How to pronounce the V and W (and how NOT to confuse them when speaking)

English with Hadar Shemesh

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Hey everyone its Hadar and this is the Accent's Way.

Today we're gonna talk about how to pronounce the V as in 'vet' versus the 'W' as in 'wet'.

Some speakers tend to confuse those two sounds

and then use it W when they need to use a V and vice-versa

and some people just struggle with pronouncing one of those sounds.

So today we're gonna learn how to pronounce each of them

and also how not to confuse them

which is sometimes more important

because okay, I know how to pronounce it

but how do I make sure that I don't mispronounce it when speaking

because in practice, it's all great.

But then in real speech totally different thing.

So let's begin with the difference between those two sounds.

Now both sounds are formed with the lips

the wha is produced as the lips go forward and the tongue pulls back a bit.

Wha pushes down

and the V sound is created by bringing the bottom lip to touch the top teeth.

You're releasing air with sound,

so the vocal cords are vibrating and creating this friction sound

which is the V as of the word 'very'

Now let's practice it in words.

The V sound first.

You want to feel vibrations.

Notice that it's just like the F sound

V-V only that the voice is activated creating this new sound, the V

When you pronounce the W sound you want to make sure that

nothing touches the lips. The lips move closer

wha You need to use the muscles here

So if you don't tend to round your lips a lot in your native tongue,

you definitely want to do some lip push-ups and

You know strengthen the muscles here.

So it's easier for you to pronounce this sound

The lips don't touch anything.

And yes, when you have an H after the W

It is pronounced with a regular W sound.

Some people add this H-sound

This H-sound when pronouncing the W in WH spelling patterns

like 'wHen' and 'wHy' .

But I highly recommend you to keep it simple

and just pronounce the W sound.

Unless you want to sound really really sophisticated.

Now while this may be a little easier for you

So you know what to do for each word

It gets tricky when it comes to phrases

For example, the phrase 'very well'.

Probably if you tend to confuse these two sounds

something like 'Wery vell' comes out, right?

'Very well' or 'very vell'.

Maybe two V's or two W's

or perhaps you're just mixing the two things

and saying something like 'wery well' instead of 'very well'.

So, start make sure that for the V and usually when you have a V in the spelling

it means that you do bring the bottom lip to touch the top teeth usually

and then for the W make sure nothing touches

So always use words in context

because when you use them separately

it's all bells and whistles and then

whistles by the way with a W

and then when you need to use it in a sentence you always go back to old habits.

Unless you become hyperaware

hyper aware of the sound.

Making sure that you don't mispronounce it.

So again, 'I'm doing very well. Thank you.'

Round you lips, nothing touching

vibrations, v-v-v

Yeah, I know. I added a few R's in there just for fun.

We want to make sure that the bottom lip touches the top teeth

and then at TH-sound and then W-sound

So practice it in words

Then practice it in phrases

and then to make sure that you're actually using it in real speech

when you actually speak

Then either record yourself, okay?

and listen to the recording and only focus on the things that we talked about

the substitution of the W and the V

Or speak to yourself and make a point of using all the words that you practice.

Notice in particular words that have both W's and V's together

and even more specifically

V's and W is connected like

when you need to shift from the V to the W

this is where it blends in

and then you usually drop one sound like

and then merging the two sounds.

You have to make this distinction

Now, let's practice it in minimal pairs.

Words that are almost the same except this one sound

and that one sound changes the meaning

Okay, so go ahead and practice

make a list of words that you use on a regular basis with V's and W's

and make sure that you don't mispronounce them.

it's all about being focused and knowing what you're doing

and also about being cool with making mistakes

cuz that's the only way to learn

That's it. I hope this was helpful.

Let me know in the comments below.

What is your struggle?

And if you have any other words that you struggle with

so I can make videos and help you pronounce them correctly

Thank you so much for watching.

Please share it with your non-natives friends

and come over to my website

Check it out. Fun stuff there.

Take care, and I'll see you next week in the next video.