British extra R-sounds and why we don't hear them 

It's funny to me. Brits put R sounds where there's none, and not where it is! ;-)

I'm from Massachusetts. So I have no idea what an R is.

What I personally find especially strange is when Brits say "drawRing" instead of drawing. :)

"It's just a cultural difference, and it's nothing to worry about." Famous last words.

It's Leviosa, not Leviosar

4:42 Hahaha yeah im pretty sure the only american who talks like that is jerry seinfeld.

You're wrong on the American thing. When we're speaking casually, we use the same shortcuts in speech. "Sorry'm late, got 'cotton' (caught'n) traffic".

I want to attend an event hosted by Lindybeige just so I can approach him saying "I'm SAHRY I was LATE but I was CAUT in TRAHFAC"

As a non-native speaker I find English absolutely ridiculous. After many years of trying to understand spoken English, I pretty much got it by now, but it's been a long way. No matter if you're a Brit or American, or Australian or whatever, you all don't actually SPEAK a large portion of your sentences, so when a foreigner is trying to understand you, it's often a nightmare. For some reason your letter "r" is actually a freakin VOWEL! How did that happen?! And then it gets worse. English is so unbelievably inconsistent with it's pronunciation, you can't just learn some rules and then continue absorbing new words. Oh no, you actually have to learn how to pronounce each word SEPARATELY. Just look at how you pronounce: - beard - heard - heart If a foreigner learns a word, and then finds a similar word and assumes it's pronounced analogically, he's going to be fucking disappointed, cause in English banana peels are all over the god damn floor. Now obviously my native Polish isn't the easiest language in the world (quite the opposite, really), but at least it follows clear rules with minimal to no exceptions. These rules may be as complicated as your girlfriends emotional state, but once you learn them, there's no more surprises. Think I'm gonna go study Japanese now, it's pronunciation is a piece of cake compared to English.

The opposite is also true: English accents are non-rhotic, which means you'll drop R sounds at the end of syllables. Even this very video starts with you saying, "I've been made awahh..." This also happens with other non-rhotic accents, such as the Boston accent, which is commonly demonstrated with the sentence, "park the car in the Harvard Yard", or, "pahk the cah in the Hahvahd Yahd." (Please don't, though; it isn't a parking zone.)

The proper linguistic term for this is R-intrusion and it occurs when there is a vowel clash. The thing is that it's not really an R, but it's more of a transition sound that is created when the tongue switches position, and which our brain interprets as belonging to the /r/-phoneme.

This made me laugh so hard when you said I'm sorry I was late as an American

Did you just call us loud and insinuate that we lack clarity?! #triggered

The way you pronounced American way of speaking was way too hillarious.

Oh okay. I keep hearing "idea-r" when watching British shows. So this is why.

4:40 What a flattering impression, I'm sure the Yanks are thrilled.

the best is when english people say "nar" instead of "no"

That American accent holy hell XD

I'm British too. Surprised I didn't realise the R sound sooner xD

"I am SORRY I was LATE, but I was CAUGHT in TRAFFIC" made me laugh so hard for some reason

We do the same thing here in Austraya...

How about the Brits who pronounce the 'th' sound as an 'f'? As in, "One, two, free, four...". This one drives me nuts way more than the extra R.

It's LeviOsa not LeviosaR :D

Hahahaha I teach this to foreign students...it's called intrusion We also use an 'intrusive 'w' when the word ends in 'o' or 'u' or sounds related to those letters and the next word starts with a vowel. And an intrusive 'y' when it ends in an 'ee' or 'i' sound again when the next word starts with a vowel. E.G. So 'w'easy You 'w'aren't And We 'y'aren't Lie 'y'on the sofa/couch

so have you tried switching your voice box off and on again? :p

'A historic' is correct. 'An 'istoric" is arguably correct. 'An historic' is blatantly incorrect.

