Phoneme
/v/

/v/ as in "van"

/v/ is a voiced labiodental fricative of General American English, as in "van" and "vest." To produce it, top teeth on lower lip, vibrate your vocal cords. Phoneme provides native-speaker audio and minimal-pair contrasts so learners can hear and practice this consonant.

/v/van
vanalso: vest
Isolated sound
"van"

How to make /v/

voiced labiodental fricative — top teeth on lower lip, vibrate your vocal cords.

Sounds that learners confuse with /v/

Minimal pairs for /v/

/v/ vs /f/
/v//f/
vanfan
vatfat
leaveleaf
vinefine
veilfail
savesafe
viewfew
proveproof
/v/ vs /w/
/v//w/
vinewine
vetwet
vestwest
veilwail
vowwow
valewhale
vanewane