Every word here has an American and a British recording. The differences look random but a few rules explain most of them.
1. The R at the end of a syllable
American English is rhotic: the r is pronounced everywhere (car /kɑr/, bird /bɜrd/). Standard British (RP) drops it unless a vowel follows (car /kɑː/, bird /bɜːd/).
2. T between vowels
In the US a t between vowels is often a quick flap that sounds like a soft d: water, better, city. In Britain the t is usually kept (wa-ter).
3. The “bath” vowel
Words like dance, path, class, can't use /æ/ in the US (dance /dæns/) and a long /ɑː/ in Britain (/dɑːns/).
4. Short o
hot, lot, stop: American /ɑ/ (like the a in father), British /ɒ/ (rounded).
5. The “go” vowel
go, home, no: American /oʊ/, British /əʊ/.
6. Y-sound after t, d, n
tune, duty, news: Americans usually say /tun/, /ˈduti/, /nuz/; Britons keep the y-sound: /tjuːn/, /ˈdjuːti/, /njuːz/.
7. Stress and spelling
A few words simply stress a different syllable: advertisement (US /ˌædvərˈtaɪzmənt/, UK /ədˈvɜːtɪsmənt/), laboratory, garage, address (noun). Some spellings differ too (color/colour, center/centre, realize/realise).
| Word | US | UK | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| car | /kɑr/ | /kɑː/ | final r |
| water | /ˈwɔtər/ | /ˈwɔːtə/ | flap t, final r |
| dance | /dæns/ | /dɑːns/ | “bath” vowel |
| hot | /hɑt/ | /hɒt/ | short o |
| no | /noʊ/ | /nəʊ/ | “go” vowel |
| tune | /tun/ | /tjuːn/ | y-sound |