Both countries belong to the North American continent. For purposes of this post, we will refer to English spoken in the United States as ‘American’. It’s an unfortunate ambiguity that’s commonly used, but when was the last time you heard somebody refer to ‘United Statesian’ English? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We recognize that there are many regional variations in both countries. This discussion therefore uses some generalizations and exaggerations for emphasis. We hope not to offend anyone and apologize if we do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The English of the two countries is very close but there are subtle differences in spelling, pronunciation, and vocabulary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spelling<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
In Canadian English, words derived from French are spelled the British way, such as \u2018harbour\u2019 and \u2018theatre\u2019, whereas in American English they are \u2018harbor\u2019 and \u2018theater.\u2019 Canadian English, like British English, uses double consonants when adding a suffix, such as \u2018travelling\u2019 and \u2018marvellous\u2019, as opposed to the single consonants in American English, such as \u2018traveling\u2019 and \u2018marvelous\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Words from other origins, such as Greek, are spelled the same in Canada and the USA, such as \u2018realize\u2019 and \u2018recognize\u2019 in contrast to the British \u2018realise\u2019 and \u2018recognise\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canadian and American English also share spelling of modern words such as \u2018tire\u2019, \u2018curb\u2019 and \u2018aluminum\u2019 whereas British English prefers \u2018tyre\u2019, \u2018kerb\u2019 and \u2018aluminium\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pronunciation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
American and Canadian English pronunciation is very similar with some variation in vowels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One notable example is the short \u2018o\u2019 sound. The Canadian pronunciation of \u2018cot\u2019, \u2018stock\u2019 and \u2018nod\u2019 sounds phonetically to Americans more like \u2018caught\u2019, \u2018stalk\u2019 and \u2018gnawed\u2019. To Canadians, the American pronunciation sounds like, ‘cat’, ‘stack’ and ‘nad’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Canadians are stereotypically polite and considerate to each other, often using the word \u2018sorry\u2019, which sounds phonetically to Americans more like \u2018sore-ree\u2019. The American pronunciation sounds to Canadians more like ‘sarry’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another is the \u2018ou\u2019 vowel combination. The Canadian pronunciation of \u2018out\u2019 and \u2018about\u2019 sounds phonetically to Americans more like \u2018oat\u2019 and \u2018a boat\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, Americans from states closest to the Canadian border, such as in the upper Midwest, tend to pronounce these vowels similarly to their Canadian neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vocabulary<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Generally, Canadian vocabulary tends to be closer to American than British vocabulary, using, for example, \u2018truck\u2019, \u2018highway\u2019 and \u2018trunk\u2019 as opposed to \u2018lorry\u2019, \u2018motorway\u2019 and \u2018boot\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are also many uniquely Canadian expressions, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Washroom \u2013 the place you go to wash your hands (after doing other things). This is funny because the Americans prefer the euphemism \u2018restroom\u2019, even though a public toilet is the last place you\u2019d want to go to take a nap!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Timmies \u2013 Tim Horton\u2019s, the ubiquitous coffee and donut shop. By the way, if you order a regular coffee at Timmies, it comes with cream and sugar. At Dunkin’s in the USA, a regular would most likely be black.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Loonie \u2013 A one Dollar coin, no doubt from the image of a common loon on its face.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Eh? \u2013 The overused American caricature of Canadian English. When added to the end of a sentence, it turns the statement into a question. Alternatively, it adds emphasis to a statement, such as \u2018right?\u2019 in American English, or \u2018n\u2019est-ce pas?\u2019 in French. Examples:
- You\u2019re going on vacation next week, eh?<\/li><\/ul>\n
- \n
- That was a great dinner, eh?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The next two days will conclude our stay in Halifax. We expect our friends H\u00e9l\u00e8ne and Beno\u00eet to arrive here tonight after waiting for a weather window in an anchorage further North. We’ll continue to enjoy the town, provision the boat and get ready for our journey Southwest toward Lunenburg, NS, Yarmouth, NS and eventually our overnight crossing of the Bay of Fundy into Maine in the USA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sailingtruenorth.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Bicycle-Thief.heic\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sailingtruenorth.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_4138.png\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Another day off the water to contemplate the amusing differences in how the two countries use the same language.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-down-east-circle-route"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1510"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4925,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510\/revisions\/4925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailingfregata.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- That was a great dinner, eh?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- You\u2019re going on vacation next week, eh?<\/li><\/ul>\n