V vs B

Question

when the spanish people pronounce the V, or they usually pronounce it B'

Answer 1

Hi June10! You may have opened a can of worms by asking your question, although it is a good one. The issue of how a English speaking Spanish learner should pronounce the letters 'B' and V' has been a hot debate before. You can read more about it here: http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/110724/pronunciation-of-b-and-v

But the basic answer is that for a native Spanish speaking person there is little or no difference in how they are pronounced. (Think of how at times the English letters 'K' and 'C' sound the same.) However neither one are truly pronounced like the English letters 'B' or 'V'. They are close, but not exact. Read through this entire thread and the other one that I linked to for more details.

• good answer chaparri - Heidita Dec 2, 2009
• I may be slow, but I get it eventually. I think... ;-) - chaparrito Dec 2, 2009

Answer 2

They are pronounced the same in Spanish. Therefore, when people ask how to spell a word containing one of these, they ask whether "bay-grande" (B) or "bay-chica" (V) is used. The "bay" here is just a placeholder for the sound of these letters.

Answer 3

James, ¿por que pones "bay"? =(

En España decimos "be" o "uve".

Las letras son completamente diferente si se leen como letra.

• Well, in English, ay is how we write that sound out. - webdunce Dec 2, 2009

Answer 4

James, ¿por que pones "bay"'

As I said, it is just a placeholder. In speech we would say the letter B/V, but they both sound the same. And it looks odd to write it as "¿Se escribe con B grande o V chica'," because the letters are already right there, so the question seems silly. That is, the distinction is made in writing, but not in speech.

En España decimos "be" o "uve".

OK. In Mexico and other countries, they say it the way I did.

Las letras son completamente diferente si se leen como letra.

Do you mean when you read the letter as a single letter? As far as I know, that is not true in Mexico, although I'd love to hear from a native of that country.

By the way, shouldn't it be "Las letras son completamente diferentes"'

Answer 5

James Santiago said:

Therefore, when people ask how to spell a word containing one of these, they ask whether "bay-grande" (B) or "bay-chica" (V) is used. The "bay" here is just a placeholder for the sound of these letters.

James, if I am not mistaken, they say "BE-grande" (B) or "BE-chica" (V), and "BE-corta" (V) and "BE-larga" (B), where "BE" is the name of the letter B. I am surprised that you spell it like "bay".

Answer 6

Sí, claro "diferentes".

No, me refería a la letra si se deletrea: "be y "uve".

Pues no entiendo eso. ¿Cómo van a decir bay? eso por qué?
¿Y por qué bay grande? ¿Si la letra es be o uve? Al decirlo también se dice...no entiendo tu lógica.

Answer 7

Heidita said:

Sí, claro "diferentes". No, me refería a la letra si se deletrea: "be y "uve".

Pues no entiendo eso. ¿Cómo van a decir bay? eso por qué?

¿Y por qué bay grande? ¿Si la letra es be o uve? Al decirlo también se dice...no entiendo tu lógica.
Surely James' "bey" was intended (simply) to distinguish it from the English word "be" (i.e. a phonetic spelling (geared towards English speakers).

In Spain I always heard "be" and "uve" but in other countries I've encountered the "be grande/chica" that James mentioned as well as "Be de burro y be (or perhaps, 've') de vaca.

Answer 8

muchas gracias amigos, so there is no "v" at all in spanish , but i wonder even when i say television i pronounce it with B'

Answer 9

Dana said:

muchas gracias amigos, so there is no "v" at all in spanish , but i wonder even when i say television i pronounce it with B?

You want to sound perfect in Spanish? Replace EVERY single V with a B, and read it again. Yes, "televisión" sounds exactly like "telebisión", no more, no less, no exceptions, no what-if's.

Answer 10

samdie wrote:
Surely James' "bey" was intended (simply) to distinguish it from the English word "be" (i.e. a phonetic spelling (geared towards English speakers).

Precisamente. Lo escribí así a fin de que Dana lo entendiera. Claro que habría podido escribirlo como lo de Lazarus ("BE-grande" (B) or "BE-chica" (V)), pero para un anglohablante, eso le parece raro y le hace pensar por qué no se escribe como "VE-grande" (B) o "VE-chica" (V), si las letras se pronuncian igual. "Bay" (o "bey") es solo una manera de representar la pronunciación.

Dana, although B and V are interchangeable in Spanish (in terms of pronunciation, but not of correct spelling), neither is exactly like the B or V in English.

Answer 11

i thought that V is a bit lighter than B. or im wrong?

lazarus1907 said:

Dana said:

muchas gracias amigos, so there is no "v" at all in spanish , but i wonder even when i say television i pronounce it with B?

You want to sound perfect in Spanish? Replace EVERY single V with a B, and read it again. Yes, "televisión" sounds exactly like "telebisión", no more, no less, no exceptions, no what-if's.

>

Answer 12

Yes, punni, you are wrong. As he said, no "what-if's".

James, lo siento, no entendía en absoluto lo de "bay".

Answer 13

It can still be a v sound in some countries. I had a spanish teacher from Chile once and she said it was a v sound and not a b sound. She also explained that while this was different from other dialects we might encounter, we could use either pronunciation in practice and we would be understood either way.

Answer 14

Mirad estos interesantes artículos.
Sobre uves y bes
Con /b/ de vaca: mil años de antirromance de una letra con el roman...

En España:
DVD = deuvedé
V = uve
B = be

En hispanoamérica:
DVD = debedé
V = be chica
B = be grande

Answer 15

Heidita said:

Yes, punni, you are wrong. As he said, no "what-if's".

James, lo siento, no entendía en absoluto lo de "bay".
For an English speaker, if you write "be" to suggest the pronunciation of the Spanish letters v|b, the hearer is apt to assume that you mean the English word "be" (as in "To be or not to be ...". To indicate (using English sounds/words) the pronunciation of the Spanish word "be" you would do better to use "bay" (as in 'San Francisco Bay' or 'bay leaves' or 'to bay at the moon').

Although b|v are indistinguishable in spoken Spanish there are two widely used allophones (possibly more, if one considers the entire Spanish speaking world). One of those allophones is the sound that is used in English for "b"; the other does not exist in English. There was a discussion of this last summer in a thread entitled "Boy of Voy").