Another difference between American English and Canadian English is in how each adds suffixes to words. Canadians prefer to use double consonants, while Americans keep their consonants single. For example, Canadians will turn “travel” into “traveled,” but Americans will use “traveled” instead.
Introduction
Even if the American was from one of the northern states close to the Canadian border, like Wisconsin, Michigan, or Minnesota, where Americans tend to emphasise their vowels, you might not notice the subtle differences between their accents if you put an average Canadian and an average American in the same room. This is especially true if the American was from one of these states. You might be shocked to learn that these two English dialects from close by nations utilise the language somewhat differently, though, if you give them a closer listen.
Differences
You may have noticed that Canadian English tends to use "ou" in terms like "humour" and "behaviour," as well as switching "er" for "re" in some words like "theatre" and "centre," which are used in American English. Canada is not the only country that favours these spellings. The majority of the world's schools teach these terms using British spellings.
The way each language ends words with suffixes is another way that American English and Canadian English are different. Americans often keep their consonants single, but Canadians tend to utilise double consonants. For instance, Canadians will change the word "travel" to "travelled," but Americans will use the word "travelled."
We cannot discuss the difference between American and Canadian English without touching on question tags. Like nearly all languages across the world, Canadians and Americans both use question tags. However, Canadians tend to endure more flak for theirs. Canadians can turn any statement into a question by adding the question tag “eh.” As in: “Making hamburgers for dinner, eh?”
Americans often do this same thing by adding a casual “huh” or “right” to the end of sentences. Maybe these dialects aren’t so different, huh?
Conclusion
Since both Canadian and American English are phonologically North American English, it can be challenging to tell them apart—some could even suggest they are indistinguishable. Spending some time listening to these two dialects will reveal a number of pleasant variations other than accents. Well, how about that? You can also download our app from the playstore or visit our website.