In English the letter X has three pronunciations.

In the first row of examples the X sounds like a combination of the letters G and Z. This sound only occurs at the beginning of a word and it is alway preceded by the letter E.

In the second row the X sounds like a combination of the letters K and S.

In the third row, the X sounds like a Z. This sound only occurs at the beginning of a word.

Click on the sample words to listen to the sound files. Pay attention to the sound of the letters in bold.

Letter	IPA	Examples
x	gz	examine (gzmIn)	exit (gzIt)	exotic (gztIk)
	ks	taxi (tksI)	extra (kstr)	fix (fIks)
	z	xenophobe (znfb)

IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet. Learn more about phonetics and the IPA.

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