V and W pronunciation: how to say “vest” and “west” differently
For v, touch your top teeth to your bottom lip and push air through. For w, round your lips like a small circle, with no teeth involved. Then practise pairs: vest/west, vine/wine, vet/wet.
“Ve vill visit the vest ving.”
“We will visit the west wing.”
Why Hindi speakers say it
Hindi व is one sound, often somewhere between English v and w, and Hindi speakers use it for both letters. English treats them as two different sounds that can change the meaning: vest/west, vine/wine, vet/wet. The fix is all in the mouth shape.
Three more examples
| Practise | How to say it |
|---|---|
| very, village, vote | Top teeth on the lower lip, then add voice: v. |
| water, week, window | Round your lips into a small circle, no teeth: w. |
| We visited a very wet village. | Say it slowly, feeling each switch between w and v, then at normal speed. |
Quick self-check
Answer in your head, then open the answer.
For the w in “west”, your…
- top teeth touch your lower lip
- lips make a small circle
- tongue touches your teeth
Show answer
b) lips make a small circle W uses rounded lips and no teeth.
Which pair starts with two different sounds in English?
- vest / west
- very / vary
- west / wet
Show answer
a) vest / west Vest starts with v, west with w.
Which word starts with the teeth-on-lip sound?
- wine
- vine
- why
Show answer
b) vine Vine starts with v.
Practise it out loud
Knowing the rule is not the same as saying it right under pressure. In WordSlick you practise sentences like these out loud with AskSlick, the AI tutor, and get corrections explained in Hindi. Mistakes you keep making come back in later sessions until they stop.
Questions
Is the v/w mix-up a big problem?
People usually understand you from context, but it is one of the most noticeable features of a Hindi accent in English, and in some words it changes the meaning: vet/wet, vine/wine.
How should I practise?
A few minutes a day works better than long sessions. Start slowly with word pairs in front of a mirror, then move to short sentences, then record yourself speaking normally.