this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2026
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Received is the except after C rule. Foreign uses the same ay sound as neighbor.
Keith is a better one, but it's a proper noun so a lot of rules for spelling are ignored.
I’m sorry… foreign and neighbor do not use the same sound
They do but not where its_kim thinks:
fȯr-ən
nā-bər
The "ei" in "foreign" is a schwa ( /ə/ ) and so is the "o" in neighbor.
Sources (American English): https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreign, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neighbor
It does when you pronounce it correctly.
Firstly, there is, effectively, no 'correct' way to pronounce any damn thing. Languages belong to those who use them. RP English is no more correct than Delhi English, or Alabama English for that matter.
Secondly, I have English speaking friends from just about every US state, and so many countries, and I have never once heard one pronounce foreign as "fore-ayn." I'd love to know what dialect you speak.
No...
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neighbor
nā-bər
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreign
fȯr-ən
You're probably speaking some fringe accent.
Nope.
Foreign does not use the same sound as neighbor.
nAYbor
forEN
It does sound like forayn to me.
The most common pronounciations are "for-in" and "for-un".
Source: English linguistics student who can read phonetic notation
It absolutely doesn't have a hard E vowel sound. Except when my deep south relatives say it.
Yes, you are correct that it does not have a hard E sound
Because it's not a "hard" E.... it's a mid-central vowel in "foreign" (schwa): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid_central_vowel (like when going "uh")
Proof in an American dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foreign
While "ei" in "Neighbor" is NOT a schwa, it's an "ay": https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neighbor