W

How to type it

Left ring finger; hold Shift for the capital. Introduced in Lesson 10: Top row: w and o.

Common uses

• W is called double u in English, though in shape it is two V letters joined.
• W is silent at the start of words like write and wrong.

Less common uses

• W is the chemical symbol for tungsten, from the German name wolfram.
• W is the symbol for watt, the SI unit of power.
• W came from two V letters written side by side, because V and U were once one letter.