Compared to some other languages, Portuguese pronunciation is relatively consistent, once you learn and follow the basic rules. A huge exception to this idea lies the letter X, which is one of the most challenging sounds – even for more intermediate learners.
That’s because this letter makes a several different sounds, and it varies unpredictably… for the most part. To get started, let’s see what Sherlock has to say on the topic:
(A special thanks to our friend Wayne Wilsonfor not only writing and animating this video, but for also providing the voice of Sherlock! Please help us thank him below or in the YouTube comments!)
As you saw in the video, there are 5 different ways to pronounce X in European Portuguese. But when you see a new word that contains this letter, how will you know which of the 5 pronunciations to use?
The only way to be fully sure is to memorize the individual words. But to hopefully give you a head start, let’s explore some of X’s common pronunciation patterns:
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In this video, Joel (o Canadiano) interviews Pedro, a personal trainer in Lisboa. When he saw which videos and website his Greek girlfriend was using to learn Portuguese, he immediately recognized Rui and Joel as members of the gym! Instead of just taking a photo together, we decided it would be a bigger surprise for […]
In this video, Joel (o Canadiano) interviews Pedro, a personal trainer in Lisboa. When he saw which videos and website his Greek girlfriend was using to learn Portuguese, he immediately recognized Rui and Joel as members of the gym! Instead of just taking a photo together, we decided it would be a bigger surprise for […]
Have you ever been confused by the way Portuguese natives pronounce their sentences?
Even if you know the individual words, when used together they can sound completely unfamiliar. This is often because some written vowels mysteriously vanish when spoken.
Watch this short video now, because in the next few days we’ll launch a new lesson to help you master vowel pronunciation. You’ll learn why these vowel sounds disappear so you’ll understand European Portuguese better while making your own accent sound more native!
Many learners find European Portuguese natives much more difficult to understand than Brazilians – mainly because when spoken, it sounds much more closed. In some cases, there are even vowel sounds that are barely audible! (Make sure you already saw the Mystery of the Disappearing Sounds as an entertaining 2-minute introduction!) In this 2nd of our 3 video lessons in this […]
