How to Pronounce “Queue” in British English (Tricky Words with Luke Thompson)

Hi, I'm Alex 👋

This is one of my Tackle Tricky Words shorts. It’s under 20 seconds, so watch it, repeat after Luke, and then practise with the activities below.

Queue looks scary: Q-U-E-U-E. But it’s one of the easiest words to say once you know the secret. 🇬🇧 It sounds exactly like the letter Q: /kjuː/. In this short we listen to Luke Thompson say it, and you repeat.

In the UK you’ll hear queue everywhere: at the bus stop, in shops, at the post office. Learn it in a phrase, like “Sorry, is this the queue?”, and it will stick.

▶️ Watch and read along

Queue

Alex: How do you pronounce this word? Queue.
Alex: Let’s watch Luke Thompson pronounce it.
Luke: Queue. Queue.
Alex: Just like the letter Q!

📖 Using queue in real life

a queue (noun): a line of people waiting. There was a long queue at the post office. (US: a line)
to queue (up) (verb): to wait in a line. We queued for an hour to get in.
to jump the queue: to go in front of people who were there first. Very rude in the UK! 😅
Sorry, is this the queue? The most British question there is.

🃏 Words from this episode

queue: a line of people waiting; to wait in a line. Sounds like the letter Q: /kjuː/
queue up: to stand in a line and wait your turn
jump the queue: to go in front of people who were waiting before you
line: the American word for a queue

🔽 Exercise 1: Pronunciation check

Queue sounds just like ___.
How many of the letters U-E-U-E do you hear?
Queue and cue sound ___.

🔗 Exercise 2: UK or US?

queue
queue up
jump the queue

✍️ Exercise 3: Complete the phrase

“How do you pronounce this ___?”
“Just like the ___ Q.”
“Sorry, is this the ___?”
“There was a long ___ at the post office.”

🔤 More tricky words

See them all on Tackle Tricky Words.

Now say it in a sentence: “Sorry, is this the queue?” Which tricky word should I do next? Tell me in the comments on YouTube! 🇬🇧

Alex