play image1815466723
Usage Notes

How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

And is one more correct than the others?


Depending on where you're from, you might pronounce 'vase' in one of three main ways. Is one of them considered "standard"? Peter Sokolowski explains.


TRANSCRIPT


When someone brings you flowers and asks if you have anything to put them in, you might say "Yes, there's a vās in the cabinet."
 
That's how you'll say it if you're like most Americans, anyway. If you're like most Canadians or some Americans, you'll say vāz. But if you're British or like some Canadians or even a few Americans, you'll say väz.
 
Vās, vāz, väz.
 
They're actually all fine, no matter where you come from. However you say it, the important thing is this: when someone brings you flowers, be gracious and put them in water.

Up next

play image1815466723
How Do You Pronounce 'Vase'?

 

And is one way more correct than the others?

play video schwa
The Schwa

 

The most common vowel sound in English causes many spelling problems.

play video cynic
The History of 'Cynic'

 

How an ancient philosophical movement devoted to the pursuit of virtue came to describe eye-rolling criticism.

play video healthy vs healthful
Healthy vs. Healthful

 

Why both words are equally good for you.

play video title words of the year 1066
Words of the Year: 1066

 

English was never the same after the Norman Conquest

play hot mess
Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

OSZAR »