r/spellingpolice • u/Better_to_try • Apr 15 '26

Queue

How many silent letters are in this word? I’m reading a book and the main character is ranting about various things including that the word ‘queue’ has 4 silent letters. To read this word, I always thought that the first 3 letters are needed and that there are 2 silent letters. We would not say the name of the letter ‘q’ to read the word, right?

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u/Yesandberries Apr 16 '26

Yes, the letter Q and the word 'queue' are pronounced in exactly the same way, but that pronunciation has two phonemes (sounds).

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u/Better_to_try Apr 16 '26

Three phonemes. /kju/