Let’s talk about when to use the letter V vs. the letter B in Spanish and how to avoid common Spanish spelling errors. There was one thing that used to always confuse me when I first started learning Spanish:
When To Use V vs. B in Spanish
When hearing a Spanish word for the first time, and you have never seen the word written before and the word has a “b” or “v” sound, how do you know if you should spell the word with the letter “b” or the letter “v.”
Unlike in English, where the English letters “b” and “v” have distinct sounds, in general, the Spanish “b” and “v” are pronounced exactly the same.
I remember a few years ago in “Nueva York” (New York City) when I went with a friend to buy a cell phone and the salesman in the cell phone store was a native Spanish speaker.
I am not sure from which country, but I believe that he was from “La República Dominicana” because the neighborhood in the Bronx where the cellphone store was located was a “barrio” (neighborhood) that was mainly Dominican and Puerto Rican.
The salesman had learned enough English to obtain a sales job where it may be necessary for him to speak English. And I remember him telling my friend in English that the cell phone had “video.”
But he did not pronounce the English word “video.” He pronounced the Latin American Spanish word “Video” with the word beginning with a “B” sound as in “boy” instead of a “V” sound.
And I remember my friend asking him over and over again “the cell phone has what?” and the sales guy kept saying “the cellphone has bideo.”
My friend must have asked the sales guy 4 or 5 times “the cell phone has what?” And the sales guy must have replied 4 or 5 times “the cellphone has bideo.”
Finally, I got bored with the Abbott and Costello routine and explained to my friend that the salesman said that “the cell phone has video.”
So if the Spanish “b” and “v” are pronounced exactly the same how do you know or how do native Spanish speakers even know how to spell a word in Spanish that has the letter “b” sound or “v” sound.
By the way, the general rule (according to the Spanish textbooks) of pronunciation say that at the beginning of a word and after the letters “m” or “n”, the Spanish “b/v” sounds more like the “b” in the English word “boy.”
In other instances, the “b/v” is pronounced like an English “b” in which the lips are not allowed to touch.
With that said I can tell you that I have seen posts at learning-Spanish forums from English speakers who have said that they have heard some Spanish speakers pronounce “votella” (bottle) instead of “botella.” And I have used self-study Spanish courses where the speakers sounded as if they were actually pronouncing “vamos” (“let’s go” how it is actually spelled) instead of “bamos” (“let’s go” how it would be pronounced according to the above rule.)
And I have heard Spanish speakers pronounce “ya vuelvo” (I will be right back) instead of pronouncing “ya buelvo” (how it would be pronounced according to the above rule.)
But the objective of this blog post is NOT to determine when to use a “b” sound or a “v” sound in Spanish — but to tell you how to tell someone how to spell a word in Spanish that has the letter “b” or “v.”
The rule is very simple . . .
If the word has the letter “B” in it then you say “B grande” (big B). You can also say “B larga” (long B).
If the word has the letter “V” in it then you say “V pequeña” (little V). You can also say “V corta” (short V).
In Colombia, instead of saying “B grande” or “B larga” it is common to hear people say “B de Bogotá.” I guess in Spain it is common to hear people say “B de Barcelona.”
Before I go I want to give you SEIS (6) tips for you that are related to this topic:
1. In Latin America where the Spanish is more Americanized the English word and the Spanish word “video” are spelled the same. That is “video.” And the accent is put on the next to last syllable of the word.
In Spain, the word is spelled and pronounced with the accent on the first syllable or on the
letter “i” as in “vídeo.”
2. The Spanish verb for “to spell” is “deletrear.”
En la clase de español deletreamos unas palabras para aprender su pronunciación.”
In Spanish class, we spelled a few words in order to learn pronunciation.
3. To ask someone “how do you spell it” you can just ask “¿Cómo se escribe?”
4. All “letras” (letters) in the Spanish alphabet are feminine. For example, one says or writes: la a, la b larga, la c, la d, la v corta, etc.
5. Besides letter of the alphabet, “letra” also means “handwriting.”
Yo escribo con una letra muy redonda y elegante.
I write with a very circular and elegant handwriting.
By the way, a really fancy Spanish word that you may hear for handwriting is “caligrafía.”
You can just think of the Spanish word “caligrafía” as the equivalent to the English word calligraphy.”
5. Besides letter of the alphabet, “letra” also means “lyrics of a song.”
A Common Gringo Pitfall To Avoid
In Spanish you do not refer to the words of a song as “palabras” (words).The words of a song are called “letra” (lyrics).
Se me olvidó la letra de esa canción.
I forgot the lyrics of that song.
Thank you ever so for you blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Cool.
Major thanks for the blog post. Really Cool.
Major thankies for the blog article.Really thank you! Fantastic.
Say, you got a nice blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.
I cannot thank you enough for the post.Really thank you! Really Great.
