The Spanish “x”

Question:

Hola Dave!

What are the pronunciation rules with regards to X’s? It seems to have many rules.. like Mexico is pronounced Mejico and Texas is pronounced Tejas. But it also has a real “x” such as in the word “exito”     Someone once told me how to pronounce Xcaret and I forgot how it sounded because it sounded very different. So what is the rule for the X’s?

Gracias,

Dustin

Answer:

Hola Dustin,

The Spanish “x” sounds just like the English “x” with one major exception – names. With certain names, the “x” sounds like the Spanish “j”. Examples are “México”, “Xavier” and “Oaxaca”.

Hopefully that answers your question.

Hasta luego,

Dave

Comment:

Thank you Dave!

I have a followup on the same topic. I asked my friend from Mexico how to pronounce Xcaret. She said it is pronounced “Ish-Caret”…is this some exception?

Thanks!

Dustin