'Cue' is a signal to act or a billiard stick; 'queue' is a line of people or things waiting.
Noun/verb. A signal that tells someone to act or speak. A billiard stick. Also: in American English, to add to a playlist ('cue up a track').
The director gave the actor a cue to begin the scene with his entrance.
That is your cue to speak — the moderator just introduced your name.
He leaned on the cue and lined up his shot across the billiard table.
Noun/verb. A line of people or vehicles waiting in order. To stand in a line. Also: a list of tasks, requests, or files waiting to be processed.
There was a forty-minute queue outside the venue before the doors opened.
The support tickets are in the queue and will be processed in order of receipt.
British people are famously patient about queuing in an orderly line.
Common mistake
"That was his queue to speak" when meaning signal (correct: cue). Or "Stand in the cue" when meaning the waiting line (correct: queue). British English uses 'queue' extensively; American English uses 'line' more often but keeps 'queue' for technical contexts.
Trick to remember it
'Cue' = 3 letters, quick and sharp like a signal. 'Queue' = 5 letters but only the QU is pronounced — the rest (EUE) are silent, like the people standing quietly in line.
Quick rule
Is it the signal to act, or the billiard stick? 'Cue'. Is it the waiting line? 'Queue'.
Did you know?
'Queue' is one of the strangest words in English: five letters but only the QU is pronounced — the UEUE at the end is entirely silent. From French 'queue' (tail, line). 'Cue' began as a theatrical 'Q' written in medieval scripts — an abbreviation for Latin 'quando' (when), marking the moment an actor should speak. Actors eventually said the letter's name 'Q' aloud as 'cue'. 'Take your cue from X' — meaning follow someone's lead — comes from this theatrical origin.
Exercise 1 · Pick the right one
There was a long _____ at the checkout, so she chose the self-service option.
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
The host gave the presenter a _____ and the slideshow began immediately.
Exercise 3 · Form the word
Is it the signal to act, or the billiard stick? 'Cue'. Is it the waiting line? 'Queue'.
"That was his queue to speak" when meaning signal (correct: cue). Or "Stand in the cue" when meaning the waiting line (correct: queue). British English uses 'queue' extensively; American English uses 'line' more often but keeps 'queue' for technical contexts.
'Cue' = 3 letters, quick and sharp like a signal. 'Queue' = 5 letters but only the QU is pronounced — the rest (EUE) are silent, like the people standing quietly in line.
Bryan López
Founder of SpeakUP Academy