Are there any differences between American English and Canadian English?

[Naturelle35]

just as the disparity we have between BrE and AmE

[rewboss]

I'm not Canadian, but as I see it, there are some small differences.

Mainly, it's in the spelling. Traditionally, Canadian English uses British English spellings, but American spellings are being used more and more. Canada is right next door to the US, so it's heavily influenced by American English.

The accent is a bit different, but few British people can hear the difference.

[Anglika]

I am sure our Canadian contributors will have views on the matter

[Ouisch]

Canadians (at least those in southern Ontario) say "he's in hospital" or "he goes to university" while we say "he's in the hospital" in AmE.

[5Celcious]

just for the record. im from southern ontario, and i have never said he's in hospital'. to me it just sounds weird. although we do say hes in university.. im pretty sure you guys dont say hes in the university?

ye and its just basically spelling differences, eg. you write color (eew) we write colour LOL. and i tend to have a dislike for americans. and just wondering, you guys DO know where canada is right? cuz that'll be just sad.

hands up to those who dont know where canada is, or how many provinces/territories we have.

[konungursvia]

We dont say "in hospital" very much, but do say "in the hospital" or "at the hospital."

I see the differences as these: we do use the British spellings, except for "tire" and "jail."

As for the actual spoken language, we have different regional terms, like other regions in AmE. We use "university" for degree-granting public institutions, and "college" for smaller training and continuing ed places that are career-oriented (1 or 2 years = a certificate that gets you a job).

We do also say "eh" rather than "huh" to make a statement into a question, but not as often as comedy shows portray.

The major noticeable difference is the /au/ diphthong, in which we open our jaws much less widely than our US cousins. This makes it sound different, almost like the /əu/ in BrE, or somewhere in between. So we say "out, house, about" in a way that Americans find sounds rather close to "oot, hoose, and aboot," though actually the truth is in between.

Other than that, there aren't many differences between our English and Chicago or Detroit. But don't ask me about the Newfies.

Oh, and we use the metric system, except colloquially we still tell our height and weight the American way.

[Williamyh]

We dont say "in hospital" very much, but do say "in the hospital" or "at the hospital."

I see the differences as these: we do use the British spellings, except for "tire" and "jail."

As for the actual spoken language, we have different regional terms, like other regions in AmE. We use "university" for degree-granting public institutions, and "college" for smaller training and continuing ed places that are career-oriented (1 or 2 years = a certificate that gets you a job).

We do also say "eh" rather than "huh" to make a statement into a question, but not as often as comedy shows portray.

The major noticeable difference is the /au/ diphthong, in which we open our jaws much less widely than our US cousins. This makes it sound different, almost like the /əu/ in BrE, or somewhere in between. So we say "out, house, about" in a way that Americans find sounds rather close to "oot, hoose, and aboot," though actually the truth is in between.

Other than that, there aren't many differences between our English and Chicago or Detroit. But don't ask me about the Newfies.

Oh, and we use the metric system, except colloquially we still tell our height and weight the American way.

"eh" is similar to chinese interjection, when we warn someone before he/she's doing something wrong...we will say "eh", please think about it....