'E' or 'O'

Hi Sv Hope u musrt be doing well, Well we were taught to pronounce it with "E" and i would say its right way as the teacher was British and was in teaching profession since 1940. Had many awards in field of education from IK as well as Pakistan I think the differnce may be American and British English Take care

Is there really a right or wrong here? I figured it was a regional difference. I pronounce it EN-velope... but I have always seen pronunciation guides stating that's how to say it. Of course I hear other people say ON-velope and I figure they didn't grow up near me lol.

All of my english teachers told us to pronounce envelope with and "o" sound... but we the students would always forget... in my case... if i am talking to a pronunciation conscious person... or when i am giving a report infront of people... i would always remember to use the "o" sound... but if it is just my friends or family... i wouldn't care if i used the "e" or "o" sound...

Honestly? It doesn't matter how you say it for either way is correct. I'm not sure on this but it may be a case of North and South. The northern parts of America have their own language just as the south does. We use the same words for the most part however we pronounce them differently and each have their own slang words as well. As for myself, I pronounce it with the O sound.

I have always pronounced it with an O sound but more like AUN so instead of InVelope like some people might say (in for the E sound) I say AunVaillope (so Aun - Vail - lope) almost like Un veil, but with an a sound. Maybe I'm weird.

Well, I get confused with the different pronounciation of the same word too, and it does not only applies to envelope! I believe that it has something to do with the difference between the American pronouciation and the British one. So, countries which studies the British English will pronounce one way and those who studies the American English will pronounce the other way. It all depends on one's country's education system. For me, I was taught to pronounce it with a 'e' sound and not an 'O'. If I am not mistaken, the 'o' pronounciation is American. But I could be wrong, if the blurring of the lines between the American and the British English nowadays.

There is no truly 'right' way. Historically, the word came into English from the French (in which 'en' is pronounced 'o[n]' with a nasal [n]. Many British speakers therefore pronounce the word as 'ON-vul-ope' but the associated verb, 'envelop' is always pronounced 'en-VEL-up' with the accent on the second syllable. In England, 'ON-vel-ope' (especially if the 'e' in the second syllable is pronounced as such) is seen as tending to belong to upper class usage. In the US, words tend to be pronounced as they are spelt, so I suspect that most Americans would say 'EN-vul-ope'. Until now I had given very little thought to the way I, personally, pronounce the word but, thinking about it, I may use both pronunciations about equally. It seems to be easier and more natural to me to say 'an EN-vul-ope' but 'the ON-vul-ope'! Confusion reigns!

That's a good question! I have said and heard it both ways. I guess we could look it up in the dictionary and see what the pronunciation is...

SViswan, either pronunciation is correct for the noun envelope. Since that word came into the English language from the French and they pronounce it with the "o" sound, that is the way I do it, but I do not look down on those who use the Anglicized version as it is equally acceptable. The verb envelop is pronounced with the "e" first but with the accent on the second syllable and the "o" at the end is less hard than for the noun. More like "up" than "ope" as the silent "e" at the end of a word usually signals that the preceding vowel be long.

I say it with the 'e' sound. I have never heard it pronounced with the 'o' sound so I never thought about it before. Perhaps both ways are correct. Kind of like an I say tomato (to-mate-oh) you say tomato (to-mot-oh) kind of thing maybe? lol

I think i have head some pronounce it starting with "an-" as in "Anvalope". IM not quite sure if that is the right pronounciation. I think there are also lots of words liks that. Some are spelled differently from its prnounciation, sometimes i think its quite weird why does it have to be spelled differently from its pronounciation. Why dont they just spell it as to how it sounds to make it easier, it think it makes things more confusing when the spelling is quite different from how the word is read. hehe

I must admit that I pronounce it: In-vel(vL)-ope. I live in California, USA and this pronounciation seems standard here.

I don't know what is right way to pronounce but I pronounce it as EN envelope . I tried to pronounce as you said with O but I am not able to get it right . May there can be a difference with English and US pronounce.

Yes pronouncing the word with the 'o' sound is the right way to do it.But I usually pronounce it with an 'e',malayalee style.The reason is when I go to a shop and ask for an envelope with a 'e',I immedaitley get what I want.But if I pronounce it with an 'o',I will end up with getting an envelope ,along with a sneer,for trying to sound like an english woman...he..he...

Hi Sandhya, I have always pronounced it with O (like the ‘aw’ sound) and to me, that was the way it was to be pronounced. It’s the first time I am hearing (courtesy Gohar, the first responder) that O is the American way and E is the English way! Ever heard of this before?

I usually pronounce it with 'o'. That how i was taught since childhood. But my parents are inclined towards 'e'. As far as i know, ENVELOPE is imbibed from the French, just as many other words have. like ensemble, entrepreneur...The French pronounce it somewhere between 'e' and 'o'. And we pronounce it either as round 'o' or as round'e'. it should be inclined towards 'o', but not proper full 'o'. hope that made sense!

I pronounce it with an 'e' sound. I'm not sure if it's the right pronunciation, I've heard many people pronounce it that way, but never hear people pronouncing it with an 'o' sound. Thanks for bringing up this topic, sometimes I'm confused with the English pronunciation too. In my country, different people pronounce certain words different, also some teachers taught us wrongly actually.

Oh the joys of English pronunciation! I personally say the word envelope with the "O" sound. Arguably you could say that the use of the "E" sound is more correct but I think it is much of a muchness really. Standard dictionaries also use a pronunciation key with the "en" sound preceding so this backs up the "E" beginning even further. There are many words though that can fall under different pronunciations that are totally dependent on the speaker. "Necklace" for example. I pronounce the second part as "less" so more like neckless. But others will say lace.

Envelope is an English word borrowed from the French and was originally pronounced with the 'o' sound. However, the majority of English people now use the 'e' sound. Both are correct. I use sometimes one and sometimes the other without thinking. all the best urban

I don't know for sure which is the right way hun but here in the UK I've always pronounced it with the "on" sound rather than an "en" and English is my first language. It's so weird, I never thought about it before you brought it up in this discussion...