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V

Later sounds

V Sound

Bottom lip under the top teeth, exactly like /f/, but switch the voice on so the lip tickles and buzzes.

Sound
/v/
Typical age
By age 4
Voicing
Voiced
Type
Labiodental fricative
Words here
159

How to elicit V Sound

Ways to help the child make the sound on its own, before practicing it in words.

Placement, step by step

Where the lips, tongue and teeth go.

  1. 1Bottom lip under the top teeth, exactly as for /f/.
  2. 2Turn the voice on so the lip tickles and buzzes.
  3. 3Hold the buzz, then add a vowel.

Elicitation strategies

Tips to help a child say this sound. Most need more than one.

Auditory

  • Long buzzing "vvvv" like a bee or a small motor.
  • Contrast with /f/ (van / fan) and with /b/ (vote / boat) — the two usual swaps.
  • Hold it long; a short /v/ collapses into /b/.

Visual

  • Fully visible: top teeth on the bottom lip, exactly as /f/.
  • Mirror work pays off here more than almost anywhere.
  • Watch for the lips closing together instead, which gives /b/.

Gestural

  • The same finger-along-the-teeth slide as /f/, with your other hand on your throat.
  • Slide slowly — the length of the slide sets the length of the sound.
  • Both hands from the start, so the buzz is never an afterthought.
  • Fade the throat hand first once the voicing holds.

Tactile

  • Fingers on the lip or the throat for the buzz — /f/ is quiet, /v/ vibrates.
  • Their hand on your lip while you hold a long /v/, to feel the tickle.
  • Start from a held /f/ and turn the voice on without moving anything.
How to teach any soundThe practice ladder, shaping from a sound they have, and what to do when it stallsShow

The practice ladder

Speech practice climbs. Each step is harder than the one below it, and the jump that trips most people up is the one from single words to real talking. Work at the step where the child is right now - not the one you wish they were on.

  1. 1

    Just the sound

    “vvvv”

    The sound on its own, with no word attached. If the child cannot make it here yet, this is the whole job for now.

  2. 2

    The sound in syllables

    “va, vo, vee”

    The sound glued to a vowel. Nonsense syllables are useful precisely because they carry no meaning - nothing to get in the way.

  3. 3

    Words that start with it

    “van, vase, vest”

    The easiest place in a word, because the child gets to set up their mouth before they begin.

  4. 4

    Words with it anywhere

    “van, seven, five”

    Middle and end are harder - the sound has to be produced while the rest of the word is already moving.

  5. 5

    Short phrases

    “seven silver vans”

    Two or three words together. This is the first step where the child has to think about something other than the sound.

  6. 6

    Whole sentences

    “Seven silver vans drove over the river.”

    A full sentence of their own. Expect the sound to slip here even though it was perfect in single words - that is normal, not backwards.

  7. 7

    Reading and telling

    “a paragraph, a story about their day”

    Longer stretches of talking, with the sound coming up over and over. Reading aloud is useful because the words are already chosen.

  8. 8

    All the time

    “in the car, at dinner, with friends”

    Real conversation with nobody reminding them. This is the goal, and the only step that actually counts as finished.

Two rules. Do not skip a step because the child is bored - go back one instead. And if the sound falls apart when you move up, that is information, not failure: drop down a rung, get a few easy wins, and try again in a day or two.

Start with a sound they already know

  • /f/
  • /b/

From /f/, turn the voice on and change nothing else — this is the shortest route there is. From /b/, slide the bottom lip back under the top teeth and hold it instead of popping.

If it is not working

If a sound has not responded to several weeks of consistent work, stop and reconsider the target rather than drilling harder. There could be structural reasons a sound will not stabilize, and those need looking at before more practice will help.

Where this guidance comes from

Print it

V Sound word list159 words, sorted by position · PDFV Sound picture cards159 cards, 6 per page · PDFV Sound practice packBingo board, week log, sticker chart · PDF

Free to print, copy and share. No account needed.

Initial V

41 words

The sound is at the beginning of the word.

