Pronunciation of The Letter X in Portuguese

How Do You Pronounce the Letter X in Portuguese?

The letter X is one of the most challenging sounds in Portuguese because the pronunciation rules are quite variable.
Let’s hear what Sherlock has to say on the topic:

To review, let’s look at the 5 groups of possible pronunciations:

1. “sheesh”

Whenever the letter X appears on its own, as in a hyphenated word, or when you’re discussing the letter itself, the pronunciation will sound like “sheesh“:
o raio xx-rayCommunity Slow audio Play audio
Not bad so far, right?

2. “-ks”

This pronunciation sounds exactly like the English pronunciation for X. Unfortunately, there aren’t any clear rules to follow to know when to use this version. So, when you hear this pronunciation, you might want to make an extra effort to commit the individual word to memory.

o maxilarjawCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

o táxitaxiCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

tóxicotoxicCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine

o oxigéniooxygenCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

(Tip: Words that come from technology or international culture that contain X will usually use this pronunciation, like “fax”… not that anyone sends faxes anymore! )

3. “sss”

Similar to the previous group, words with this X pronunciation just have to be memorized. For example:

máximomaximumCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

próximoclose (to, by)Community Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Singular, Masculine

4. “zzz”

When “ex” is followed by a vowel, the pronunciation will often sound like “zzz”:

o exameexamCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

existeexistsCommunity Slow audio Play audio Conjugated Verbs

o exemploexampleCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

exaustoexhaustedCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine

exatoexactCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine

5. “shh”

X is usually pronounced as “shh” when X appears at the beginning of the word…

o xadrezchessCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

o xaropesyrupCommunity

…when X is preceded by a diphthong…
(Oversimplified, a “ditongo” is when 2 vowels combine to make a single syllable, instead of two separate syllables.):

o peixefishCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Masculine

o caixote de lixogarbage binCommunity Slow audio Play audio

a ameixaplumCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

deixarto let, to allow, to leave (something)Community Slow audio Play audio Verb

…and when “ex” is followed by a consonant:

extraextraCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective

extremamenteextremelyCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adverb

exportaçãoexportationCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

explorarto exploreCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb

exceçãoexceptionCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

excelenteexcellentCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective

excêntricoexcentricCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine

a excursãoexcursionCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

When in doubt…

When none of the more specific guidelines in the previous groups apply, and when the x appears between vowels*, it will often fallback to this “shh” sound.:

a taxarateCommunity Slow audio Play audio Noun, Singular, Feminine

fixecoolCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective

de luxoluxuryCommunity Slow audio Play audio

luxuosoluxuriousCommunity Slow audio Play audio Adjective, Masculine

puxarto pullCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb

relaxarto relaxCommunity Slow audio Play audio Verb

• Unless the vowel before X is “e”, in which case the rule from Group 4 will likely apply. Que confusão!

We warned you this wouldn’t be easy, but hopefully some of these guidelines and examples will make the struggle 5% easier