In cue vs. in the cue

Question

Hello,A.  Are you in cue?B.  Are you in the cue?Are both sentences correct above?  If so, which is more natural?What's the difference between with and without the article 'the'?Can both be said when asking a person in front of you?Please advise.  Thank you.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

AnonymousA. Are you in cue?
B. Are you in the cue?

A. - not OK, since you are asking about a specific line of people waiting for something. In American English, we ask "Are you in line?"

B - OK. The word is normally spelled "queue".
Cue has a different meaning.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for your helpful response. Just some follow-up questions, if you don't mind.

1. "Are you in queue?" is incorrect, but "Are you in line?" is OK. Both have no "the" but only one is correct. Why is this so? Please explain.

2. Since "Are you in the queue?" is the one correct, is "Are you in the line?" also correct?

3. If "Are you in the line?" is also correct, how is it different from "Are you in line"? Which is more natural?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anonymous2. Since "Are you in the queue?" is the one correct, is "Are you in the line?" also correct?

Strange as it sounds, yes.

Anonymous3. If "Are you in the line?" is also correct, how is it different from "Are you in line"? Which is more natural?

In American English "in line" is a common adverbial phrase. It's just the way we say it. The other way (in the line) would be understood, but it is not as natural.
I invite our British English native speakers to comment on the use of "queue." We do not commonly use this word in the US.

Here are some other options:
Are you in the checkout line? (The is necessary in this case.)

Mr Wordy · Answer

AlpheccaStarsI invite our British English native speakers to comment on the use of "queue."

OK...

In the sense of a line of people, the word is always spelled "queue", never "cue".

We would never say "Are you in queue?", always "Are you in the queue?"

In a helpful context, "Are you in the line?" would be understood to mean the same as "Are you in the queue", but it is not commonly used in BrE. "Are you in line?" is used in BrE, but it usually has a different meaning. Rather than asking if you are in a queue (line) of people waiting to be served etc., it usually literally means "Are you (standing) in a straight line?" (for whatever purpose).

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars and Mr Wordy, for your clarifications.

I can see now the difference between AmE and BrE with regard to the correct usage of 'line' and 'queue'.

This is perfectly clear to me now. Appreciate it.

In cue vs. in the cue

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