What's the ＤＥＡＬ with ＡＭＥＲＩＣＡＮ ＡＣＣＥＮＴＳ ？ *cue laugh track*

"What about Jack?" "'Fraid not. The first name ends with the same sound that begins the last name, so you either end up running them together - Jackrane - or you face the dreaded glottal stop. Jack-Crane. Jack-Crane. It's unpleasant for the throat." -Niles Crane

The accents aren't so much of a problem, but the choice of words in a phrase that I find astounding. I remember once sitting on a German train with some Brits. Me, being the only one with a watch. The nice young lady sitting across from me asked to be knocked up when we got there. O.o The look on my face must have been priceless as one of the other guys muttered something about bloody Americans, and then politely explained that she meant 'wake her up when we get there.'

Sorry I'm late, caught'n traffic.

Oh my God, that was the worst American accent I've ever heard. I cried a little.

Quite relieved :-) I am Indian, and started noticing this only recently with a British colleague's accent, and it had me worried. Initially I considered whether I could be developing some kind of brain issue where my brain adds extra sounds. He had also mentioned he has some outstanding dental work he has postponed -- and I considered may be his speech was affected by the tooth issue, for example, by interfering with tongue movement. This intrigued me so much so that I decided to search RU-vid for it. Glad to see your video, and learn that this is normal and my concerns were unfounded.

Jesus now I realise Australians do it to, or at at least I do.

Bostonians drop their 'R's and they have to go somewhere.

haha fnally someone addresses this!, also I've noticed it when brits say "I saw-R it"

Something interesting I heard once is that what most people think of as an “American accent” is what used to be the common British accent, and what we think of today as a British accent was started by the aristocracy or royalty to seem special, even everyone over there eventually caught on to it. Anyone know if that’s true?

When you said we put an R on the end of vowel words I was genuinely slightly outraged unconsciously thinking what complete bollocks. Now I hang my head in shame as I speak along with the video.

You know you're fluent in a language when you start being lazy in your use of it.

"Sorry z late z caught n traffic" I feel enlightened, I never before noticed myself saying this!

American: Sorry I was late, Ididn't realise the war had started

*blinks* *says sentence to self* *realises that one does this too* This is like falling through the Matrix for me.

You can easily straighten the picture by tilting your screen 30 degrees to the right. You're welcome.

Your "American" accent sounds like something out of Benny Hill.

I personally like the R sounds. It is similar to southern drawl, where I'm from. But omg that American accent was.. interesting

You just unlocked British English for me thank you!

"Idear" instead of idea is really common, even for rhotic Americans.

4:40 - Unless you think all Americans are Seinfeld.. no. I've actually never heard anyone speak that way, other than him.

Is this also why you put an R in the middle of some words? An example being "Draw(r)ings"

Any American who has a problem with the way British people speak, should keep their own mouth shut. And I'm an American.

American here. I say "America is" with my voicebox on the whole time with no R sound.

Also Aussies do this as well.

ROFL: "American" accent. You MADE my DAY.

Oh my I just noticed I do this... wow... never mind all my friends are British so they don't even notice it.

Ha, just noticed that I do the same thing sometimes, especially upon listening to the bacteria example.

Actually Lindybeige, I'm from Norway and I never realized you end those word with a subtle R, so I guess it's just the nit-pickers :)

It is absolutely imperative that you not think of the tune "Rule Britannia" for the next 24 hours. Don't do it. Stop thinking "Rule Britannia"!

We don't just do it when a word ending in is followed by a word beginning with a vowel. (0:34) There are a number of vowels that get the linking [r] appended. /ɔː/ gets a linking [r] too. "Law and order", for example, would sound like "lore and awda.". /ɜː/ gets a linking [r]. There's no [r] in "her car" but there is in "her apple". There's also a linking [r] after centring diphthongs, /eə/, /ɪə/ and /ʊə/ (also /ɔə/ for dialects with this phoneme). So, whilst "there was", "here was", "the tour was" and "the boar was" have no [r], for example, "there is", "here is", "the tour is" and "the boar is" all have a linking [r]. The same goes for "the idea was" and "yeah that" verses "the idea is" and "yeah it". It's not really a question of spelling. "Spa" and "sofa" both end in but the actual vowel is different, /ɑː/ verses /ə/. Both /ɑː/ and /ə/ would get a linking [r]. Another thing is that it doesn't just happen at the end of a word. It also happens in the middle of words. For example, "drawing" would sound like "droring".

