Medial V Words for Speech Therapy

Word list

Words without competing sounds

• curves
• drives
• gives
• gloves
• knives
• leaves
• lived
• lives
• loved
• loves
• moved
• moves
• proved
• saved
• saves
• served
• serves
• shaved
• solved
• valves
• waves
• wives
• achieved
• advance
• advanced
• adverse
• advert
• advice
• advise
• advised
• approved
• archived
• archives
• arrived
• arrives
• ave
• avoid
• canvas
• chevy
• civic
• civil
• convert
• convinced
• cover
• covered
• covers
• derived
• device
• devil
• devon
• diverse
• divide
• divine
• diving
• divorce
• dover
• driven
• driver
• drivers
• driving
• even
• evening
• event
• events
• ever
• evil
• given
• giving
• harvest
• haven
• having
• heaven
• heavy
• housewives
• improved
• invest
• invite
• invoice
• involve
• involved
• involves
• java
• leaving
• level
• levels
• levy
• liver
• livestock
• living
• lovely
• lover
• lovers
• loving
• marvel
• movement
• movements
• movers
• movie
• movies
• moving
• naval
• navy
• nervous
• never
• nova
• novel
• novels
• oval
• oven
• over
• perceived
• prevent
• preview
• previews
• private
• privilege
• proven
• provide
• provides
• province
• received
• receives
• removed
• reserved
• reserves
• resolved
• retrieved
• reveal
• revealed
• reveals
• revenge
• reverse
• review
• reviewed
• reviews
• revised
• river
• rivers
• rover
• savage
• saver
• saving
• savings
• server
• servers
• service
• serving
• seven
• seventh
• several
• severe
• silver
• solving
• steven
• stevens
• survey
• surveys
• survive
• themselves
• travel
• travels
• travis
• velvet
• waiver
• achievement
• achievements
• achieving
• actively
• activists
• advancement
• advances
• advantage
• adventure
• adventures
• advertise
• advisor
• advisors
• advocate
• approval
• arrival
• arrivals
• avatar
• avenue
• average
• avoiding
• carnival
• civilian
• convenience
• convenient
• convention
• conventions
• convergence
• conversion
• converted
• converter
• convicted
• conviction
• coverage
• covering
• deliver
• delivered
• delivers
• develop
• developed
• develops
• deviant
• devices
• devoted
• discover
• discovered
• divided
• dividend
• division
• divisions
• eleven
• envelope
• every
• everyday
• everyone
• everything
• everywhere
• evidence
• evident
• geneva
• governance
• governing
• government
• governments
• governor
• gravity
• hardcover
• heavily
• however
• improvement
• improvements
• improving
• incentives
• interval
• intervals
• interview
• interviews
• invalid
• invasion
• invention
• investing
• investment
• investments
• investor
• investors
• invited
• involvement
• involving
• ivory
• juvenile
• medieval
• moreover
• navigate
• nirvana
• novelty
• oliver
• ourselves
• overall
• overcome
• overhead
• overnight
• overseas
• overview
• pavilion
• perspectives
• poverty
• preventing
• prevention
• previous
• privacy
• privileges
• provided

Worksheet preview

About Medial V words

Between two vowels the voicing is already running on both sides, which makes medial position the most forgiving place to establish /v/. A child who devoices /v/ at the start or end of a word will often hold it cleanly in seven or river.

That makes intervocalic V a practical starting point rather than a later step. Establishing the voiced fricative where the surroundings support it, then moving outward to word edges, is a common sequence for this sound.

Practising Medial V

Two-syllable words where V opens the second syllable, such as seven and river, keep the voicing continuous through the target. Contrasting one against its /f/ counterpart keeps the voicing dimension in focus.

Acquisition ages: Crowe & McLeod (2020), American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. Educational content — an SLP chooses the target for a specific child.

Frequently asked questions

How many words have /v/ in the medial position?

Our dictionary lists 461 medial /v/ words suitable for speech therapy practice.

What are some example medial /v/ words?

Examples include curves, drives, gives, gloves, knives, leaves, lived, lives.

Why is medial V easier than initial V?

Because the vowels on either side are already voiced, so the vocal folds do not have to start or stop for the /v/. Word edges require switching voicing on or off, which is the harder task.

Should medial V come first in therapy?

Often it does, precisely because the surroundings support voicing. It is a common sequence rather than a rule — probing all three positions shows where the sound is most reachable for a given child.