Accent LabYour browser has no British voice installed, so playback may sound American. On iPhone and Mac, add one in Settings → Accessibility → Spoken Content → Voices → English (UK).
Why "car" sounds different in British English
RP says /kɑː/, General American /kɑːr/. The vowel is similar in both accents; the difference is that RP does not pronounce an R after a vowel unless another vowel follows. In RP, "car" sounds the same as the first part of "calm" without the M.
That condition matters. In "car park" the R is silent, but in "car alarm" or "the car is" RP speakers use a linking R: "kah-ruh-LAHM". Leaving it out there sounds unnatural. Scottish, Irish and some West Country accents do pronounce the R in "car", so a rhotic R is not purely American. For the full system, see the British vs American accent guide.
How to say "car" like a Brit, step by step
- Release a strong k with a puff of air.
- Open into a long ah, jaw low, tongue flat and back.
- Stop there. Keep the tongue tip down so no R colour creeps in.
- Before a vowel, add a light linking R: "car-r-alarm", "the car-r-is outside".
Practise "car" in a sentence
- I left the car in the car park.
- Shall we take the car or get the train?
- The car is booked in for its MOT on Monday.
Saying it once correctly is easy. Saying it right in the middle of a fast sentence is the hard part, which is why the sentences above matter more than the single word.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce car in a British accent?
In Received Pronunciation, car is pronounced /kɑː/, roughly "KAH". Say kah, with no R, unless the next word starts with a vowel.
Is the American pronunciation of car wrong?
No. /kɑːr/ is standard in American English. Both are correct, they simply belong to different accents. If you are learning a British accent, aim for /kɑː/.