Learn the answer to the question 'Do I write B or V?'
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| Ask a Teacher, lesson 11- How can I decide if I have to write B or V in Spanish? |
| Hi everybody! Rosa here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Spanish questions. |
| The question for this lesson is… |
| How can I decide if I have to write B or V in Spanish? |
| In Spanish the letter B and the letter V have the same sound but they are written differently. So, how do you know which one to use? |
| Despite some exceptions, there are some rules that can help you to pick which letter to use. |
| Let’s start with B-- |
| The words that usually use B can be divided in 4 groups-- |
| First, all the words that begin with bu-, bien- or bene- and bi- |
| For example-- butaca meaning “armchair," bienestar, meaning “wellness," and bisonte, “bison.” |
| Second, all the words that end in -bilidad, -bundo or -bunda. For example-- amabilidad, “kindness," moribundo, “moribund," and nauseabunda, “nauseating.” |
| Third, all the verbs whose infinitive forms end with -ber, -bir and -buir. For example, beber, "to drink," saber, "to know," and escribir, "to write." |
| Fourth and last, all of the past imperfect verbs whose first conjugation ends in -aba. For example, compraba, “I was buying," or cantaba, “I was singing.” |
| Now let’s see the rules for V-- |
| The words that usually use V can be divided in 4 groups-- |
| First, all the words that begin with vi-, div-, ev-. For example, vivir, “to live,” divertido, “funny,” and evento, “event." |
| Second, all the forms in present indicative, imperative and subjunctive of the verb IR, "to go." For example, voy “I go,” or ve “you go!” (in the imperative). |
| Third, all the adjectives that end in -ave, -avo, -evo, and -ivo. For example-- suave, “soft," and decisivo, “decisive.” |
| Fourth and last, after b-, d- n- or ol-. For example-- obviar, “to obviate," advertir, “to warn," enviar, “to send,” olvidar, “to forget.” |
| And that’s it. But as you might already know Spanish always has tricky exceptions. But don’t worry! You’ll get used to them in no time! |
| How was this lesson? Pretty interesting, right? |
| Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them! |
| ¡Hasta pronto! “See you soon!” |
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