1 Syllable8 words

  • van
  • vase
  • vest
  • vine
  • voice
  • vet
  • vault
  • vent

2 Syllables15 words

  • very
  • vacuum
  • valley
  • visit
  • vulture
  • velvet
  • village
  • vanish
  • vibrate
  • viper
  • visor
  • volley
  • volume
  • vowel
  • voyage

3 Syllables16 words

  • video
  • violin
  • vitamin
  • volcano
  • vegetable
  • vanilla
  • vacation
  • vehicle
  • vertical
  • victory
  • vinegar
  • viola
  • violet
  • visitor
  • volleyball
  • vegetables

4 Syllables1 words

  • vacation day

5 Syllables1 words

  • veterinarian

High-frequency initial V words

Some of these also sit in the lists above, and none of them are picture-card words - which is exactly why most lists leave them out. They are the words the child already says hundreds of times a day — so they carry more carryover value than any noun on this page. Target them in conversation, not in drill.

  • very

Medial V

79 words

The sound is in the middle of the word.

2 Syllables53 words

  • seven
  • river
  • oven
  • movie
  • driver
  • shovel
  • gravy
  • over
  • never
  • silver
  • beaver
  • clover
  • invite
  • cover
  • diver
  • having
  • cavern
  • clever
  • divide
  • driveway
  • evening
  • event
  • ever
  • flavor
  • gravel
  • harvest
  • hover
  • invent
  • leaving
  • level
  • lever
  • lovely
  • moving
  • oval
  • pavement
  • private
  • several
  • shiver
  • sliver
  • swivel
  • travel
  • waving
  • weaver
  • wavy
  • giving
  • loving
  • driving
  • diving
  • divers
  • shaving
  • heavy
  • mover
  • even

3 Syllables20 words

  • eleven
  • favorite
  • universe
  • adventure
  • avenue
  • envelope
  • every
  • forever
  • seventeen
  • silverware
  • souvenir
  • beaver dam
  • living room
  • movie night
  • oven mitt
  • river bank
  • discover
  • traveling
  • carnival
  • seventy

4 Syllables6 words

  • elevator
  • television
  • avocado
  • delivery
  • invisible
  • shovel handle

High-frequency medial V words

Some of these also sit in the lists above, and none of them are picture-card words - which is exactly why most lists leave them out. They are the words the child already says hundreds of times a day — so they carry more carryover value than any noun on this page. Target them in conversation, not in drill.

  • everything
  • ever
  • everyone
  • having
  • everybody
  • leaving
  • evening
  • giving
  • moving
  • seven
  • driving
  • everywhere
  • heavy
  • several

Final V

39 words

The sound is at the end of the word.

1 Syllable28 words

  • five
  • give
  • love
  • cave
  • glove
  • stove
  • wave
  • leave
  • dive
  • hive
  • move
  • save
  • brave
  • twelve
  • drive
  • sleeve
  • shave
  • carve
  • curve
  • groove
  • grove
  • have
  • of
  • pave
  • serve
  • solve
  • weave
  • wove

2 Syllables10 words

  • olive
  • above
  • believe
  • arrive
  • behave
  • deserve
  • forgive
  • receive
  • remove
  • beehive

3 Syllables1 words

  • microwave

High-frequency final V words

Some of these also sit in the lists above, and none of them are picture-card words - which is exactly why most lists leave them out. They are the words the child already says hundreds of times a day — so they carry more carryover value than any noun on this page. Target them in conversation, not in drill.

  • of
  • have
  • give
  • leave
  • believe
  • move
  • five
  • drive
  • above
  • drove

Phrases, sentences and reading

Using the sound in longer stretches of talking, once single words are easy.

Phrases 12

Most of these carry two targets, so each one is two chances to practice.

  • seven silver vans
  • a very good movie
  • give it over
  • five olives
  • drive the van
  • leave it over there
  • a velvet vest
  • every visit
  • love the view
  • move the shovel
  • twelve violins
  • save the video

Sentences 12

  1. 1.Seven silver vans drove over the river.
  2. 2.Give me the shovel and I will move it.
  3. 3.We saw a very good movie about a volcano.
  4. 4.Vera loves her velvet vest.
  5. 5.There are twelve olives left in the jar.
  6. 6.Drive the van over to the vet.
  7. 7.The beaver swam across the river.
  8. 8.I never leave without my vitamins.
  9. 9.Every visit, Grandma gives us a hug.
  10. 10.The driver waved and drove away.
  11. 11.Please save the video for the evening.
  12. 12.Eleven violins played at the festival.

