# qu vs qual

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### qu
*noun · frequency rank #20,195*
An administrative subdivision of China roughly equivalent to districts, distinguished from the more rural "counties" (xian).

### qual
*noun · frequency rank #45,609*
Qualifying exam. An exam taken by someone (usually a grad student or prospective grad student) to measure their mastery in something, usually an academic field.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/qu-vs-qual