French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "dix" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce dix in French?

dix is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dis/. It means “ten.” dees when it stands alone — like "deece". Not "dix" as in the English spelling, and the vowel is a long clear "ee".

dees when it stands alone — like "deece". Not "dix" as in the English spelling, and the vowel is a long clear "ee".

dix /dis/

One syllable. As with "six", the interesting variable is not stress but which of the three shapes the final "x" takes.

Listen: dix

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Sound it out

d A clean "d" with the tongue touching the back of the upper teeth.

i A pure "ee", tense and unwavering.

x Three-way, exactly like "six". Alone: /s/. Before a consonant: silent, so "dix minutes" is /di mi.nyt/. Before a vowel: /z/, so "dix euros" is /di.z‿ø.ʁo/.

Hear it in a sentence

Ça prend dix minutes à pied.

It takes ten minutes on foot.

Listen: Ça prend dix minutes à pied.

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"Ça prend dix minutes à pied" gives you the consonant-following case: "dix minutes" drops the "x" entirely, /di mi.nyt/. It is easy to miss because nothing is added — the word just gets shorter. "À pied" ends in a silent "d", so it is /a pje/, and the whole expression means "on foot".

Where English speakers slip

The default English reading is "dicks", which is both wrong and unfortunate. The vowel is "ee" and the "x" is an "s" at most. Beyond that, the standard learner error is freezing on one form: having learned "dees", people say "dees minutes" when a native says "dee minutes". Think of "dix" as a word whose ending is decided by whatever comes next, and drill the three versions in phrases rather than in isolation.