Español homophones
cu/ku/Qu
"cu" is a noun; "ku" is a pronoun - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #6 of 387 Spanish groups.
Data vintage
Grammar picks the spelling
Same sound, different grammar: "cu" arrives as a noun, while "ku" is a pronoun. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "cu" is 2 letters, "ku" is 2; only the sound ties them.
- No shared spelling stem: "cu" is 2 letters, "Qu" is 2; only the sound ties them.
- No shared spelling stem: "ku" is 2 letters, "Qu" is 2; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across cu, ku, Qu: u. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
cu
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory cu · private c
ku
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory ku · private k
Qu
2 letters · 1 vowels · shape CV
Inventory qu · private q
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "cu" when you mean: Nombre de la letra q, Q
- Write "ku" when you mean: Ese, esa. Pronombre y adjetivo demostrativo usado para una entidad ausente.
- Write "Qu" when you mean: Dígrafo del alfabeto gallego. Su nombre es que u.