About the b for vaca

One of the first things to learn in Spanish is the pronunciation of the alphabet, not for the sake of pronunciation but to be able to understand what is being said. Spanish doesn’t hold many mysteries for Dutch speakers but there is one exception that goes against the grain for the Dutch. That is the pronunciation of the letter ‘v’.

‘Baca’ or ‘vaca’?

You may find the heading at the top a little strange until we explain that in fact the ‘v’ in Spanish is always pronounced as a ‘b’. If a Spaniard says ‘baca’, he may mean a roof rack or a cow! The sounds are exactly the same, but a cow is ‘vaca’ if you have to write or spell it.

‘Bas’ or ‘vas’?

And if a Spanish girl says ‘Bas’ a lot, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she knows a Dutchman called Bas! ‘Vas’ comes from the Spanish verb ‘ir’ (to go) and means ‘you go’. The meaning is usually obvious from the context.

Many of our course members are not used to pronouncing the ‘v’ in a different way and find it very frustrating. The only way to overcome the problem is to speak or read aloud in Spanish.