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’.
VV and Wha
V versus W
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’.
Try saying it.
Probably if you tend to confuse these two sounds
something like ‘Wery vell’ comes out, right?
Am I 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
Aware with a W
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
go slowly here
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
you know that,
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.