One thing that confuses a lot of people who are learning Portuguese, is when and how to use the letter “x,” as opposed to a ch, s, z, etc.
So I found this really fun “lesson,” online on the pronunciation of the “x” in Portuguese. First, there is a paragraph with a bunch of x’s – then they explain which is pronounced how and why (well, the why part sort of…)
Antes do EXAME, oferecem-lhe uma XÍCARA de chá, pois o EXCESSO de estudos o tinha DEIXADO em grande EXCITAÇÃO nervosa. Ele era um aluno EXEMPLAR, o que justifica o tratamento de EXCEÇÃO que recebeu dos professores.Depois de tranqüilizado, fez EXCELENTE EXAME e falou com propriedade sobre o NEXO EXISTENTE entre os traumas da primeira infância e o COMPLEXO de Édipo, inspirado na EXIGÊNCIA de uma educação SEXUAL dos pais e dos educadores. Obteve a nota MÁXIMA.
So when do you pronounce which “version” of the Portuguese “x” in the above paragraph?
“z” sound:
- exame
- exemplar
- existente
- exigência
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
For the “z” sound in Portuguese, the x should be before and after a vowel, but the following vowels need to be followed by consonants. Exception: máxima, which is “s” sounding.
“s” sound:
- excesso
- exceção
- excelente
- excitação
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
They’re all preceded by a vowel (e) and followed by a c! Easy enough, right?
“ks” sound:
- complexo
- nexo
- sexual
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
These words are also preceded by and followed by a vowel, but which is not necessarily followed by another vowel or letter at that!
“ch” sound (but really “sshhh” sound):
- xícara
- deixado
What do all of these words have in common in relation to the x?
This is the hardest one because there are so many ways to use it and the pronunciation can be confused with the “ch” in Portuguese as well. Overall though, there are a few rules for this pronunciation of the “x”:
- At the beginning of words – like the example, xícara, in the text.
- After a ditongo, which is a vowel & a “semi-vowel” in the same syllable. So in deixado, the “ditongo,” is “ei” (this rule has it’s exceptions, such as recauchutar & caucho, but overall, you should be safe).
- After “me” – With words like, mexer, mexe, méxicano, mexericar, etc. The only exception here is “mecha“
- And after “en” – Examples are – enxada, enxame, etc. – The exceptions here are: encher, enchente, enchova.
Did that help a little? Note these aren’t scientific grammar rules, but just some assumptions we can make while trying to pronounce the x in Portuguese. This sort of rule is not set in stone and I apologize if I missed any exceptions!
