One of the most frequently mispronounced consonant is the letter X. In spoken American English the letter X has two pronunciations. Here are the rules and a few examples.
1. When the letter X occurs before a stressed vowel it is pronounced like /gz/. Here are a few examples.
The word exact sounds like egzact.
What’s his exact location?
The word exactly sounds like egzactly.
She’s exactly right.
The word example sounds like egzample.
Could you give me an example?
2. When the letter X is before a consonant sound it is pronounced like /ks/.
The word extreme sounds like ekstreme.
His behavior is very extreme.
The word expect sounds like ekspect.
I expect that work’ll be busy this month.
The word context sounds like contekst.
I understand the word when I hear it in context.
3. The letter X is pronounced as /ks/ when it occurs at the end of a word.
The word tax sounds like taks.
How much was the tax?
When you are speaking English stay aware to the two pronunciations of the letter X. Pronouncing the X correctly will help people understand your spoken English.
Susan Ryan is an American English pronunciation teacher and accent reduction coach. She currently lives in South Florida. Read more articles by Susan at http://www.confidentvoice.com/blog/
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