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Ten Pronunciation Differences Between American and British English

 

Introduction

Learning English pronunciation can be confusing—especially with the differences between American English and British English. Starting in 2026, the TOEFL Speaking section will include a listen-and-repeat task, and speakers may use either accent. Don’t worry—you don’t need to imitate an accent like an actor. TOEFL only cares about intelligibility.

To guide us, we’ll explore the differences with the help of Dr. Nanhee Byrnes, a pronunciation expert.


General American vs. Received Pronunciation

  • General American (GA): Neutral Midwestern accent, used widely in U.S. media.

  • Received Pronunciation (RP): Traditional “BBC accent,” linked to educated speakers in southern England.

These serve as the standard reference accents for American and British English.


Vowel Charts

  • GA: 10 monophthongs + 5 diphthongs

  • RP: 12 monophthongs (short/long), 8 diphthongs, and 5 triphthongs

10 Key Pronunciation Differences

1. Vowel Length vs. Tense/Lax

  • RP: Distinction between long and short vowels (e.g., /iː/ vs. /ɪ/).

  • GA: Distinction based on tense vs. lax vowels. Length depends on stress and context (prefortis clipping).

2. Father–Bother Merger

  • GA (General American): father and bother rhyme, both using /ɑ/.

  • RP (Received Pronunciation): father → /fɑːðə/ with a long back vowel, bother → /bɒðə/ with a rounded short vowel. Two distinct sounds.

3. Cot–Caught Merger

  • GA: In many regions, cot /kɑt/ and caught /kɔt/ sound identical (both as /kɑt/). This merger makes vowel distinctions simpler.

  • RP: The distinction is preserved — cot /kɒt/ vs. caught /kɔːt/.

4. Vowel shift

  • GA: Words like bath, class, laugh, chance use /æ/ → [bæθ], [klæs].

  • RP: These same words use the long /ɑː/ → [bɑːθ], [klɑːs].

  • Contrast effect: In GA, aunt and ant sound the same, while in RP they remain distinct.

5. The Rhotic “R”

  • GA: Rhotic—/r/ is pronounced everywhere (car → /kɑr/).

  • RP: Non-rhotic—/r/ disappears after vowels (car → /kɑː/).

  • GA vowels become R-colored ([ɚ], [ɝ]).

6. Mary–Marry–Merry Merger

  • RP: Three different vowels.

  • GA: All sound the same (/ˈmɛri/).

7. Mirror–Nearer Merger

  • RP: Distinct (mirror /ˈmɪrə/, nearer /ˈnɪərə/).

  • GA: Often merged (mirror /ˈmɪrɚ/, nearer /ˈnɪrɚ/).

8. Schwa Reduction (Weak Vowel Merger)

  • GA: Unstressed vowels reduce to schwa [ə]. Example: effect and affect both start with [ə].

  • RP: Unstressed vowels retain their dictionary quality.

9. The Flap T/D 

  • GA: /t/ and /d/ between vowels become a flap [ɾ].

    • Writer and rider sound the same.

    • Metal and medal both → [ˈmɛɾəl].

  • RP: /t/ is crisp and distinct (butter → [ˈbʌtə]).

10. Yod Dropping

  • RP (posh): Keeps /j/ after alveolar consonants: tune → /tjuːn/.

  • RP (casual): Palatalization: tune → /tʃuːn/.

  • GA: Drops /j/: tune → /tun/, dune → /dun/.

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✨ Takeaway: American English tends to be simpler and smoother, while British English preserves more vowel distinctions and crisp articulation. Both are correct—your goal is clarity.

Why This Matters for the TOEFL

Understanding these differences helps with:

  • TOEFL listening and speaking

  • Avoiding confusion when shadowing accents

  • Developing clearer, more confident English pronunciation

About Dr. Nanhee Byrnes

Originally from Korea, Dr. Byrnes mastered near-native pronunciation through phonetics and prosody—the music of English. She now teaches learners worldwide how to speak with clarity and confidence.