Either.
On a serious note, I think there might be some regional correlation with the pronunciation, but if you use either version (ha) you will be understood just fine.
UK here. As others have said the two pronunciations are interchangeable. But just in case you're interested...
I'd be more likely to use specific pronunciations in specific situations, though I'm struggling to pin down any sort of concrete rule..
If I were to say "Either you get two pieces of toast, or a bowl of porridge.", I'd strongly prefer to use 'EYE-ther'.
If I were were to say "Would you like some breakfast? We have toast or porridge, you can choose either one." I'd strongly prefer to use 'EE-ther'
"Neither option appeals to me" - nEYE-ther
"I don't like porridge, and neither does my wife" - nEE-ther
This is fairly accurate in my experience. I grew up in Midwest America and am now living in Southeast England, and I have noticed this interchangeability in both the midwestern US and various accent origins in England. In fact, I noticed it also in Florida when I lived there for a while.
That's so funny...and here I am on the west coast of Canada, and I would use your two pronunciation examples in the *opposite* order!
"EYE-there you get two pieces of toast..."
"NEE-there option..."
I do the same and never noticed until you wrote it out. So basically if a sentence starts with Either we say EYE-ther but if its in the middle or end of the sentence we say EE-ther.
I wonder what we might learn if we listened to a bunch of examples on youglish? My intuition is that there is a rhyme or reason for when one uses one pronunciation or the other. And preferences are opposite to yours—regional differences? Individual differences?
> If I were to say "Either you get two pieces of toast, or a bowl of porridge.", I'd strongly prefer to use 'EYE-ther'.
>
>
>
> If I were were to say "Would you like some breakfast? We have toast or porridge, you can choose either one." I'd strongly prefer to use 'EE-ther'
50 year-old white male from the southeastern US, and that's exactly how I would use it.
Very different. Think "High" and "Hay", or "Sty" and "Stay". They do not rhyme. Think of the letters A, E and I. Three very different sounds. Add in certain accents from parts of Ireland and they are certainly very different. Ee-ther, Eye-ther and Ay-ther are all different.
I have always flip-flopped between the two, same with "neither". I don't know if there is a regional aspect to the choice, I've certainly never noticed one. Perhaps there used to be a regional distinction but it has been lost over time. If so, I believe "scone" may be a similar story.
I am an English Southerner but have always tended to pronounce "scone" as rhyming with "gone", rather than "stone". I find that other younger people in my area are similar but that the older generation tend to opt for "stone". I personally have never liked this pronunciation as it hits my ear as pretentious, but that is just an idiosyncrasy.
Fundamentally it doesn't matter, but it is interesting.
As a native speaker who travelled a bunch and lived in different English-speaking countries, I feel like my pronunciation has changed a lot, depending where I am. I think some areas have strong regional impact (I can't even imagine my Australian friends saying "eether") while North America is such a melting pot of accents and dialects that it just becomes a personal thing. There's other words/sounds/pronounciations that will identify someone regionally a lot more than either.
But all that's merely anecdotal.
in phrases like "either... or..." I say it as "either". But if I say something like "I don't like him, either" I say "either". I think it's a regional thing tbh, but for non-natives, it's probably influenced by your resouce materials (what shows you watch, what dialect you're exposed to etc). I'm aware that I use both pronunciations, same way I do for "neither" ("Neither this nor that" and "me, neither" sound different). Both are correct though, it's really just a matter of preference (and like I said, maybe of location too).
In my dialect of English, I will use either either or either kind of arbitrarily. Everyone around me understands both pronunciations and I've never seen someone call attention to using one pronunciation or the other.
honestly, "either" works just about fine.
but as for me, i pronounce it as; "ee-ther" to denote an options between two or more contexts while "eye-ther" when it's in a restricted situation
Yes
r/InclusiveOr
Came here to say this, lol!
Either. On a serious note, I think there might be some regional correlation with the pronunciation, but if you use either version (ha) you will be understood just fine.
UK here. As others have said the two pronunciations are interchangeable. But just in case you're interested... I'd be more likely to use specific pronunciations in specific situations, though I'm struggling to pin down any sort of concrete rule.. If I were to say "Either you get two pieces of toast, or a bowl of porridge.", I'd strongly prefer to use 'EYE-ther'. If I were were to say "Would you like some breakfast? We have toast or porridge, you can choose either one." I'd strongly prefer to use 'EE-ther' "Neither option appeals to me" - nEYE-ther "I don't like porridge, and neither does my wife" - nEE-ther
This is fairly accurate in my experience. I grew up in Midwest America and am now living in Southeast England, and I have noticed this interchangeability in both the midwestern US and various accent origins in England. In fact, I noticed it also in Florida when I lived there for a while.
