English pronunciation guide
How to pronounce English V and W
V and W look like neighbours, but they are made in completely different places. V uses your top teeth on your bottom lip. W uses rounded lips and no teeth at all. Many languages have only one of the two, so vest and west, vine and wine start to sound the same.
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V
Top teeth rest on the inside of the bottom lip. Add voice and let it buzz.
very, vine, have, over
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W
Lips rounded and pushed forward as for “oo”, then opened quickly into the vowel. No teeth.
we, wine, away, quick
How to make the sounds
- For V, rest your top front teeth lightly on your bottom lip and push your voice through. You should feel the lip buzz.
- For W, round your lips into a small circle as if you were about to say “oo”. Your teeth must not touch your lip.
- From that circle, open your lips quickly into the next vowel: “oo-ine” becomes wine.
- Check yourself in a mirror. V shows your top teeth. W shows none.
Minimal pairs
- vest west
- vine wine
- verse worse
- vet wet
- vary wary
- veil whale
- viper wiper
10 minimal pairs: vest and west9 minimal pairs: very and berry
Practice with real sentences
Tap Practice to open the sentence in Tono, listen to it, and say it. Scored against the US English model.
- We went to Venice in winter.Practice
- Would you like a glass of wine with dinner?Practice
- Vivian waved from the window.Practice
- Everyone will vote on Wednesday.Practice
- The view from the west window is wonderful.Practice
- I have never seen such a wide river.Practice
- Very well, we will wait.Practice
- What was the weather like in Vancouver?Practice
Common mistakes
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V for W: “vest” for “west”
Common among speakers of German, Polish, Russian and Dutch, whose languages spell a V sound with the letter W. Keep your teeth away from your lip and round your lips instead.
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W or B for V: “wine” or “bine” for “vine”
Common among speakers of Spanish, Hindi, Japanese, Korean and Mandarin. Both lips close or round instead of teeth meeting lip. Let your top teeth touch your bottom lip and hold the buzz.