Pronunciation Differences: American & British English Compared

When people think about the differences between British and American English, they often think about word choice differences such as petrol vs. gasoline, lift vs. elevator, and loo vs. restroom. However, in this article, I will discuss some of the more salient pronunciation differences between these two major varieties of English.

First, we need to define “British English” and American English”. Both variants encompass several different dialects. What I’m referring to in this article is the most common dialect and the one taught in schools and heard in news broadcasts, British Received Pronunciation and Standard American English.

Non-native English speakers frequently ask me which of two pronunciations for a word are correct. Is it often or often, “new or nyew”, “either or either”, “data or data”. Sometimes there is more than one accepted pronunciation in American English, but sometimes one pronunciation is American and the other is British. And there are also pronunciations that were British-only that have been adopted by some Americans and vice versa. This is the case with “often”. No “T” was the traditional American pronunciation while pronouncing the “T” was British.

Sound Variations

Let’s start our exploration with differences in the pronunciation of sounds.

"ER" & "R" Controlled vowels

Perhaps the most notable variation is the “R” sound after vowels. Americans pronounce the “R”, Brits don’t. Some examples include water, first, early, fair, hard, more, fire, bear.

Intrusive "R"

The opposite may also occur in British English, where an “R” is added to the end of a word where there isn’t one. So idea sounds like “idee-er” and China like “Chiner”. This does not occur in American English.

Flap "T"

Another notable distinction is the pronunciation of the “T”. In American English, when “T” is between vowel sounds, it sounds like “D”. This is known as a flap T. Some examples include: water, notice, party, little. British English generally uses the regular “T” sound in this position.

Held "T"

American English varies its pronunciation of “T” to soften or sometimes eliminate it depending on other sounds around it. British generally maintains a firmer “T” sound. You’ll find this to be the case with final “T’s”. American’s will use a held “T” (stop the air flow, but do not release the air) to say “I’m hot” or “Have a seat”. Brits will use a standard fully-pronounced “T”.

Short "A"

Then there is the pronunciation of the “A”. A single letter “A” is usually pronounced /æ/ in American English. Think of the “A” in cat or apple.

In British, however, before NT, NCH, NS, S, F, TH, it is pronounced /a/. It sounds like the “O” in mom or job. Common examples include: can’t, class, ask, bath, past, half, after, example, rather.

Long "O"

In both American and British English, this sound is a blend of two vowel sounds (a diphthong). In American English, this sound begins with an “O” and finishes with “U”. The American “O” placement is in the back of the mouth.

In British, it begins with an “E” and finishes with “U”, so your tongue starts farther forward and then shifts to the back of your mouth.

Take the simple word “No” as an example of how different the two dialects sound. Here are a couple more common ones: home and phone.

Long "U"

Similar to the Long “O”, the American long “U” is placed entirely in the back of the mouth, whereas in British English, the tongue begins forward in an “EE” sound and then shifts backward for the “U”.

Note how the following words sound different between the two dialects: blue, absolutely, include.

Short "AW"

The Short “AW” sound is also quite distinct between the two varieties of English. The “A” in call in American English sounds like the “O” in mom or job. In British English, it sounds closer to the long “O” in coal. Words with the following spellings have the same vowel variations between American and British pronunciations:

- al: call, talk

- au: author

- aw: awful, draw

- augh: daughter, taught

- ought: thought, fought

- ong: long

- o (sometimes): dog

"Y" Insertion Before "U"

Both American and British English insert a “Y” sound before “U” after many sounds. Examples include cute, huge, music, manual, document, vocabulary, university, unusual, beautiful, uniform, regular.

This occurs more in British English, including after initial T, D, and N and middle S. In the following words, British English inserts a “Y” before the “U” sound, while American does not: Tuesday, student, during, duty, new, assume.

Word Stress in American and British pronunciations

American English stresses the last syllable for most words of French origin, whereas British English stresses the first syllable. Examples include:

• ballet, gourmet, valet, buffet

• massage, garage

• café, fiancée

brochure

vaccine

Pronouncing Suffixes: American and British

There are significant pronunciation differences in words with the following endings:

"-ile"

mobile, fragile, volatile, hostile, versatile, missile

American English “ile” is a weak syllable. Sounds like the “-le” ending in the word “little”.

"-ary, -ory, -er"

military, library, necessary, secretary, extraordinary, anniversary, January, February

history, category, factory, inventory, victory, laboratory, territory

"-er"

batteries, literally

American English pronounces the “AR” “OR” & “ER” syllable fully. British drops the “A” or “O”.

"-ization"

organization, civilization, globalization, realization, colonization

In American English, the “I” is in a weak syllable and is reduced, whereas in British, it’s stressed and sounds like the long “I” in time.

There are many differences in individual words. They are too numerous to mention them all, but here are some of the more common words we say differently.

Word	American Pronunciation	British Pronunciation
tomato	“A” is a long “A” like in “ate”	“A” sounds like the “A” in the British “class”
aunt	same pronunciation as “ant”	“AU” sounds like the “A” in the British “class”
vase	rhymes with “case”	A sounds like the “A” in the British “class”, se=z
charade	ade = “AID”	A sounds like the “A” in the British “class”, final “E” is silent
schedule	sch = “SK” as in “school”	sch = “SH” as in “ship”
address	stress first syllable (for noun meaning physical location)	stress second syllable (for noun meaning physical location)
adult	stress second syllable	stress first syllable
weekend	stress first syllable	stress second syllable
advertisement	stress falls on “AD” & “TISE” & vowel is long “I”	stress “VER”, all other syllables are weak
simultaneous	The “I” in “sim” is a long “I” & sounds like the letter “I”	The “I” in “sim” is a short “I” – “sim” rhymes with “him”

And last but not least, the final letter of the alphabet – Americans say “ZEE” and everyone else says “ZED”.

Now you can see why Americans and Brits sound so different speaking the same language. There are numerous pronunciation differences, in addition to word choice differences. This explains the humorous phrase “England and America are two nations divided by a common language”. Armed with the knowledge of these differences, you can now easily choose the correct pronunciation for the accent you’d like to use.

British English Voiceover by Ellen Forrest. You can find her on Fiverr @ellenforrest and Instagram @forrestaudio2.