Correct pronunciation of "Can"

Question

How to correctly pronounce word "can" in British English and in American English?

Here's somehow related answer but it is more about differences between "can" and "can't", and I'm interested how to pronounce "can" in American English and in British English.

Thanks! Cool site... but there's no samples from Great Britain :( — Dmitrii Lobanov, Apr 17 '12 at 07:57
Also, many of those may be pronunciations for can as in soda can rather than the verb can. If you look at the related question linked above, it says that in American dialects, the verb can rhymes with men. But the noun can usually rhymes with man. — Peter Shor, Apr 17 '12 at 16:19

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 17 '12 at 08:14

2

From the OED (British pronunciation):

kæn\

From Merriam-Webster (American pronunciation):

\kən, ˈkan also ˈken; dialect ˈkin\

Here is an IPA reference, in case you are unfamiliar with the symbols used.

answered Apr 17 '12 at 08:14

Cameron

7,140

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 08 '18 at 01:38

I speak American English. I hope it's not discouraging to you to hear, Dmitry, but "can" is an extremely common word and the pronunciation changes in subtle ways according to the context it's used in.

In American English "can" is often shortened and pronounced as kn with the vowel of ə or ɪ being mostly hummed during the n sound.

Other times when there's more emphasis being given, the vowel might shift to a longer and very nasally æ.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Apr 19 '21 at 09:07

0

I'm from California and how I personally say the words is can is pronounced the same as the name Ken whereas can't is pronounced like how most people say can and the "t" isn't pronounced.

edited Apr 19 '21 at 09:07

answered Apr 19 '21 at 09:03

user420969

1

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 17 '12 at 16:00

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To me the AE pronuciation allows more sound to the "e" whereas as a BE speaker I would pronounce hardly any "e" sound and it would sound shorter, more like "kan" such that it ryhmes with the word "pan"

answered Apr 17 '12 at 16:00

Toby

585

Correct pronunciation of "Can"

4 Answers4