“Q” is the Second Least Common Letter

What can I spell with the letter Q?

Interesting Facts in Easy English

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

digraph: two letters that make a single sound (e.g., ph)
successive: appearing one after the other
dread: to think about with fear or worry
loanword: a word from a foreign language that maintains its spelling and form in a new language
qi: life energy force in Chinese medicine

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (0.0KB)

“Q” is the Second Least Common Letter

As you can guess, the letter Z is the least commonly used letter in the English alphabet. (In American English, this letter is “zee.”) The letter Q is the second least commonly used letter. In English words, Q is almost always followed by the letter U. The letters QU form a digraph. A digraph is a single sound made from two successive letters. When playing word games like SCRABBLE, many players dread the letter Q. Not only is it difficult to think of words that contain this used letter, it is almost always to have a tile with the letter U in order to play a Q. After all, most words that contain a Q without a U are like Iraq and Qantas, which are not permitted. Some loanwords from other languages are permitted in word games. In fact qi, also spelled c-h-i, is the most commonly played word in SCRABBLE tournaments.

Comprehension Questions

What is QU an example of?
Why does the report mention the letter Z?
What is the most commonly played word in SCRABBLE tournaments?

Discussion Questions: Do you enjoy playing word games like SCRABBLE? What words do you know that contain the letters Z and Q?

show Answershide Answers

Subscribe to EnglishClub Podcasts

3 comments

English Club Indonesia says:

Queen is an example of QU. Z is the least common letter in English. Qi is the most commonly played word in SCRABBLE tournaments. I don’t like to play SCRABBLE. I don’t know any words that contain the letters Z and Q.
Martina says:

No this is the first time to hear bout this game , but probably I will can try it sometime next days .

About the letters z and q

Z = zoo , zero , zip , pizza , amazing, crazy , prize, lazy, zoom, zone, amazing, maze , buzz , Zambia ( country name) , zoro movie name

Q = question, quizzes, quickly, qualifications, quantity, aqua, quality , ( Qena ) city in Egypt
Jeannette Mukashema says:

Actually this questions is good. it’s help us to understand quickly and very well.

“Q” is the Second Least Common Letter

Interesting Facts in Easy English

You may also like:

3 comments

Leave a comment