American Accent
The American accent an actor is usually asked for is General American: rhotic (every R is pronounced), with the flat, wide vowel in "cat" and the short "o" in "hot", and no strong regional marker. It is the accent of most US network news and national broadcasting, chosen precisely because it places a speaker nowhere in particular. America also holds some of the most distinct accents in the English-speaking world, including the Southern accents, the New York and Boston accents, and African American Vernacular English.
Hear it from real speakers
Every recording below is an unscripted native speaker, not an actor performing the accent — the reference that actually matters when you're learning it.
New York Accent
Mamaroneck, New York, United StatesWatch
Omaha, Nebraska Midwest Accent
Omaha, Nebraska, United StatesWatch
Nashville Accent
Nashville, Tennessee, United StatesWatch
Toledo Accent
Toledo, Ohio, United StatesWatch
American Accent
Los Angeles, California, United StatesWatch
Bay Area California Accent
San Francisco Bay Area, United StatesWatch
Chattanooga Accent
Chattanooga, Tennessee, United StatesWatch
Georgia Accent
Augusta, Georgia, United StatesWatch
Minnesota Accent
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United StatesWatchWhat actually separates them
The differences that matter when you're learning it — not the version you'd get from a vocabulary list.
- Rhotic — the defining feature
- General American pronounces every R, including at the end of a word: "car", "hard", "teacher". This is the single most reliable way to tell an American accent from most English ones, and it is the first thing to correct if an actor is drifting toward RP. Scottish and most Irish accents are also rhotic, so rhoticity alone does not make a performance sound American.
- The cot–caught merger
- Many Americans pronounce "cot" and "caught" identically; others keep them clearly apart. The merger is complete in most of the West and increasingly in the Midwest, while parts of the East Coast and the South preserve the distinction. Whether a character merges them quietly tells an audience which part of America they come from.
- General American vs. Standard American
- The two names describe the same thing and are used interchangeably. "General American" is the linguistic term; "Standard American" is the phrase acting and voice coaching tend to use, and it is the one most American accent courses are titled with. Neither refers to a formal or "correct" way of speaking.
- Regional accents are not weaker versions
- A Southern or New York accent is not an imperfect General American. Each has its own consistent sound system, and treating them as a set of deviations to be scrubbed out is the most common reason an actor's regional American accent sounds like an impression rather than a person.
Common questions
What is the standard American accent called?
General American, also called Standard American. It is a rhotic, regionally neutral accent associated with national broadcasting, and it is the accent most often meant when a script simply asks for "American".
Is there an American accent without an R sound?
Yes — parts of New England and the older New York and Boston accents are traditionally non-rhotic, dropping the R at the end of a word. That is why a classic Boston or old New York accent sounds so different from General American despite both being American.
How do I learn the American accent?
Start with the two features that define it: rhoticity and the vowel set. Then work on rhythm, because American English is stress-timed and flattens unstressed syllables more than most learners expect. Working through recordings of real speakers from the specific region you need is far more effective than generic drilling.
Working on American accent for a role?
The recordings on this page are the reference. If you need correction, direction and someone to tell you when it's right, Sarah teaches this one-to-one — and there's a self-paced course if you'd rather work alone.