Reading passage

A Visit to the Vet

Vera drove her van to the vet to visit the animal doctor. Her cat, Olive, never loves the drive, so Vera gave her a blanket of soft velvet to lie on. At the vet, Olive weighed exactly eleven pounds. The vet said she was very healthy. On the way home, Vera gave Olive a treat and they watched the river from the driveway.

Phonological awareness

Hearing and playing with the sounds inside words — the listening skill that reading is built on.

1

Rhyming

Word families built on words from the list above. Say the family out loud, then ask for one more that fits.

-an family

van, can, man, than, plan, ran, fan, pan

rhymes with “vase”

vase, place, face, race, lace

-ine family

vine, fine, mine, line, nine, pine, dine, whine

-et family

vet, get, wet, pet, jet, net

-ent family

vent, went, tent, dent

-ive family

five, drive, dive, hive

2

Syllable counting and blending

Clap or tap once per syllable. To blend, say the parts with a gap and let the child put the word back together.

  • van1
  • very2
  • video3
  • vacation day4
  • veterinarian5
  • vase1
  • vacuum2
  • violin3
3

Sound blending

You say the separate sounds, the child says the word. Start with the two- and three-sound words.

  • /uh/ /v/of
  • /v/ /a/ /n/van
  • /v/ /ay/ /s/vase
  • /v/ /eye/ /n/vine
  • /v/ /oy/ /s/voice
  • /v/ /e/ /t/vet
  • /f/ /eye/ /v/five
  • /g/ /i/ /v/give
  • /l/ /uh/ /v/love
  • /k/ /ay/ /v/cave
  • /w/ /ay/ /v/wave
  • /l/ /ee/ /v/leave
4

Sound segmenting

The reverse, and the harder one. You say the word, the child breaks it into its separate sounds.

  • of/uh/ /v/
  • van/v/ /a/ /n/
  • vase/v/ /ay/ /s/
  • vine/v/ /eye/ /n/
  • voice/v/ /oy/ /s/
  • vet/v/ /e/ /t/
  • five/f/ /eye/ /v/
  • give/g/ /i/ /v/
  • love/l/ /uh/ /v/
  • cave/k/ /ay/ /v/
  • wave/w/ /ay/ /v/
  • leave/l/ /ee/ /v/

Generalization

Word lists get a sound into a child’s mouth. Generalization is what gets it into their life. These are activities where the target words come up on their own, so nobody has to be talked into practicing.

Play-based ideas for young children

Vroom vehicles

Drive cars, trucks and vans around a track. Add a vet visit or a delivery to the route.

Words that come up

van, vroom, drive, move, over, five, give, wave, save, love, have, above, never, cover

Vet clinic

Check stuffed animals for injuries. Listen to hearts, give check-ups, wrap bandages, send them home.

Words that come up

vet, visit, very, give, love, five, have, move, better, brave, cover, save, over, leave

Vegetable soup

Chop pretend vegetables into a pot. Taste it, add more, serve it to toys.

Words that come up

vegetable, very, have, give, more, stove, oven, move, cover, taste, love, leave, seven, over

Conversation and verbal games for older kids

  • Vote on it

    Hold a vote about anything - best movie, worst weather. "Vote," "versus," "very" and "favorite" keep coming back.

    Words that come up

    vote, favorite, every, never, versus, have, give, over, seven, eleven, believe, of course

  • Video review

    Review a movie or a video in five sentences. "Video," "movie," "have," "give" and "every" carry it.

    Words that come up

    video, review, favorite, movie, every, never, over, saw, love, have, give, awful

  • Travel plans

    Plan a trip: where you would visit, what vehicle you would take, what you would leave behind.

    Words that come up

    travel, van, visit, drive, arrive, leave, over, seven, every, never, have, adventure

Play it

Each game opens with V Sound selected. Choose a word position before playing. Score every production with Yes! or Not quite and a percentage appears at the bottom. Nothing is sent anywhere, and nothing is saved beyond this browser.