Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I dont know what yall are sayin but im from canada the province of Ontario about 1hr from michigan and 1.5 from newyork and i int never said about like aboot or house like hoose lol and i never met any one that does lol
Personally I think the two accents sound pretty different. Canadian is certainly the closest foreign accent to sounding American (next IMO would be the accent of Northern Ireland) and on first listen, it might sound American but I think it has a lot of different features. For one thing, they tend to not draw out vowel sounds, they say quite a few words differently and of course they pronounce the vowel in 'about' and 'house' differently.
I would never mistake a British Columbian for a Texan, or an Ontarian for someone from Kansas. I'd actually argue that some people in the Western and Midwestern US sound Canadian rather than the other way around.
And of course, the accent in Newfoundland is completely different, a strong Newfoundland accent can sound more European than American.
Well, the essential problem with your question is the assumption that there's a quintessential American accent. Put a Bostonian, Cajun, South Carolinian, Minnesotan, and Californian in the same room and then tell us what an American accent is, pray tell.
Obviously some regional differences are very clear due to both nation's having local accents.
For the Canadians and Americans that sound alike, 2 seconds worth of conversation can let them tell you apart.
Canadians say..........john and I but Americans say me and John.
Americans say candy bars but there is no such thing as a candy bar in Canada, only chocolate bars. Even if there is no chocolate in the bar it's still called a chocolate bar.
Americans say soda, we say pop.
Americans say "Canadian bacon" while in Canada there is no such thing......it's back bacon.
Americans pronounce Canada ...keen-a-da and Canadians say Tur-on-oh and Munch-ree-all where as Americans say Tor-on-to {emphasising the T} and Mon-tree-all.
Americans don't use metric.
Many words are spelt differently like we write 'centre' while Americans write 'center', colour/color etc due to our French influence.
Also due to our French influence many businesses and government put the primary word first unlike in the US/England. ie American Airlines vs Air Canada, US Mail vs Canada Post
Canadians, being rather meek, say "sorry" for everything or will say sorry instead of excuse me. Of course there is the old 'eh' which basically means "don't you agree?"
Americans say "I apologize" which you will never hear a Canadian say but rather the old standby "I'm sorry".
Americans are far more likely to say "oh my gosh" which Canadians never say but rather "oh my God" perhaps due to Americans being more religious.
Americans also use the words "sir & mam" while Canadians rarely do probably as it has become part of the American slang due to slavery.
Americans will say a college degree wile in Canada there is no such thing.
Americans say "sophomore" years in high school or college or university while it is almost never said in Canada.
Forgot another one................Americans will say {like Australians, British, and Europeans} "America" when referring to the US but Canadians will NEVER say that. They will say 'American' as in the the President or something that was made there but NEVER for the country. In Canada we either say the US or more commonly "the states" which is also fairly unique to Canadians.
Canadians will only say "America" if we fake with a deep southern accent ie uh-mar-a-ka. It's an insulting way to refer to the US inferring that they are all a bunch of god-fearing, gun totting, hillbillies.
I have 3 good friends who recently moved to the US from Canada (Toronto and Alberta) and they sound American to me. I really can't tell the difference. There are some cases where Canadians sound different to me though, and usually when that happens it's because they speak with an accent that is equivalent to those found in the places like Minnesota, so I guess technically speaking even then they still sound American lol.
Obviously some regional differences are very clear due to both nation's having local accents.
For the Canadians and Americans that sound alike, 2 seconds worth of conversation can let them tell you apart.
Canadians say..........john and I but Americans say me and John.
Americans say candy bars but there is no such thing as a candy bar in Canada, only chocolate bars. Even if there is no chocolate in the bar it's still called a chocolate bar.
Americans say soda, we say pop.
Americans say "Canadian bacon" while in Canada there is no such thing......it's back bacon.
Americans pronounce Canada ...keen-a-da and Canadians say Tur-on-oh and Munch-ree-all where as Americans say Tor-on-to {emphasising the T} and Mon-tree-all.
Americans don't use metric.
Many words are spelt differently like we write 'centre' while Americans write 'center', colour/color etc due to our French influence.
Also due to our French influence many businesses and government put the primary word first unlike in the US/England. ie American Airlines vs Air Canada, US Mail vs Canada Post
Canadians, being rather meek, say "sorry" for everything or will say sorry instead of excuse me. Of course there is the old 'eh' which basically means "don't you agree?"
Americans say "I apologize" which you will never hear a Canadian say but rather the old standby "I'm sorry".
Americans are far more likely to say "oh my gosh" which Canadians never say but rather "oh my God" perhaps due to Americans being more religious.
