Either 或者

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This week's question is about pronunciation of an English word. Do we say either with a long 'i' sound or either with a long 'e' sound?

Nuala, our BBC Learning English language expert, told us that we can use any of those pronunciations. One is not better than the other. When you're listening to native English speakers you will find that some will use one pronunciation and others will use another.

There may be a slight difference between American English and British English. American English speakers tend to use the long 'e' when saying either and British English speakers tend to use the long 'i'.

There is no rule though and it doesn't affect the meaning of what you are saying. Nuala said the different pronunciations were interchangeable. The same rule applies to the pronunciation of the word neither.

Thank you Robin for your question. If you have a question please get in touch. You can email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We'll answer one question every week, so get sending those questions!

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Glossary 词汇

pronunciation
语音

native English speakers
英语为母语的人

tend to
更倾向于

interchangeable
可呼唤的

applies to
适用于

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