Does U Always Come After Q?

The letter Q is almost always followed by a U in English, but that isn't always the case. ... There are a handful of words that English borrowed from other languages that flout that rule, like burqa, qat, and qabbalah.

Is there a word without u after q?

Of the 82 words in this list, 78 are (or can be) interpreted as nouns, and most would generally be considered loanwords; the only modern-English words that contain Q not followed by U and are not borrowed from another language are freq, qiana, QWERTY, and tranq.

Why is Q Always Followed by U?

In English, QU is always used as a digraph (a pair of letters representing a single speech sound) for the sound /kw/ (a voiceless labiovelar stop). Q's pairing with U is a Latin invention that has its origin in Greek. ... Q without U is used to represent sounds not often found in English but typical in Semitic languages.