# How do you pronounce either/neither? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835 "2016-10-07T13:05:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/1 "2016-10-07T13:05:18Z")
“EEE-ther” or “EYE-ther”? According to the online Cambridge dictionary ([How to pronounce EITHER-OR in English](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/either-or)), the American English pronunciation is “EEE-ther” and British Englsih is “EYE-ther”. But I thnk it’s more complicated than that. I was watching a TV show yesterday in which an American character pronounced it “EYE-ther”. I suppose it could have been a Brit playing an American, nailing the accent except for that one word. It got me wondering because the pronunciation sounded a bit out of place for the character, even though I’m familiar with the “EYE-ther” pronunciation. Then I tried to think how I pronounce it and I couldn’t really remember, though I think it’s “EEE-ther”. Googling this very important matter gives me answers that are all over the place. So I’m wondering how do you pronounce it, and what part of the U.S. or the world are you from? And no jokes that you pronounce it either way 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/2 "2016-10-07T13:11:14Z")
Eeether. Ontario, Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/3 "2016-10-07T13:17:59Z")
EYE-ther - I’m a Finn who has been exposed to far more US English (movies, TV) than British English and spent a few months in San Diego, CA. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/4 "2016-10-07T13:22:49Z")
Ee-ther. I grew up in Chicago, where that was the more common pronunciation ; now I live in New York State, where people tend to say Eye-ther. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/5 "2016-10-07T13:24:41Z")
It varies depending on the other words in the sentence. I grew up in Maine, but have lived all over the country. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/6 "2016-10-07T13:36:36Z")
I go both ways. Grew up in Idaho and Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/7 "2016-10-07T13:36:53Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > It varies depending on the other words in the sentence. This. I’m not conscious of it, but my brain sometimes seems to think one pronunciation fits better than the other. Same with “route.” But for the record, when I read the OP title, I heard “EEE-ther” in my head. ---
**Author:** ![jerseymule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jerseymule/32/3155_2.png) [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/8 "2016-10-07T13:49:18Z")
I’ve lived in St. Louis, Memphis, and New Jersey. I pronounce the words “EEther” and “NEEther.” I also sing in a choir. We are instructed to pronounce the words as “Eye-ther” and “NYE-ther” when we are singing choir music. If I were singing the Gladys Knight song “Neither one of us wants to be the first to say goodbye” then I would pronounce the word as she sings it: “NEEther.” Since I’ve been singing in choirs for most of my life, sometimes the EYEther/NYE-ther pronunciation will sneak into my normal speech. The same thing happens with the word “envelope”: even though I normally pronounce the first syllable to rhyme with “when,” there are times when the French-ified pronunciation just slips out. Especially in the phrase “manila AHN-velope.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/9 "2016-10-07T13:56:51Z")
Me: Alaska, EEther Wife: New York, EYEther I’m thinking of calling the whole thing off. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/10 "2016-10-07T13:57:36Z")
Eye-ther and nye-ther. They were pronounced both ways when I was growing up in San Diego, and a couple years of German taught me that ‘ei’ is ‘eye’ and ‘ie’ is ‘ee’. > [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > I’m a Finn who has… spent a few months in San Diego, CA. Heh. My mom married a Finn in San Diego. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/11 "2016-10-07T14:00:53Z")
Ee-ther and nee-ther. Forty-six years in Maryland, sixteen in Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/12 "2016-10-07T14:22:31Z")
Born and raised Chicago, and I normally say it with an “ee,” although very occasionally will mix it up with an “eye.” Maybe when I want to stress it more or something. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/13 "2016-10-07T14:59:19Z")
eether. Northeast US. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/14 "2016-10-07T16:25:59Z")
The way I think the person I’m talking to would pronounce it. I might even have to pronounce it “eader” or “Ida”. I grew up in an eether neether household. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/15 "2016-10-07T16:38:25Z")
EEther, NEEther. N.E. Ohio, with 25 years in NYC in the middle. ToMAYto, poTAYto, paJAMas … cAHt, cAWt … mEHrry, mEHrry, mEHrry. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/16 "2016-10-07T16:46:17Z")
EEther - SE Texas ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/17 "2016-10-07T16:54:54Z")
For me (mid-to-northern Ohio) it’s /iðəɹ/ and /niðəɹ/. Does anyone pronounce them in a way that doesn’t rhyme? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/18 "2016-10-07T16:57:34Z")
Texas by way of Pennsylvania. Usually eee-ther, but always neye-ther. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/19 "2016-10-07T17:09:58Z")
I grew up in the central Appalachians (how to pronounce that is one that gets locals heated up). In my adult life I was in the military and moved around a lot. I switch back and forth but mostly say EEE-ther but usually switch for the negative to n-EYE-ther. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835/20 "2016-10-07T17:10:34Z")
Grew up in Philly, but have lived in Montreal for nearly 2/3 of my life. Eether and Neether, but it seems to me that most Canadians say Eyether and Neyether. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-either-neither/767835.md?page=2)