El vino vino, pero el vino no vino vino.
el BI-no BI-no, PE-ro el BI-no no BI-no BI-no
The wine came, but the wine did not come as wine.
🔊 Listen & Practice
Start with slow speed to master pronunciation, then gradually increase to challenge yourself.
🎨 Visualization
The wine came, but it didn't come as wine! This one is all about getting that 'b'/'v' sound just right.
🎯 Pronunciation Focus
The Spanish 'b'/'v' Sound
/b/The most important lesson here! In Spanish, 'b' and 'v' make the exact same sound. At the beginning of a word like 'vino', press your lips together firmly as you would for the English 'b' in 'boy'. Do not touch your teeth to your lip like you would for an English 'v'.
Pure Vowel Sounds: 'i' and 'o'
/i/, /o/Practice the crisp Spanish vowels in 'vino'. The 'i' is a short, sharp 'ee' sound (like in 'see'), and the 'o' is a pure 'oh' sound (like in 'go'), without the extra 'w' glide you often hear in English.
📝 Practice Breakdown
Let's start with the wordplay. Say both 'vino's with the exact same sound, starting with a clear 'b' sound. Remember, lips together, no teeth!
Now add the middle part. Focus on the rhythm and the clear separation of each word. Keep that 'b' sound consistent for every 'vino'.
Put it all together. The challenge is making the sentence's meaning clear through your intonation, even though the key word is repeated so many times.
📚 Background
This is a classic Spanish 'juego de palabras' (wordplay) that hinges on the two meanings of 'vino': the noun 'wine' and the past tense of the verb 'venir' (he/she/it came). It's a fun and clever way to practice one of the most fundamental rules of Spanish pronunciation.
❌ Common Pitfalls
Using an English 'v' Sound
Mistake: "Pronouncing 'vino' with the English 'v' sound, where the top teeth touch the bottom lip."
Correction: This is the #1 mistake to avoid. In Spanish, 'b' and 'v' sound identical. For 'vino', press your lips together as if you're about to say 'boy'. It's a 'bilabial' sound (both lips) not a 'labiodental' one (lips and teeth).
Changing the Sound for Noun vs. Verb
Mistake: "Trying to pronounce the noun 'vino' (wine) differently from the verb 'vino' (came)."
Correction: Don't! They are perfect homophones, meaning they sound exactly the same. The humor and the challenge of the tongue twister come from this identical pronunciation. Say them the same way every time.
🌎 Where It's Used
General Spanish
This tongue twister is universally known and used across the Spanish-speaking world as a classic example of wordplay and the 'b'/'v' pronunciation rule.
🔗 Related Tongue Twisters
The Vino Repetition Challenge
Say the full tongue twister five times in a row. Focus on keeping the 'b' sound consistent and the rhythm clear. Can you do it without accidentally slipping into an English 'v'?
🏷️ Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
So 'b' and 'v' are really the exact same sound in Spanish?
Yes, for over 99% of Spanish speakers worldwide, they are pronounced identically. This is a huge shortcut for learners! Forget the English 'v' sound exists when you're speaking Spanish, and you'll sound much more natural.
If they sound the same, how do people know which word is which?
Context is everything! Just like in English with 'there', 'their', and 'they're', Spanish speakers understand the meaning based on the rest of the sentence. In this tongue twister, the grammar makes the meaning clear.