pronouncekit

SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /w/: the w sound in we

Round your lips and raise the back of your tongue, then glide into the vowel for /w/. Separate west from vest and avoid adding /g/ in Spanish-influenced speech.

/w/
American English
/w/ · approximant · labial–velar · voiced
British English
/w/ · approximant · labial–velar · voiced
Pronunciation model

Try it in a word

We went away one Wednesday.

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy.

What your mouth is doing

The lips round and the back of the tongue rises toward the soft palate, similar to /u/. Then both move quickly into the next vowel. It is voiced, and the teeth do not touch the lips.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

Spelling can hide it: one and once begin with /w/, and qu usually means /kw/, as in quick. Written wr, as in write, has no /w/ at all.

Pinyin w and Spanish hu, as in hueso, are close references. Mandarin speakers should keep /w/ and /v/ apart, and Spanish speakers should avoid a gw beginning.

Build the sound, step by step

  1. Round your lips tightly, as for /u/, without touching your teeth.
  2. Start your voice and open quickly into the vowel of we.
  3. Say water, one and quick, keeping /kw/ together in the last word.

What to watch for

  • Upper teeth on the lower lip gives /v/, so west turns into vest.
  • Adding a back-of-tongue closure gives gw. Start the glide without any stop.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Alternate west and vest, then wine and vine. For /w/, the lips round and do not touch the teeth. For /v/, the upper teeth touch the lower lip and the buzz continues.

Compare these sounds

Keep practicing

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance. The references below describe the sounds; the comparisons with other languages are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common American and British patterns, not every accent, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist. The mouth model is a simplified teaching aid, not a validated simulation.

Published 3 November 2026