Q facts for kids

A fancy letter Q

Q is the seventeenth letter in the English alphabet. It comes after P and before R. You'll often see Q used with the letter U right after it, like in words such as "queen" or "quick."

What's Special About the Letter Q?

Some people wonder if the letter Q is really needed. This is because the sound it makes can often be made using the letters "K" and "W" together. For example, the sound in "queen" could sound like "kween." The same kind of ideas are sometimes said about the letters "X" and "C" too.

The History of Q: How It Looked Long Ago

The letter Q has a long and interesting history. It has changed its shape many times over thousands of years. Ancient people used different symbols that eventually became our modern Q.

Ancient Forms of the Letter Q

Here are some of the ways the letter Q was written in very old times:

Egyptian hieroglyph Q	Phoenician Q	Etruscan Q	Greek Qoppa

Images for kids

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  A long-tailed Q as drawn by French typographer Geoffroy Tory in his 1529 book Champfleury

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  The printed long-tailed Q was inspired by ancient Roman square capitals: this long-tailed Q, used here in the Latin word "POPVLVSQVE", was carved into Trajan's column c. AD 113.

See also

In Spanish: Q para niños