• In English, letter Q is attached to letter U.
• Letter U is not acting like a vowel; instead the two letters work together as a consonant.
• Although Q and U act like one consonant, its sound is made by quickly blending two sounds together.
• The first sound is: /k/. The second sound is: /w/.
• These sounds are quickly blended together: /kw/, /kw/, /kw/, quick.

For markup, place a box around q and u to indicate they are working together as a consonant.