How do you pronounce Nevada?

25 comments

1. Correct local pronunciation is middle syllable rhymes with “cat”

   Source: I’m not Nevadan, but I have a friend who is.

2. Middle syllable rhymes with bad

3. both ways are entirely correct/understandable.

   Cool thing about english is that it allows a lot of head room for pronouncing things differently while still being correct/understandable lmfao.

   ne-vah-da does sound sound like youre pronouncing the “va” in nevada with a british accent though so i can see where your cali fam is coming from lol

4. Also a Californian who has been to Nevada many times…

   Neh-vad (rhymes with dad) -uh is the most common way to say it.

5. Noo-veed-dia

6. I’m from California and have always said it as “Ne-vad-uh”.

7. In Nevada, it’s -ad, rhymes with bad.

   In Massachusetts, it’s -aw, rhymes with paw.

   It took me two years of living in Nevada before I consistently pronounced it -ad, and now I’m back east I find myself using the wrong one again. So while you would sound like a tourist, it’s not *only* tourists, it’s also people who live there but are slow on the uptake.

8. “Nevada” is a Spanish word so I pronounce it how it’s supposed to be pronounced, not the way the people in Nevada pronounce it. Sorry Nevadans.

9. I pronounce it the Spanish way, which is both the correct way and the tourist way. I also live in Los Angeles and pronounce it the Spanish way. But I like pronouncing things they way they are supposed to be, not the milquetoast whitey way.

10. There’s a town in Missouri called Nevada and it’s pronounced Neh-vay-duh because reasons?

11. Same way you do

12. Nuh-vah-duh

13. ‘Nevah-duh’

    *is promptly beaten by the entire state.*

    (I kid, it’s ‘Nuh-va-da’)

14. Ne-VAH-da

15. Where I’m from, we usually say it Vay-Gus

    (mostly kidding, Nevadans 😂)

16. [How do you pronounce Nevada, Oregon, and Colorado?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/8m2l30/how_do_you_pronounce_nevada_oregon_and_colorado/)

    [Which way do you pronounce Nevada?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/11a5l6m/which_way_do_you_pronounce_nevada/)

    [How do fellow Americans pronounce Nevada coming from a Vegas native?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/ok01h3/how_do_fellow_americans_pronounce_nevada_coming/)

    [WIBTA for pronouncing the state Nevada “ne-VAD-uh” not “ne-VAH-duh”?](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnAmerican/comments/z2481s/wibta_for_pronouncing_the_state_nevada_nevaduh/)

17. The correct pronunciation is

    *nə•’væ•də*

    like how we pronounce ‘dad’ or ‘bat,’ not like how we pronounce ‘car’ or ‘ball.’

    “Correct” in this case means it’s how most folks from Nevada pronounce it. Folks not from Nevada often mispronounce in, in that they pronounce it closer to the original Spanish, like ‘nuh-VAW-duh.’ Most Nevadans don’t make a fuss about this, because the State hosts lots of tourists and newcomers and it’s a reasonable mistake.

    But if you want Nevadans to vote for you for President, you really should use their preferred pronunciation.

18. >I would sound like a tourist

    … You ARE a tourist though. Half of the Las Vegas population at any one time is tourists. It’s basically designed to be a tourist city. You’ll never pass as a local so just do your thing.

    That said, yes people from Nevada say Ne vad uh with vad rhyming with bad. Personally I don’t care if it’s the locally preferred pronunciation there, it will never not sound wrong to me. I’d feel like I was mimicking an accent I don’t have if I pronounced it that way. It’ll always be ne-VAH-duh to me.

19. Neve–a-duh.

20. Ne vad uh. California.

    We say it right.

21. Ne vad uh. Locals will laugh you out the other way

22. The correct (Spanish) pronunciation is Neh-vah-dah, but if you don’t pronounce it Nuh-va-duh in Nevada they’ll probably hit you.

23. ne-vah-duh

24. Neh-vad-uh

    I know this, because there’s a town in Missouri that also is called Nevada, and it’s differentiated by its pronunciation as neh-vay-da… And some other things.

25. Your friend is correct. “Nuh-vah-duh” is also how I was taught to pronounce it, but the locals call it “Nuh-vad-uh”.