And Australians reduce everything (including complete sentences) to a single syllable whenever possible.

now i feel bad for foreigners that talk to me. I must scare the shit out of them.

I head it as "sorry was late, was caught in traffic". But some parts were shorter and less pronounced...

Your American accent was the best part of this video.

I chuckled pretty hard at the "american" accent in this. Thumbs up.

10 years with the Brits (Army)... I can't even hear the accent any more... just sounds natural when I hear English peeps... however, now my Canadian/Yank accent reverberates in my own ears... I find myself taking the piss outta myself and my terribly obnoxious accent... Very odd... But, I love the diversity... Could you imagine if we were all the same and how utterly boring and drab this planet would be... Will be...

I've heard Brits add R's to words all my life. I've always wondered why. If you speak French, they do this in a way as well. For example, the words "vous avez" which means you have (either plural or formal) the S on the end of vous is not usually pronounced so it's like "voo". However since the next word (avez) starts with a vowel, the S is pronounced. It is the same with any other words when one word ends in a vowel sound but actually ends in a consonant and the next word begins with a vowel. It makes saying the two words much easier. I get it.

TFW an American impression sounds like Jerry Seinfeild XD

This wasn't a comedy video. It was interesting and informative. However, at the end, for some reason, when I got to the bit about Christopher Walken I laughed harder than I have at any comedy video for the last month.

According to Wikipedia this is called _intrusive R_ and is officially incorrect.

I remember a 70's ad: "we won't make a drama out of a crisis". It sounded just like "we won't make a dramarout of a crisis".

I'm SORRY I was LATE, I was CAUGHT In TRAFFIC! >:(

American Southerners tend to use a lot of contractions and we slur our words together. The Southern drawl. I'll attempt to render it as phonetically as possible. “Sorry m'late, ah got cotn traffic.” Comparative linguistics is fun!

I *think* the way you *think* that Americans *speak* is *actually* the way that *comic book* characters speak.

This is the best explanation for that R that I (an American) have heard for decades. I knew that the British didn't think there was an R at the end of the word, but I was certain I was hearing it, and you've just given me the first rational explanation for why.

The interstitial r is to avoid a glottal stop, which most dialects of English don't like - same reason there's "a" and "an", to avoid the hiatus between the article and a word that starts with a vowel. It's very common across languages that don't have a phonemic glottal stop, though strategies for avoiding it differ of course. An extreme example of hiatus avoidance is French, which really, really doesn't like glottal stops (which is one reason non-native speakers can have so much trouble telling when words start and end in French speech). Contrast with German, for example, where every word that starts with a vowel has a glottal stop before it, so the hiatus is normal and speakers don't feel a need to avoid it by inserting interstitial sounds, and so the standard language doesn't have alternate forms of words like that. German also has various strategies for clarifying word boundaries, as opposed to English or French which tend to try and smooth them out more for ease of articulation.

It's called "intrusive R"

I'm Texan and my wife is British, and I've called her out on this R situation a lot.

I heard someone say "drawing" as "drawring." Jolly good though, chap.

"Drawing" becomes "drawering."

And then you leave off trailing /r/s, as in car, order, hear, here, beer.

4:42 ohmygod. if only americans actually spoke this way. lovely.

4:45 I love how he did that, I really cant be offended if he makes me laugh that much.

