Imagine saying “Gutter” - like the Victorian Brits - but with that harder, throatier Q sound and you’re sort of there. Put another way, the Q sounds like a K spoken from the back of the throat. If you actually want to be correct, the Q sounds like a cross between a K and a G. (Less acceptable is just calling it “gutter,” as official guides suggested in the 19th-Century UK.) This is also acceptable in conversational English. In fact, in Qatar, the actual place, when many local Qataris converse in English, they will default to “kuh-TAR” or “KUH-der,” knowing the Arabic sound is awkward in English - and in fact doesn’t exist in the English language.įurther complicating the issue is that in Qatar, there are a lot of Brits, and they pronounce Qatar as “KA-tar,” in which the Qat- sounds like “cat” the animal. Most likely, this person doesn’t know what the fuck they’re talking about.īoth “kuh-TAR” and “KUH-der” are incorrect, but both are perfectly acceptable in conversational English.
This is the point when some pedant or know-it-all is going to say to you, “Actually, it’s ‘KUH-ter.’” And if they’re American, they’ll likely soften the T to a D and pronounce it as “KUH-der,” similar or identical to “cutter,” depending on the person.
Your second instinct is going to be to pronounce the word as “kuh-TAR.” WisherĪs an American, your first instinct is going to be to say, “What? How do I pronounce a Q,” not unlike when you saw someone bust out QAT in a game of Scrabble. Qatari flag candy sculpture outside the Qatari embassy photo by Dane A.
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