B-V Pronunciation & Reflexive Pronouns

[irishluke]

I'm still having a small amount of difficulty in pronouncing all V's as B's. Is it all V's or are some pronounced as B only?

For example: Volver? Are both V's pronounced as B's or just the first? So it really becomes Bolber?

Also Reflexive Pronouns...are these correct?

I got married today --> Me acosto hoy.

We dared him to do it. --> Nos atrevemos el hacerlo.

They complained about the manager for being fired. --> Se quejan hacia el director por es despedido.

Also, what's the difference in saying "I go out a lot", and "I go out too much"....is it
Salgo mucho y Salgo muchisimo???

Thanks in advance for the help.:)

[tad]

Spanish V+B are pronounced the same way as each other but neither are the same as English V/B.
There is no explosive element as with the English B and the teeth do not contact the lip as with the English V.

My tip is to try and say them as V's (or as a light as possible B) but using only the lips, what comes out should be a much lighter B without explosiveness and there will be a change in emphasis depending on what part of the word it falls in.

[irishluke]

Thanks, I'll try that and let you know if things improve. :)

[tad]

I've edited it as it didn't make sense have another look.:)

Re the rest there are some errors, I'm sure someone will help as I'm going out -just time to say:
acostar is stem changing in present:
Me acuesto hoy = I go to bed today (put myself to bed, if you like) Me acosté hoy= I went to bed today.
I got married today= Me casé hoy. (casarse)

[tad]

We dared him to do it. --> Nos atrevemos el hacerlo..I was thinking about this one in the bath and got a bit confused.

We dare him -I don't think that you can say nos atrevemos él -he is the one that is being dared. Nos atrevemos -we dare ourselves.

My guess is 'Nosotros se atrevó que lo haga' but the more I think about it the more I realise I don't know.
Someone will. :)

[barry]

We dared him to do it. Difficult . Maybe many different ways colloquially.

" le retamos a que lo hiciera "

[irishluke]

Tad, thanks for the reply, about the Married/Go to Bed, I got mixed up, I was meant to use that verb.

We dared him to do it? Seems to be causing problems alright.

[gastephen]

Spanish V+B are pronounced the same way as each other but neither are the same as English V/B.
There is no explosive element as with the English B and the teeth do not contact the lip as with the English V.



Except after a pause, an 'm' or an 'n', in which case they are pronounced like the English 'b'.

[tad]

Except after a pause, an 'm' or an 'n', in which case they are pronounced like the English 'b'.
I thought that even the b at the start of volver for example wouldn't be as explosive as an English 'b' as in eg bet ...but I'm not going to argue with someone who has described 'so called factive clauses' and has used the word fricative. :p

[gastephen]

I thought that even the b at the start of volver for example wouldn't be as explosive as an English 'b' as in eg bet ...but I'm not going to argue with someone who has described 'so called factive clauses' and has used the word fricative. :p

Yes, I think you are right, Tad. AFAIK, the bilabial plosives in Spanish - unvoiced, [p], and voiced [b] - are not aspirated, i.e. accompanied with a puff of breath, as they are in word-initial positions in English. (Didn't think that level of detail would have helped much here though :eek:)

[Urgellenk]

B and V are pronounced exactly the same in Spanish. However, my perception is that both letters have two or three different pronounciations:

1- Similar to the English "b" but less explosive.
2- When between vowels, it becomes even much softer (fricative).
3- At the end of a word (words of foreign origin) it is pronounced almost like an "f", like in pub (paff) or Gorbachov.

Hope that helps.

[Perro Callejero]

We dared him to do it. --> Nos atrevemos el hacerlo.
I would agree with barry on this one: "Le retamos (a él [optional]) que lo hiciera."


Also, what's the difference in saying "I go out a lot", and "I go out too much"....is it
Salgo mucho y Salgo muchisimo???
Both of those simply mean to go out a lot, but with muchísimo being a higher degree. To emphasize that you go out too much, you would use the word "demasiado".

Salgo mucho. I go out a lot.
Salgo muchísimo. I really go out a whole lot.
Salgo demasiado. I go out too much.

[irishluke]

Thanks for the help...I understand it better now. :)

[jonk]

Im in agreement that it isn´t atreverse

I´m not fluent so I also don´t really know how I would say it, except to say maybe desafiar?

I´m not sure.

[tad]

Here are some suggestions I got for 'Go on, I dare you to ask her out'

Te reto a que la invites a salir.
Also: "¡A que no la invitás a salir!

¡A que no te atreves a invitarla a salir!

¡Ándale! Te desafío a que la invites a salir.

[lazarus1907]

Except after a pause, an 'm' or an 'n', in which case they are pronounced like the English 'b'.

They are reasonably close, but not equal.

When pronouncing the English B, the vocal chords remain still until the lips are separated, and then the air bursts with an explosion, but in Spanish the chords begin to vibrate after the lips have been closed, but before they are opened, and there is no explosion.