I am American and have not honestly noticed that you make this additional sound until you made this video and I believe that I somehow also filter it out. If you heard me speaking in my videos, you would likely have noticed a New York accent and I now wonder which colloquial origination are the people who notice you making the R sound? Do other New Yorkers also filter out your R sound? It's very interesting to me.

I heard an american on the radio this morning talking about the "oddermun empire". It took me a full 30 seconds before I realised he meant the OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

You know what's so mad about this (just realised): the extra "r" is preventing a glottal stop between the two vowel noises, but elsewhere in British English we put glottal stops INTO words which don't need them! "Water" is an infamous example, which baffles my second-language friends - why would Brits make such an important word into "Wuo-err" or "Wuo-ah"! Madness!

Well, I was searching for an explanation of the added british "r" that's always puzzled me. I'm semi-satisfied, however... I've also heard it commonly added to the end of multiple words that end with an "a" regardless of the following word or letter, sometimes not even having a following word. Example 1: "What happens to a large star at the end of its life?" "It goes super nover" Example 2: "Do you know that ladies name?" "Amander" I've honestly heard these examples. Thank you for the informative video. I'm alot closer to understanding the pronunciation than I was prior to watching. Thank you.

It's a dialectical thing. People here in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States add an R to a lot of words and don't hear it (e.g. People from eastern Washington pronounce the name of the state "Warshington"). British people not hearing it is hardly surprising. Kind of like how people from eastern Canada pronounce the word "about" the same way the rest of us would talk about "a boat".

People from New England still have that particular linguistic quirk, too.

I actually hear a lot of Americans do the whole shortening many words to "z", and "n" thing as well. In fact, I myself do it. I think it sort of depends what region of the U.S. your from. What you described with the emphasis via volume is something I'd associate, as an American, with northern accents like New York, New Jersey, and Boston.

"Ba-NAR-na" always makes me laugh when I hear it.

THANK YOU! Seriously, I kept hearing those Rs and thought I was crazy :D

I watch a lot of English/British/UK videos and hear the "R" add phenomenon all the time and just have got used to it. Rob Chapman and Lee Anderton do this so much and are not even aware. Rob especially. "...when I have an idear of traveling to Americar to eat pastar and sauce..." lol

I may be misinterpreting this, but I feel that saying that adding the R makes it more fluid is a bit disingenuous. The R sound has nothing to do with how fluent you speak; it's how you were raised. It's what you naturally speak like that makes your speech as fluent as it is. If I were to add the R sound into my speech it would be just as hard to talk fluently as it is for you to drop it.

I have watched British TV my whole life and this cleared up an age old question that I have wondered about for years. Thanks Lloyd!

Holy shit I cant believe I do this.

love your videos! I'll have to critique your American dialect though, as we take just as many shortcuts when speaking - if not more. We wold not say "I'm sorry I was late, but I was caught in traffic." We wold say something like "Sorry I'uz late, I'uz stuck/caught'n traffic." I'm fascinated with how both dialects cut sentences short. for example, when asking if another person comprehends what was just said by you, or even as a pointless sentence filler such as "like": British: Do you know what I mean? - "D'jomean?" American: Do you know what I am saying? - "Nomsayin'?"

Seems silly to drop the R that belong in the word, and add it to words it doesn't belong.

I’m like to see how Lloyd would analyze a Southern (U.S.) dialect. I have always thought it has a similarity to Irish English with some French influence. But, I’m not linguist.

laughed so hard at your American impression

This was a really interesting video! I can't resist quibbling with the American example at the end, though... I can't imagine anybody speaking that way! A more realistic example would be, "Sorry I'm late! Got caught in traffic." Possibly dropping the "got," or reducing as far as "Sorry! Traffic," depending on context. And IMO there would be more pitch/tone variation than volume, though I can see how that would get confused.

I am Swedish and I -don't- didn't hear that R... Now I do... Thank you for ruining my life... :-P

I always had to chuckle when I would put BBC news on, and the host would say *"Indier & Chiner"* back when my car radio could only tune like 2 channels. 😂