Initial V Words for Speech Therapy
Words that begin with /v/ — van, violin, vegetable, very, video. The voiced partner of /f/, made with exactly the same lip-to-teeth contact and differing from it only in whether the voice is switched on.
Also called word-initial V, V in the initial position, or V at the beginning of words.
- 136
- words
- 121
- competing-free
- 1–6
- syllables
Starter set: 72 Initial V words
One- and two-syllable words with no competing sounds, spread across the alphabet — enough to pick 10–20 targets for a session. The full list of 136 words is further down the page.
- valve
- van
- vast
- vat
- vault
- verse
- vice
- view
- voice
- void
- volt
- vote
- vaccine
- vacuum
- valid
- valley
- value
- vampire
- varied
- varies
- vary
- vector
- velvet
- vendor
- venture
- venue
- version
- versus
- vertex
- very
- vessel
- via
- victim
- viewer
- viking
- villa
- village
- vintage
- vinyl
- viral
- virgin
- virtue
- virus
- visa
- vision
- visit
- vista
- vital
- vocal
- voltage
- volume
- voters
- voting
- vacancies
- vacation
- valentine
- valium
- vanilla
- variance
- various
- vehicle
- vertical
- veteran
- victory
- video
- violence
- violent
- violin
- virtual
- visitor
- visual
- vitamin
- 01valve
- 02van
- 03vast
- 04vat
- 05vault
- 06verse
- 07vice
- 08view
/v/: 136 words · competing-free 121Generate a Initial V practice pack
Pick an age band and a theme; the list you just read becomes picture cards with phrases and sentences, a no-prep game, a data sheet and a home letter, every word verified before the PDF is built.
- Picture cards: word, phrase, sentence
- Say & dab game
- Data sheet + probe
- Home practice letter (B&W)
04 · Full listShow all 136 Initial V words
Grouped by syllable count, competing-free words marked
121 of 136 words contain the target without the sounds children commonly substitute for it
1-syllable · 16
- valve
- valves
- van
- vast
- vat
- vault
- verse
- vice
- view
- viewed
- views
- voice
- void
- volt
- vote
- votes
2-syllable · 58
- vaccine
- vacuum
- valid
- valley
- value
- valued
- values
- vampire
- varied
- varies
- vary
- vector
- velvet
- vendor
- vendors
- venture
- ventures
- venue
- venues
- verbal
- version
- versions
- versus
- vertex
- very
- vessel
- vessels
- via
- victim
- victims
- viewer
- viewers
- viewing
- viking
- villa
- village
- villas
- vintage
- vinyl
- viral
- virgin
- virtue
- virus
- visa
- vision
- visit
- visits
- vista
- vital
- vocal
- vocals
- voices
- voltage
- volume
- volumes
- voted
- voters
- voting
3-syllable · 39
- vacancies
- vacation
- vacations
- valentine
- valium
- valuable
- vanilla
- variance
- various
- varying
- vegetable
- vegetables
- vehicle
- vehicles
- verified
- verify
- vertical
- veteran
- veterans
- victory
- video
- videos
- villages
- violence
- violent
- violin
- virtual
- viruses
- visible
- visited
- visiting
- visitor
- visitors
- visual
- vitamin
- vitamins
- volleyball
- volunteer
- volunteers
4-syllable · 18
- validation
- validity
- valuation
- variable
- variables
- variation
- variations
- varieties
- variety
- vegetation
- velocity
- veterinary
- violation
- violations
- virtually
- vocational
- voluntary
- vulnerable
5-syllable · 4
- vegetarian
- verification
- visibility
- vocabulary
6-syllable · 1
- vulnerability
Take Initial V to the next level
Ready-made, pronunciation-checked practice beyond single words:
About Initial V words
/v/ arrives later than /f/ — 90% of children produce it by 4;11 against 3;11 for /f/ (Crowe & McLeod, 2020) — because sustaining voicing through a fricative is harder than producing the fricative alone. Two errors are common: stopping to /b/, so very becomes berry, and devoicing to /f/, so van becomes fan.
Those two errors sit at different stages. A child saying berry has not yet separated the fricative from the stop; a child saying fan has the fricative and needs only the voicing, which is much closer to the target.
Practising Initial V
A hand on the throat is the decisive cue here, because /v/ and /f/ share placement exactly and differ only in the buzz. Starting from a held /f/ and switching on voicing without moving the lips reaches /v/ directly.
Acquisition ages: Crowe & McLeod (2020), American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Educational content — an SLP chooses the target for a specific child.
Therapy guides
Minimal pairs therapy
Minimal pairs examples by pattern, how a session runs, and a worked fronting example.
Read the guidePrint-and-go articulation activities
No-prep drill ideas that turn a word list into a full session.
Read the guideNo-prep teletherapy articulation
Screen-share friendly activities that use the same word lists online.
Read the guideFrequently asked questions
- How many words have /v/ in the initial position?
- Our dictionary lists 136 initial /v/ words suitable for speech therapy practice.
- What are some example initial /v/ words?
- Examples include valve, van, vast, vat, vault, verse, vice, view.
- Why does my student say berry for very?
- That is stopping — the fricative is replaced by a stop made at the lips. It is an earlier-stage error than saying fan for van, where the fricative is already correct and only voicing is missing.
- Why is /v/ later than /f/?
- Holding voicing through a fricative takes more coordination than producing the same fricative voiceless. The pattern repeats across English fricative pairs, with the voiced member consistently later.