Week 20 of 36 · 10 words · ages 16–17

11th Grade spelling words, week 20: qu says kw or k

Q is always followed by u; together they say kw, as in quagmire and soliloquy, or just k in French words like torque and macaque.
soliloquy
A speech a character makes alone on stage.
torque
A twisting force that causes rotation.
quixotic
Idealistic in a way that is not practical.
macaque
A kind of monkey found mainly in Asia.
quagmire
Soft, boggy ground, or a hard situation to escape.
querulous
Complaining in a whining way.
colloquy
A formal conversation or discussion.
requiem
A Mass or musical piece for the dead.
antiquated
So old-fashioned that it is out of date.
tourniquet
A tight band used to stop heavy bleeding.

Ten minutes a day this week

Short and daily beats long and once. A word met on five separate days is remembered; a word met five times on Thursday night mostly is not.

  1. Monday

    Read the list together. Say each word, clap its syllables and find the pattern in it.

  2. Tuesday

    Look, say, cover, write, check — each word once from memory, then check the letters.

  3. Wednesday

    Use every word in a sentence, out loud or on paper, so each one means something.

  4. Thursday

    Practice test: a grown-up reads each word aloud. Circle the misses for tomorrow.

  5. Friday

    The test. One try per word, no letters given. The circled words go first.

Practise these 10 words, free

One tap puts this week’s list in SpellChirp. It reads each word aloud, checks the spelling, brings back the ones that went wrong, and can write them into a story your child stars in. No account needed to start, and no advertising.

Add week 20’s words