American English sound
/v/: how to pronounce “v” in van, very and love
/v/ is the sound in van, very and love. Your upper teeth rest on your lower lip, and your voice buzzes as the air squeezes through.
It's one of the sounds learners most often swap: with /w/ (vine and wine), with /b/ (very and berry), or with /f/ at the end of a word (have and half).
/v/
the “v” sound
How to make the sound
- 1Rest your upper front teeth gently on the inside of your lower lip.
- 2Turn your voice on: you should feel your lip tickle and your throat buzz.
- 3Push the air through the narrow gap between teeth and lip. Don't let the lips close.
- 4Keep the buzz going to the very end of words like love and five.
- Tongue
- tip-down
- Lips
- lower lip on upper teeth
- Voice
- voiced
Hear it in words
Tap a word to hear it.
At the start
In the middle
At the end
How it's spelled
- v: van, never, five
- ve at the end: have, love, move
- f in “of”: of
Common mistakes
Saying /w/: “wine” for vine
The lips round instead of touching the teeth. Bite gently: upper teeth on the lower lip.
Saying /b/: “berry” for very
The lips close completely. Leave a small gap so the air keeps flowing.
Losing the voice at the end
Have becomes half and leave becomes leaf. Keep the buzz going to the end of the word.
Who finds /v/ hard
Speakers of these languages often replace it with a sound from their own language. Linked languages have their own accent traps page.
Often say /w/ instead
Chinese, Hindi, Thai
Often say /b/ instead
Japanese, Korean, Spanish
Often say /f/ instead
Arabic, Indonesian
Minimal pairs
Each pair differs by one sound. If both words sound the same when you say them, practice this pair.
Try it
“Vivian visited every village in the valley.”
Record a sentence and get a score for every sound, /v/ included. Free, no account.
Questions
How do I tell /v/ and /w/ apart?
For /v/ the upper teeth touch the lower lip; for /w/ nothing touches and the lips are rounded, as in “oo”. Look in a mirror: if you can see your teeth on your lip, it's /v/.
Why is “of” pronounced with a v?
It's one of the few words where the letter f is voiced: “of” is /əv/. “Off”, with two f's, keeps the /f/.