The Letter Q

The letter Q is based on the hieroglyph cord of wool and is based on the Greek letter Quppa. It almost has a K sound and that has replaced Q in some words throughout the adaption to the English language. There were a number of changes in the Ancient Greek letter too, which led to the letter Phi.

Q has also been replaced by some other letters throughout time, including Gs and Cs. For example, Ego was once written as Eqo. The only reason Q stayed was because it created a W sound.

When the Q is written in the English language, it is almost always followed by the letter U. This helps to create the W sound, which would have been written as Kw otherwise. Of course, there are times when the Qu has a K sound, such as in the word plaque.

There are two looks for the letter Q – one for the upper case and one for the lower case letter. The Uppercase is an O with a short diagonal line at the bottom right. The lower case is like an upside down lower case D or a reversed lower case P. However, the lower case Q can sometimes have a flick towards the right at the bottom, to prevent it from being confused with a G.

The Q is not a letter that is used in number plates or vehicle identification numbers. This is because it can be mistaken for a zero on many occasions. There are also times when the Q represents a vehicle that has been imported – this is common with the older British number plate system.