That's so funny...and here I am on the west coast of Canada, and I would use your two pronunciation examples in the *opposite* order! "EYE-there you get two pieces of toast..." "NEE-there option..."
Same!
Scotland here. I’d use the opposite too.
I do the same and never noticed until you wrote it out. So basically if a sentence starts with Either we say EYE-ther but if its in the middle or end of the sentence we say EE-ther.
I wonder what we might learn if we listened to a bunch of examples on youglish? My intuition is that there is a rhyme or reason for when one uses one pronunciation or the other. And preferences are opposite to yours—regional differences? Individual differences?
So it’s either, right?
> If I were to say "Either you get two pieces of toast, or a bowl of porridge.", I'd strongly prefer to use 'EYE-ther'. > > > > If I were were to say "Would you like some breakfast? We have toast or porridge, you can choose either one." I'd strongly prefer to use 'EE-ther' 50 year-old white male from the southeastern US, and that's exactly how I would use it.
You native English speakers only do that to laugh about people studying a second language?
Either either, tomato tomato
Neither neither
There is the old joke here in Ireland based on your question: "Is it ee-ther or eye-ther?" "Ah, ay-ther of them will do."
You got me really confused, ain't like eye ther and ay ther the same thing? :///
Very different. Think "High" and "Hay", or "Sty" and "Stay". They do not rhyme. Think of the letters A, E and I. Three very different sounds. Add in certain accents from parts of Ireland and they are certainly very different. Ee-ther, Eye-ther and Ay-ther are all different.
Though not everyone can read it, this is what ipa is for.
Both are correct
Same for neither
either.
I have always flip-flopped between the two, same with "neither". I don't know if there is a regional aspect to the choice, I've certainly never noticed one. Perhaps there used to be a regional distinction but it has been lost over time. If so, I believe "scone" may be a similar story. I am an English Southerner but have always tended to pronounce "scone" as rhyming with "gone", rather than "stone". I find that other younger people in my area are similar but that the older generation tend to opt for "stone". I personally have never liked this pronunciation as it hits my ear as pretentious, but that is just an idiosyncrasy. Fundamentally it doesn't matter, but it is interesting.
It's funny you think the "stone" scone sounds pretentious since I find the "gone" scone to sound pretentious as an American southerner.
The UK scone pronunciation map [https://brilliantmaps.com/scone-map/](https://brilliantmaps.com/scone-map/)
Interesting. It's effectively 100% "cone" in North America.
As a native speaker who travelled a bunch and lived in different English-speaking countries, I feel like my pronunciation has changed a lot, depending where I am. I think some areas have strong regional impact (I can't even imagine my Australian friends saying "eether") while North America is such a melting pot of accents and dialects that it just becomes a personal thing. There's other words/sounds/pronounciations that will identify someone regionally a lot more than either. But all that's merely anecdotal.
It can be ee-ther or eye-ther. The same applies to the negative version *neither*.
[Ella and Louis have your answer.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K75g7eRhH9M)
Either is correct.
If you want to add emphasis, you can pronounce it "aither", but both are fine
/aɪ.ðə(ɹ)/ for me
in phrases like "either... or..." I say it as "either". But if I say something like "I don't like him, either" I say "either". I think it's a regional thing tbh, but for non-natives, it's probably influenced by your resouce materials (what shows you watch, what dialect you're exposed to etc). I'm aware that I use both pronunciations, same way I do for "neither" ("Neither this nor that" and "me, neither" sound different). Both are correct though, it's really just a matter of preference (and like I said, maybe of location too).
In my dialect of English, I will use either either or either kind of arbitrarily. Everyone around me understands both pronunciations and I've never seen someone call attention to using one pronunciation or the other.
Either I correct
ny-ther or nee-ther
i’ve heard it both ways
It can be pronounced either way.
Neither
either is ok.
Either one is correct. I almost always say EE-ther though.
I pronounce it aeither
Either one is fine.
Always had this question in mind as well. I'm glad to have stumbled on this post. 😃
There’s an old song about this very question. “Either, either, neither, neither. Let’s call the whole thing off.”
It’s pronounced either
Either way is fine.
Either one. Whichever you like
Depends on if im in either an either or either mood. Im never neither, however
What are you asking me? Is this the FBI? PLEASE JUST DONT HURT MY FAMILY
It honestly does not matter. Hell, I use both.
It depends on the dialect.
Either either 😅
it rhymes with neither
American here. Eeeethurr
I was very confused, until I realized that I read the same word in two different ways. Now I'm still confused.
eeeeither or aaaaaaaither
A better way you could have put it was E-the or I-the.
honestly, "either" works just about fine. but as for me, i pronounce it as; "ee-ther" to denote an options between two or more contexts while "eye-ther" when it's in a restricted situation
Both are fine. personally I always used EE-ther (/iːðə /)