Americans also use the words "sir & mam" while Canadians rarely do probably as it has become part of the American slang due to slavery.
Americans will say a college degree wile in Canada there is no such thing.
Americans say "sophomore" years in high school or college or university while it is almost never said in Canada.
Canadians say..........john and I but Americans say me and John.Americans say it both ways
Americans say candy bars but there is no such thing as a candy bar in Canada, only chocolate bars. Even if there is no chocolate in the bar it's still called a chocolate bar. Americans say candy bar in much the same way. Even if there is only chocolate.
Americans say soda, we say pop. In the US this varies by region. In most of the west, we say soda although in parts of the Pacific Northwest, they say pop. In the Midwest, it's usually pop. In the south, it's coke regardless of what's in the cup
Americans say "Canadian bacon" while in Canada there is no such thing......it's back bacon. True
Americans pronounce Canada ...keen-a-da and Canadians say Tur-on-oh and Munch-ree-all where as Americans say Tor-on-to {emphasising the T} and Mon-tree-all. I don't know where you got this from but no.
Americans don't use metric. We use metric in medicine and science and in a few every day things. Larger sizes of soda (pop) are sold in one and two liter bottles. Wine is also usually sold by the liter. Certain walks and run, especially for awareness are 5k and 10k.
Many words are spelt differently like we write 'centre' while Americans write 'center', colour/color etc due to our French influence. While this is true, with Canadians, it due to British influence
Also due to our French influence many businesses and government put the primary word first unlike in the US/England. ie American Airlines vs Air Canada, US Mail vs Canada Post This is due more to grammar. Air Canada sounds better than Canada Air. Likewise, American Airlines sounds better than Airlines America. We once had an Air California and we currently have Amtrak California.
Canadians, being rather meek, say "sorry" for everything or will say sorry instead of excuse me. Of course there is the old 'eh' which basically means "don't you agree?" Contrary to popular stereotypes, Americans use "eh" to in a similar way. Just less frequently
Americans say "I apologize" which you will never hear a Canadian say but rather the old standby "I'm sorry". We use both in the US. Generally, I'm sorry if often more sincere in the US than I apologize.
Americans are far more likely to say "oh my gosh" which Canadians never say but rather "oh my God" perhaps due to Americans being more religious. Nonsense. Oh my God is used far more often in the US.
Americans also use the words "sir & mam" while Canadians rarely do probably as it has become part of the American slang due to slavery. You sound like a crazy person. Those words are simply formalities and polite, especially if you don't know the person.
Americans will say a college degree wile in Canada there is no such thing.
Americans say "sophomore" years in high school or college or university while it is almost never said in Canada.
Forgot another one................Americans will say {like Australians, British, and Europeans} "America" when referring to the US but Canadians will NEVER say that. They will say 'American' as in the the President or something that was made there but NEVER for the country. In Canada we either say the US or more commonly "the states" which is also fairly unique to Canadians.
Canadians will only say "America" if we fake with a deep southern accent ie uh-mar-a-ka. It's an insulting way to refer to the US inferring that they are all a bunch of god-fearing, gun totting, hillbillies.
British people will say the states and US as well. Sometimes even Americans use those terms.
Canadians speak a bit more quickly than people from the U.S.... I can tell the difference between several U.S. and Canadian accents, but there are also things like figures of speech, slang, gestures, body language, that hint at where the person's from.
People from the U.S. tend to fill up more "personal space" with their bodies when they speak. They gesture more with their bodies--they'll turn their shoulders, nod their head, gesture with their arms, etc. more than Canadians do. They also are much more direct /blunt when they speak. Canadians do seem more soft-spoken in comparison. My observation is that Canadians also use more "comfortable pauses" during conversations, whereas people from the U.S. tend to try to fill in pauses in the conversation. Can't think of another way of putting it.
There's more of a "lilt" in the way Canadians speak, and more of a "drawl" in the way people from the States speak.
I have 3 good friends who recently moved to the US from Canada (Toronto and Alberta) and they sound American to me. I really can't tell the difference. There are some cases where Canadians sound different to me though, and usually when that happens it's because they speak with an accent that is equivalent to those found in the places like Minnesota, so I guess technically speaking even then they still sound American lol.
That's interesting. Western Canadians (like from Alberta) tend to have an accent that sounds more Western U.S. than any other part of Canada. If I met your Canadian friends, I wonder if I could tell which ones are from Toronto, and which ones are from Alberta? I bet I could pick out the Torontonian. I might have a hard time telling the difference between the Albertans and Americans, at first anyway.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
