/X/

The x: two sounds, /ks/ and /gz/

The x isn't one sound, it's two consonants together, and which two depends on where the stress falls. If the following syllable is unstressed it's /ks/ (voiceless); if it's stressed, it voices to /gz/. It's the only letter in English that shifts this way.

How it's made

• 👄 Mouth: two movements in a row, with no vowel in between.
• 👅 Tongue: first the back closes (/k/ or /g/), then the tip approaches the alveolar ridge (/s/ or /z/).
• 🔊 Voice: voiceless in /ks/, voiced in /gz/ — the word's stress decides.

You hear it in: /ks/ in box · six · next — /gz/ in example · exam · exact

⚠️ The typical Spanish-speaker mistake: slipping a vowel between the two consonants, the way Spanish does. Next isn't nekest, and box doesn't end in bokes.

By the end you'll be able to: produce both sounds back to back with no vowel between them, and pick /ks/ or /gz/ by the stress.