Poll : How do you correctly pronounce " either" ?

[blessedmom3]

I hear some people saying either as "aither" and "eether".

Which one is correct? My husband, who is American,says both are correct. I am not convinced ...:)

[boscopup]

They're both correct. I say "ee-ther".

[LMD]

I say either (lol) 'ee-ther' or 'eye-ther', never 'ai-ther' :) Mostly 'eye-ther' (long I sound) though.

[KirstenH]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

[usetoschool]

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/either

 

e-ther/i- ther

ne-ther/ni-ther

tomato/tomahto

potato/potahto...

 

I usually say ee-ther, and the dictionary says either one (:)) is correct.

[nmoira]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

You may (or may not) be strange, but you're not alone. :001_smile:

[tristangrace]

I pronounce it either :001_smile: way. (Either /I/-ther or /E/-ther, that is. Not /A/-ther, though.)

[SuperDad]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

You may (or may not) be strange, but you're not alone. :001_smile:

 

Yeah, I do it that way too.

[slackermom]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

 

This is what I do too, so I am not sure how to vote.

Both ways are acceptable.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

:iagree: I do this, too, but I think I mostly say ee-ther. I probably say eye-ther more when I'm reading aloud.

[mom2bee]

Both are correct and I choose which ever pronunciation I think sounds better in the sentence that I'm speaking at the time.

[foxbridgeacademy]

I do both, don't know why or if there is even a method to my "madness".

[rockermom]

I do both, don't know why or if there is even a method to my "madness".

 

I think I follow your methodless madness.

[kubiac]

[fraidycat]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

:iagree: EE-ther or EYE-ther, never AY-ther. To me, it's like using "a" or "an", depending on the other words in the sentence and context.

[besroma]

This is what I do too, so I am not sure how to vote.

Both ways are acceptable.

 

 

:iagree:

[SJ.]

EE-ther or I-ther, I've never heard of AY-ther. voted other.

[EMS83]

I say it both ways, and both ways are correct. It's considered an accent/dialect thing.

[EMS83]

 

I totally dug this. :auto:

[Aurelia]

You can correctly say it either way. I say "ee-ther". DH says "eye-ther". DD switches back and forth.

[didadeewiththree]

I say, "I-ther" with a long /i/

[GingerPoppy]

Ee-ther or eye-ther are both used and both fine. I use both myself, depending on circumstances or the particular sentence it's being used in. Not ai-ther, however.

[SunnyDays]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

Add me to the strange crowd, I do it this way too!!

 

OP, my answer is that both are correct.

[gardening momma]

I say it both ways. It depends on context and what happens to come out of my mouth.

[gardening momma]

Ee-ther or eye-ther are both used and both fine. I use both myself, depending on circumstances or the particular sentence it's being used in. Not ai-ther, however.

I think ai-ther is eye-ther. Ai-ther is not the long A, it is the long I sound.

Edited March 27, 2012 by gardening momma

[mommymilkies]

I say it both ways, depending on context. I have no idea why. But I do.

[joysworld]

I've never heard it said aither, to me some one says aither, when they are saying 'ay, there. How you doing?'

 

I say ither. But one can say eether or ither.

[chepyl]

I said another way because I do both. It depends on where in the sentence, what I am.saying, and what words are before. Confusing, I know :)

 

I tend to say the "i" at the.beginning of a sentence and the "ee" at the end.

[shinyhappypeople]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

:iagree: Not so strange.

[blessedmom3]

Ok,most of you agree that there are two ways to say it correctly,depending on the sentence.

 

Is there a rule to know when to use eye-ther or eether ?

 

For those of us who are not native speakers . :)

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

Either way...

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Rivka]

...Let's call the whole thing off.

 

But ohhhhh, if we call the whole thing off

Then we must part

And ohhhhh, if we ever part

Then that would break my heart.

 

...For we know we need each other so

We'd better call the calling off off

Let's call the whole thing off.

 

Edited to add: Oops, I see that kubiac beat me to it.

[Laura Corin]

In older books (I notice it in Dorothy Sayers) less educated people pronounce it 'eether', so I assume that the correct pronunciation at the time was 'aither'. I use both pronunciations, probably using 'aither' a bit more.

 

Laura

[Hen]

eye-ther was that the "ai" choice. Totally confused here...:lol:

[boscopup]

In older books (I notice it in Dorothy Sayers) less educated people pronounce it 'eether', so I assume that the correct pronunciation at the time was 'aither'. I use both pronunciations, probably using 'aither' a bit more.

 

I think that's how it used to be. Now most of the US is probably uneducated. :lol:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I think that's how it used to be. Now most of the US is probably uneducated. :lol:

 

:iagree: :lol::lol::lol:

 

In truth, I think it's more that in today's society, people just don't care about such things like they used to. I'll have to switch to just using eye-ther now...

[Matryoshka]

I hear some people saying either as "aither" and "eether".

Which one is correct? My husband, who is American,says both are correct. I am not convinced ...:)

 

I agree with your hubby. I say it both ways, depending on my mood, or where it is in the sentence, or some other variable I'm not sure of. :D

 

Hey, your poll had no option for "both". ;)

[mytwomonkeys]

I say either (lol) 'ee-ther' or 'eye-ther', never 'ai-ther' :) Mostly 'eye-ther' (long I sound) though.

 

 

this is me as well.:) usually i say eye-ther, but occasionally i might say ee-ther.

[Haiku]

"eether"

 

When two vowels go out walking, the first one does the talking.

 

Tara

[justamouse]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

:iagree:

[MrsBear]

I say it both ways, depending on the words that surround it and what I think sounds better. I'm strange.

 

:iagree:

 

I'll pull up a seat next to you, I do the same thing, yah for strange!

 

I didn't vote since the option for "both" wasn't in the poll.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I say it both ways--"EYE-ther" or "EE-ther"

[SonshineLearner]

I believe that when I looked int he dictionary, "EEEE there" was the first choice, and "EYE there" was the second. With an accent, that might throw it into more of a blend.

[Penelope]

Usually Eye-ther, especially if I'm reading British lit. aloud. ;)