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 soup vs soop
An Abbreviated History of American English Spelling

 

Soop, wimmen, and headake did not make the cut

play video lay vs lie
Lay vs. Lie

 

Editor Emily Brewster clarifies the difference.

play videos pictures in the dictionary
Pictures in the Dictionary

 

The story of those iconic illustrations.

play video how a word gets into the dicionary
How a Word Gets into the Dictionary

 

What our editors are looking for when they enter words in Merriam-Webster.

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play video ending a sentence with a preposition
Ending a Sentence with a Preposition

 

An old-fashioned rule we can no longer put up with.