UID_97211224###
Yuk, sehat bersama! 👨⚕️👩⚕️ Cek kondisi tubuh kamu di Program Cek Kesehatan Gratis sekarang juga! 💉🌡️ Selalu jaga kesehatan, ya! 🏥💖
UID_83003169###
Kenalan yuk! 🤝 Dengan guru inspiratif ini, Guru Dede Sulaeman yang mengajarkan cara merapikan pakaian di kelasnya. 👕👚🎓
UID_18563832###
Ini yang di ganti >>> Yuk, ketahui lebih lanjut tentang Syarat Gabung OECD dan Pentingnya Ratifikasi Konvensi Antisuap di sini! 🕵️♀️🔎📚.
UID_95859078###
Baru-baru ini, para pemain Mahjong Wins 3 dikejutkan dengan bocoran RTP yang diklaim bisa meningkatkan peluang kemenangan secara signifikan. Banyak yang percaya bahwa informasi ini membantu mereka mendapatkan hasil yang lebih konsisten dalam permainan. Jika Anda ingin tahu lebih lanjut, cek bocoran RTP Mahjong Wins 3 hari ini dan lihat apakah strategi ini benar-benar efektif.
UID_83344528###
Inilah 🎉🎉 Pupuk Inovatif Kebun Riset Kujang yang bikin Wamen BUMN bangga! 💪🏻🇮🇩
UID_74743238###
Ini dia! 🎉🎉 ASN BKN Ubah Pola Kerja yang baru dan efisien! 🎉🎉.
UID_27764099###
Ini yang di ganti >>> “Bingung Kenapa 😕❓” Federasi Sepak Bola Pakistan Disanksi FIFA “Baca Penyebabnya Disini! 🧐🔍”
UID_57092237###
Berita gembira! 🎉 Pasokan Gas 3 Kg di Kramat Jati Kembali Normal 🎊 Siap-siap belanja gas, ya! 💪🔥
UID_72942561###
Berita Hot! 🔥🔥 Isa Rachmatarwata Tersangka Kasus Jiwasraya Buntut kerugian negara hingga 16,8 Triliun! 😲😲
UID_59407105###
berita dana x twitter viral berita dana desa ada disini !
UID_14309460###
x twitter viral Video Bocor Bulan Sutena
UID_87577545###
Ini dia info viral link berita dana terkini di indonesia !
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article! It is the little changes which will make the largest changes. Thanks a lot for sharing!
UID_71301169###
cek info berita dana desa terlengkap hanya disini !
UID_36274208###
Ini dia info viral link berita dana terkini di indonesia !
UID_81140500###
makan besar makan makan
If you want to get a good deal from this post then you have to apply such methods to your won blog.
Im thankful for the blog.Thanks Again. Will read on…
F9 full English Full Movie Online F9 full Film Online F9 full English Film F9 full movie stream free F9 123movies
pills for erection generic ed pills – medications for ed
Thanks so much for the blog article.Really thank you! Want more.
Thank you ever so for you article.Really thank you! Will read on…
It’s in point of fact a nice and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please stay us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Usually I don’t learn article on blogs, but I would like to say that this write-up very compelled me to take a look at and do so! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thank you, very nice post.
I really enjoy the blog post.Thanks Again. Awesome.
Very informative article post.Thanks Again. Will read on…
With thanks. An abundance of advice!how to write an opinion essay write my papers help with writing assignments
This was super good to read. Thanks for sharing it. You made a long-term fan and I’ll return to read more. Thanks for sharing.
It’s actually a great and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
This post is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing!
PrimoCache Full Version
Incrddible points. Outstanding arguments. Keep up the great
effort.
Look att my site https://Supportvavada.Populiser.com
Respect to op, some fantastic information .
Фильмы
Смотреть
…In other instances, the “b/v” is pronounced like an English “b” in which the lips are not allowed to touch…..
Don’t you mean:
In other instances, the “b/v” is pronounced like an English “V” in which the lips are not allowed to touch.
English:
B -lips touch – “boys”
V -has top teeth on the bottom lip, lips don’t touch – “voice”
Artigo muito bom, fornece muito bem as informações, é
o que na verdade interessa. Este blog está de parabéns.
Vale a pena ler na integra.
Boa tarde . conheci seu site através de um parente e fiquei encantado com a produção dos seus artigos .
sem dúvida seu site ganhou um novo seguidor
Este é o tipo de post que merece compartilhado , pois realmente tem qualidade .
estarei compartilhando para todos os meus clientes para que possam saiba mais sobre o assunto no seu site
I own read your article. It’s truly helpful. We may benefit lots from it all. Fluent writing style and even ivid thoughts make people readers enjoy reading. I could share ones own opinions along with my good friends. We love Google 🙂
Here in Jalisco, Mexico they also distinguish between the two letters by saying B-burro and V-vaca.