Nuala, our BBC Learning English language expert

Jo:    Hello there – and hello to you Feifei.
 
Feifei:    Hi there.
 
Jo:    This is Question and Answer of the Week where we answer one of your  questions about the English language.
 
Feifei:   是的，如果大家有任何关于英语学习方面的问题，不论是语法，语音还是词汇等等都 可以来信给我们，我们会及时给大家做出解答。
 
Jo:    Today's question is from Robin and they sent us an email saying "I've   found there are two pronunciations for the word either – one with a long e  sound – either and one with a long i sound – either. Any differences?
 
Feifei:    Robin 的问题是 either 或者这个单词为什么会有两个发音，either 和 either.  What can you tell us Jo?
 
Jo:    Well to answer today's question I asked Nuala, one of our BBC Learning   English language experts – and this is what she said.
 
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Well there's no difference in meaning between either or either – you can say either of them, you can say either of them. As far as I know, people from North America are more likely to say eether and British people are more likely to say ayether. It doesn't make any difference in the meaning – they're completely interchangeable.
 
Feifei:    So we can use either or either. 这个单词不论怎么发音 either 或 either, 意思都是一样的。
 
Jo:    The difference exists because North Americans will be more likely to say  eether and British English speakers will be more likely to say either.
 
Feifei:   也许你会听到一个来自北美的人说 ayether, 而一个英国人说 eether, 不过这都没关系，你习惯用哪个就用哪个。那  Jo 能给我们一个例子吗？
 
Jo:    OK. Have you been to Brazil Feifei?

Feifei:    No I haven't. Have you?

 
Jo:    No I haven't either. How about India – have you been there?
 
Feifei:    No. You?
 
Jo:    No I haven't been there either!
 
Feifei:   所以说随便用哪一个都可以。Now I'm depressed Jo – I want to travel more!
 
Jo:    Yes that would be nice – but we're too busy answering all these questions.  It's probably worth telling everyone too that the same rule applies to the  word neither.
 
Feifei:   是的还有 neither 两者都不，这个词，那Jo你的意思是说，neether 或 nayther 都可以，意思没有任何不同？
 
Jo:    We certain can. So you can say neither of my parents likes watching TV or  you can say neither of my parents likes watching TV. We hope we've  helped your English studies anyway. Thanks for that question Robin. 
 
Feifei:   那么听完了这期节目，你有没有想到有关英语学习方面的问题？如果有的话那就把问题 发到我们的邮箱 questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.
 
Jo:    Yes that's questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk.
 
Feifei:   赶快发来问题吧！  
 
Jo:    Come on…we're waiting!

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!

Glossary 词汇

pronunciation
语音

native English speakers
英语为母语的人

tend to
更倾向于

interchangeable
可互换的

applies to
适用于