American English

American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of <a href="/facts/Variety_(linguistics)/QyllMQha">varieties</a> of the <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English language</a> native to the United States. English is the <a href="/facts/Languages_of_the_United_States/70wYjJIa">most widely spoken language in the United States</a> and, since 2025, the official language of the United States. It is also an official language in 32 of the 50 <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">U.S. states</a> and the <a href="/facts/De_facto/3Du6WQKh">de facto</a> common language used in government, education, and commerce in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in all territories except <a href="/facts/Puerto_Rico/jVStMyG4">Puerto Rico</a>. Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide.
Varieties of American English include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other forms of English around the world. Any <a href="/facts/North_American_English/vX9W1Xz1">American or Canadian</a> accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic, or cultural <a href="/facts/Markedness/vofcEvg6">markers</a> is known in <a href="/facts/Linguistics/oQuamvf2">linguistics</a> as <a href="/facts/General_American/gmHBob3k">General American</a>; it covers a fairly uniform <a href="/facts/Dialect_continuum/0QAuqxp3">accent continuum</a> native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American <a href="/facts/Accent_(sociolinguistics)/ql49CBMh">accent</a>. The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in the 20th century.

American English open-in-new

American English