English pronunciation
How to pronounce B and V in English (berry vs very)
B and V in English differ in where the sound is made. For B, close both lips completely, then let them pop open with your voice on. For V, rest your top teeth on your lower lip and let your voice buzz through without stopping — the difference between berry and very.
How to say B and V
For B, press your lips together so no air gets out.
Turn your voice on and open your lips suddenly. B is a short pop; it can’t be held.
For V, keep your lips apart and rest your top teeth lightly on your lower lip.
Push your voice through so it buzzes against your lip, and keep it going. You can hold the start of van for a second; you can’t hold the start of ban.
Why it’s hard
In Spanish, B and V are the same sound written two ways, so Spanish speakers often say vote as boat, or blend both into a soft sound with the lips almost closed. Japanese and Korean have no V, so very tends to come out as berry.
The soft in-between sound uses both lips without closing them, so to the speaker it can pass for either letter. An English listener hears B in one word and V in the next, and best and vest blur into each other.
Words to practise
These are the pairs PronounceFit uses to train B and V. Each pair differs only in its first sound: a full stop with both lips, or teeth on the lip.
B vs V
- berry / very
- boat / vote
- bat / vat
- ban / van
- best / vest
- bet / vet
Common mistakes, and how to catch them
Using both lips for V
If your lips touch each other for vat, it becomes bat. To catch it, look in a mirror: for V your upper lip stays up and only your top teeth touch your lower lip.
Letting B go soft
If your lips don’t close fully for ban, air leaks through and it can sound like van. To catch it, feel for the tiny build-up of air behind your closed lips just before the pop.
Over-correcting
Working hard on V can turn bet into vet. To catch it, record boat / vote and bet / vet, play them back, and check each word sounds the way it is spelled.
How PronounceFit trains B and V
Start by ear: berry and very, ban and van play, and you answer same or different, or which one you heard. It needs no microphone, so it works anywhere.
Then say both words of each pair — boat and vote, best and vest — and every attempt is scored, so you can see when your lips and teeth are doing two different jobs. In a longer reading, the slip shows up inside real words: tap the marked word, compare your take with the reference voice, and retry until it turns green.
Read more about each step:
FAQ
Questions about B and V
Why do Spanish speakers mix up B and V?
Because in Spanish the letters B and V stand for the same sound. English uses them for two different sounds, so boat and vote are different words.
Is the English V made with both lips?
No. English V uses your top teeth on your lower lip. A sound made with both lips almost touching is heard as a B, or as a blurred V.
Which words should I practise B and V with?
berry / very, boat / vote, bat / vat, ban / van, best / vest and bet / vet: each pair differs only in its first sound.
More English sound guides
- TH soundThink, they, three: where your tongue goes, and the slips to S, D and F.
- R vs LRight or light: for one the tip of your tongue touches the roof of your mouth, for the other it doesn’t.
- V vs WVest or west: teeth on your lip, or rounded lips and no teeth.
- Short I vs long EEBit, beat and bet: three vowels where many languages have one or two.
English pronunciationEvery hard English sound, with the real word pairs the app drills.- All languagesEvery pronunciation guide, one language at a time.
Very, not berry.
Read one English sentence aloud and see exactly which sounds slipped — privately, on your device.