¿‘B’ Grande o ‘B’ Chica?

One of the most fantastic things about learning the Spanish language is its phonetic spelling and pronunciation. As English speakers, we’ve been thrust into spelling irregularities and strange pronunciations since we began to read and write. In Spanish, however, whether in Spain or the Americas, the vowels are always pronounced as they’re written, words are divided up into clear syllables, and consonants are written as they are heard … most of the time… 

One of the very few exceptions of specific pronunciations for consonants in Spanish is the pronunciation of the letters ‘B’ and ‘V’. In English, these two consonants have distinct sounds. In Spanish, however, we need to specify which letter we’re using, as in Spanish speech both the ‘V’ and ‘B’ letters are pronounced the same: /bee/. 

When spelling out loud in Spanish, we need to clarify which letter we’re using; whether it’s a ‘v’ or a ‘b’. This clarification has nothing to do with whether or not the letter is capitalized; it is strictly defining if it’s the letter ‘v’ or a ‘b’.* 

*OJO (NOTE): 

A capital, uppercase or big letter in Spanish is called a mayúscula /my OOS coo lah/ letter.

E.g. Favor de escribir mi nombre con una C mayúscula.

Please spell my name with a capital C.

A lowercase or small letter in Spanish is called a minúscula /meen OOS coo lah/  letter. 

E.g. En español, el ‘e’ de español es minúscula.

In Spanish, the ‘e’ of the word ‘español’ is written with a lowercase e.

In Mexico, when spelling a word with the letter ‘B’ we can define it as: 

B /bae/ grande (big B) or 

B de burro (B as in burro) or 

B de bueno (B as in bueno)

Mamá, ¿cómo se escribe la palabra ‘balón’?

B grande - a - l - o - n.

Mom, how do you spell the word ‘balón’?

B - a - l - o - n.

When we’re spelling out something with the letter ‘V’ in Mexico, we say:

V /bae/ chica (small V)* or 

uve /oo-bae/, or 

V de vaca (V as in vaca) or 

V de violin /bee-oh-leen/ (V as in violin)

¿Cómo se escribe la palabra ‘vamos’?

V chica - a - m - o - s.

How do you spell the word, ‘vamos’?

V - a - m - o - s.

The acronym for one of Mexico’s biggest banks is BBVA. This bank just opened a branch in Carrillo Puerto and their formal pronunciation of the bank’s acronym is /Bae-Bae-oo-bae-ah/. Give that a spin. Some might attempt to pronounce it: B grande-B grande-V chica-Ah but that sure is a challenge. 

In some Spanish speaking countries, the letter B is explained as:

B larga (long B) or 

B alta (tall or high B) 

And in other Spanish speaking countries, the letter V is clarified as:

V corta (short V) or 

Ve baja (low V)

Once we learn that this pronunciation is interchangeable, we just have to learn the vocabulary for how to describe which letter we’re using when we spell things out. 

Another example of a pronunciation irregularity is with the letters ‘i’ and ‘y’ but we’ll save this until next time.

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