Three Afrikaans letters — w, v and f — look completely familiar to an English reader, and that familiarity is exactly the trap. Their sounds are shuffled relative to English: the letter w is pronounced like an English v, the letter v is pronounced like an English f, and f is also an f. So v and f sound identical, and the spelling difference between them is something your ear can never hear. Getting this swap into your muscle memory early is one of the highest-value things you can do as a beginner, because almost every Afrikaans sentence contains at least one of these letters.
The letter w = English [v]
When you see a w in Afrikaans, do not round your lips the way you do for the English w in water or win. Instead, touch your top teeth lightly to your bottom lip and make the buzzing sound of an English v. The Afrikaans word water therefore sounds, to an English ear, like "vahter".
water
water — pronounced like English 'vahter', never with a rounded English w
Ek drink water.
I'm drinking water.
was
was/were — the w is a [v] sound: 'vas', not English 'woz'
Sy was gister hier.
She was here yesterday.
The same applies to werk (work), wat (what), woon (to live), wyn (wine), wind (wind) — every single one starts with that teeth-on-lip buzz, never the rounded English glide.
The letter v = English [f]
The letter v is pronounced as a plain f sound, exactly like the f in English fish. So the Afrikaans vis (fish) sounds like "fiss", and van (surname, or "from") sounds like English "fan".
vis
fish — pronounced 'fiss', with an f-sound
Ons eet vis vanaand.
We're eating fish tonight.
vol
full — pronounced with an f-sound: 'foll'
Die glas is vol.
The glass is full.
This is the half that English speakers find hardest to believe, because in English the letter v always buzzes (van, very, love). In Afrikaans it never buzzes — it is voiceless, just an f.
The letter f = English [f]
The letter f is the one piece of good news: it is pronounced exactly as you expect, like the f in English fault.
fout
mistake/fault — a straightforward f-sound, as in English 'fault'
fiets
bicycle — begins with a plain f-sound
Ek het 'n fout gemaak.
I made a mistake.
v and f are homophones
Here is the consequence that ties the whole page together: because v is pronounced [f] and f is pronounced [f], the two letters are homophones — they sound exactly the same. The word vol (full) and the word fout (fault) both start with the identical f-sound, even though one is spelt with a v and the other with an f.
| Spelling | Sounds like | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| water | [v] — "vahter" | water |
| vis | [f] — "fiss" | fish |
| fiets | [f] — "feets" | bicycle |
| vol | [f] — "foll" | full |
| fout | [f] — "fawt" | mistake |
Notice the near-minimal trio at the top: water, vis, fiets — three different opening letters, but only two different sounds, because v and f collapse together.
Why this swap exists
This is not random. Afrikaans descends from 17th-century Dutch, and the spelling froze an older state of the language. The letter w kept its Dutch value, which is a [v]-like sound, while English drifted toward the rounded glide. And v in this Germanic branch is voiceless, merging with f. You are not learning a code someone invented to confuse you — you are reading a faithful record of how Dutch sounded, which simply diverged from how English ended up using the same letters.
Common mistakes
❌ water (said with a rounded English 'w')
Incorrect — the rounded English w does not exist here; w is a teeth-on-lip [v].
✅ water (said 'vahter', teeth on lip)
water
❌ van (said with a buzzing English 'v')
Incorrect — Afrikaans v is voiceless [f]; van sounds like English 'fan'.
✅ van (said 'fan')
surname / from
❌ vis (said 'viz' with a buzz)
Incorrect — v is [f], so vis is 'fiss', not 'viz'.
✅ vis (said 'fiss')
fish
❌ was (said like English 'woz')
Incorrect — the w is [v]: 'vas', and the s is voiceless.
✅ was (said 'vas')
was / were
Key takeaways
- The letter w is an English [v] sound: water = "vahter", was = "vas". Never round your lips.
- The letter v is an English [f] sound: vis = "fiss", vol = "foll". It never buzzes.
- The letter f is also [f], exactly as in English: fout, fiets.
- Because v and f are pronounced identically, they are homophones — and that homophony is the reason Afrikaans has a whole class of v/f spelling traps, covered in spelling/v-vs-f.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Afrikaans Pronunciation: OverviewA1 — A map of the Afrikaans sound system for English speakers — the guttural g, the v/w/f trap, vowel length, and the diacritics — and what to unlearn first.
- V vs F: A Homophone TrapA2 — v and f both sound like English f in Afrikaans, so the spelling can't be heard — but the choice is etymological, and English cognates often predict it.
- The Afrikaans G: A Guttural FricativeA1 — How to pronounce the Afrikaans g — a voiceless back-of-the-mouth fricative like the ch in Scottish 'loch' — and how it differs from the English hard g.
- The Rolled RA1 — Afrikaans is fully rhotic: the r is a trilled or tapped sound pronounced everywhere it is written, including at the end of a syllable where English drops it.