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How to pronounce queue

Queue is pronounced KYOO, exactly like the letter Q and the word cue. It is one syllable, and the letters u-e-u-e after the Q are silent.

Say it yourself
  • 1 syllable
  • Stress on KYOO
  • Sounds like cue
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

queue

One syllable

noun and verb · a line of people waiting; to wait in a line

  1. KYOOkjuː (stressed)
  • US /kjuː/KYOO Recorded voice
  • UK /kjuː/KYOO Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Queue, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

USUK American and British English/kjuː/

  1. KYOOstressed

    • /k/as in cat
    • /j/as in yes
    • /uː/as in too

Say queue yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes queue, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. Say only the letter Q. The letters ueue are all silent.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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Say this word

queue

    Common queue pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say KYOO.

    • NotKWAY

      Reading qu as in queen. In queue, the Q is followed by a you sound, not a w.

    • NotKYOO-ee

      Adding a second syllable for the last e. It is one syllable.

    • NotKWEH-weh

      Trying to say every vowel. All four vowels are silent.

    Queue in a sentence

    Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.

    • There was a long queue outside the bakery.

    • Please queue at the second window.

    • My file is still waiting in the print queue.

    Why is queue spelled with so many vowels?

    Queue is a French word. It means tail, and it comes from the Latin cauda. English kept the French spelling but not the French sound.

    The result is one sound written with five letters. Only the Q is said, as the name of the letter. The ueue after it is silent.

    Queue is the usual word in British English. Americans mostly say line, but they use queue for computers, as in a print queue.

    Words that sound like queue

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

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