The audio here is generated speech. A recorded human voice for this lesson is on the way.

The sound

W is made with rounded lips, as if you were about to blow out a candle, and then the lips open into the next vowel. Your teeth don't touch anything. It is a gliding sound, which is why "we" feels like a quick "oo-ee".

The most common mix-up is W and V. For V your top teeth touch your bottom lip; for W nothing touches, the lips only round. Learners whose language has one sound for both often say "vest" for "west" or "wine" for "vine". Watch yourself in a mirror: teeth on the lip means V, round lips means W.

Hear the difference

Tap each word. Then test your ear.

  • W: round lips, no teeth. V: top teeth on the bottom lip.

Test your ear

Say it out loud

Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.

  1. Both sounds together. Watch the mirror: round lips for W, teeth for V.

Practice · 3 min

Repeat each sentence in front of a mirror. Round your lips for every W. On the last sentence, check that "very", "visit" and "winter" show three different starts: teeth, teeth, round lips.

Say it today

Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.