Delhi, North India and the Indian subcontinent
The Indian accent
Indian English is spoken by more people than the English of England, and it has its own established standards rather than being a deviation from British English. Its consonants are retroflex — the tongue curls back for T and D — and it is syllable-timed, giving it an even rhythm that stress-timed varieties hear as fast. Vowels in “face” and “goat” stay steady rather than gliding.
Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →
How to recognise a Indian accent
- Retroflex T and D — the tongue curls back against the roof of the mouth.
- Syllable-timed rhythm with even stress.
- Steady “face” and “goat” vowels: “go” without a glide.
- Established Indian English vocabulary: “prepone”, “lakh”, “do the needful”.
Also known as Indian accent, Indian English, Delhi accent, South Asian English. Spoken in Delhi, North India and the Indian subcontinent, India.
The Indian pronunciation fingerprint
These are the answers the quiz expects from a Indian speaker on its 14 pronunciation questions. Where a feature varies within the region, more than one answer counts as a match.
“bath” takes the broad vowel of “father” — the trap–bath split
The Trap–Bath Split: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
rhotic — the R at the end of “car” is pronounced
“put” and “putt” have different vowels — the foot–strut split
a clear T in the middle of “bottle”
“cot” and “caught” stay distinct
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
“Mary”, “marry” and “merry” all sound different
the vowel in “day” stays steady — a monophthongal face vowel
the vowel in “go” stays steady — a monophthongal goat vowel
TH-stopping — “three” sounds like “tree”, or a true TH at the start of “three”
the H in “house” is pronounced
“tune” keeps its Y — “tyoon”
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
“happy” ends on a long “-ee” — happy-tensing
Everyday words in Delhi, North India and the Indian subcontinent
| Question | Usual answer |
|---|---|
| What do you usually call a sweet carbonated drink? | Soft drink |
| What do you usually call the main evening meal? | Dinner |
| What do you call a small, round piece of bread for one person? | Bun |
| What do you call thin strips of potato served hot and fried? | French fries |
| What is your general word for small sugary treats? | Sweets |
| What do you call the wheeled basket used in a supermarket? | Trolley |
| What do you call restaurant food collected to eat elsewhere? | Parcel |
| What do you call a public fixture you drink water from? | Water fountain |
| What do you call a small neighbourhood shop selling everyday items? | Convenience store |
| How do you usually address a group of people informally? | You all |
| What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish? | Dustbin |
Speakers with a Indian accent
Shah Rukh Khan
Delhi, India
A Delhi Indian-English reference profile; Khan grew up in New Delhi.
Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.
Is my accent Indian?
The only way to answer that against real data is to compare your own speech to the profile. The quiz takes about four minutes: answer 26 questions, pin the town where you grew up, and see your closest accent matches ranked by how well they fit — plus where people who answer like you actually live.