaroo.

Examples

Let’s look at some examples of words containing the letter q in different word positions and letter combinations. The first table shows the most common use of q, in which the letter is followed by a silent u. The second table shows the least common uses, in which the letter is followed by a non-silent u or by other vowels.

Table 1

Spanish	English	Position-Combination
quejarse	complain	beginning of word + ue
qué	what	beginning of word + ué
quince	fifteen	beginning of word + ui
químico	chemist	beginning of word + uí
esqueleto	skeleton	inside word + ue
marqués	marquess	inside word + ué
arquitecta	architect	inside word + ui
sequía	drought	inside word + uí
aunque	even though	end of word + ue
parqué	parquet	end of word + ué
saltimbanqui	acrobat	end of word + ui
marroquí	Moroccan	end of word + uí

Table 2

Spanish	English	Position-Combination
quark	quark	beginning of word + ua
quásar	quasar	beginning of word + uá
quorum	quorum	beginning of word + uo
quórum	quorum	beginning of word + uó
sine qua non	sine qua non	inside word + ua
ex aequo	joint, jointly	end of word + uo

One Letter, One Sound

The pronunciation of the letter q is practically the same throughout the Spanish-speaking world, so there shouldn’t be much difference between the way roosters go quiquiriquí(cock-a-doodle-doo) in El Salvador, Bolivia, or Spain.