The Letter X
X usually sounds like the English sh: xente (people), xa (already), xoves (Thursday).
How It Works
The everyday sound: sh. In ordinary Galician words, x sounds like the sh in English shop. It can come at the start of a word (xente, people; xaneiro, January), between vowels (caixa, box; hoxe, today) or after a consonant (laranxa, orange).
Where Spanish has j, Galician often has x. Many words that Spanish spells with j, or with g before e or i, are spelled with x in Galician: xente (Spanish gente), xogo (juego), xoves (jueves), laranxa (naranja), hoxe (hoy). Standard Galician has no sound like the Spanish j, and it never writes j in its own words.
Learned words: ks or s. In some words that come from Latin or other languages, x keeps the old value ks: taxi, sexo, taxativo. The standard notes that speakers naturally tend to say s in many of these words, especially before a consonant: exame (exam), éxito (success), exterior, explicar (to explain). The spelling stays x either way.
For the full list of letters, see The Galician Alphabet.
Examples (6)
- A xente xa chegou.
The people have already arrived.
Word by Word: The people already arrived.
Both xente and xa begin with the sh sound.
- O xoves teño un exame.
I have an exam on Thursday.
Word by Word: The Thursday I-have an exam.
Xoves has the sh sound. In exame, most speakers say the x as s.
- Hoxe baixo á praia.
Today I am going down to the beach.
Word by Word: Today I-go-down to-the beach.
Between vowels, x still sounds like sh.
- Collemos un taxi para ir á estación.
We are taking a taxi to go to the station.
In taxi, the x keeps the ks sound.
- Queres zume de laranxa?
Would you like orange juice?
Word by Word: Want-you juice of orange?
Galician laranxa matches Spanish naranja: x where Spanish has j.
- Explícame iso cun exemplo.
Explain that to me with an example.
Before a consonant, as in explicar, x is usually said as s.
Common Mistakes
Using j for the sh sound.
A jente xa chegou.A xente xa chegou.Galician never uses j in its own words. The word for people is xente, with x.
Dropping a Spanish word in unchanged.
O juego comeza ás cinco.O xogo comeza ás cinco.The Galician word is xogo, spelled with x and without the Spanish ue.
Writing s because the x sounds like s.
Mañá teño un esame.Mañá teño un exame.Many people say exame with an s sound, but the word is always written with x.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The sounds spelled with x refine the alphabet's letter values.
Related Patterns
- ch / ll / ñThe Sounds CH, LL and Ñ
Another group of letters whose Galician spellings often differ from Spanish.
Level 1 - c / z / quC, Z and QU
Explains the letters for the th and k sounds, which learners also mix up with Spanish spellings.
Level 1 - Silent H
Hoxe combines a silent h with the sh sound of x.
Level 1 - Avoiding Spanish Interference
Many common Spanish-influenced errors involve writing j where Galician has x.
Level 4
Practice The Letter X in Bubblegum
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Galician lessons at your level. Tap any grammar point in a lesson to see its full explanation.
