Never understood this rule. Its the only letter that needs to be paired together. I cant think of any words that are just Q without the U. Why are these two inseparable!! I need to know why!!
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In older languages, particularly early Latin, *C*, *K*, and *Q* could all be used to write the sound /k/ (represented in modern English by *C* or *K*), but which one was used depended on the surrounding letters.
Eventual Latin usage drifted to using *Q* almost only before a rounded vowel sound (represented by *U*), and that usage was inherited by most European languages. A few modern languages use *Q* alone for the old /k/ sound (as in French *cinq*, pronounced “sank”), but most exclusively use *QU* for /kw/ (as in French *quoi* or English *question*). English can still use *Q* for /k/ in shortened versions, as in *tranq* (from *tranquilizer*).
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