How do you recognise a Hong Kong accent?

Long and short vowels merge: “heat” and “hit” sound the same. “Three” starts like “free”; “this” starts like “dis”. Dark L in a coda becomes a vowel, so “ball” ends in a “w”-like sound. Hong Kong vocabulary: “chop” for a stamp, “jetso” for a discount, “add oil”.

Which famous people have a Hong Kong accent?

Tony Leung and Jackie Chan are speakers whose recorded speech anchors the Hong Kong English profile used by DialectGuessr.

How do I test whether I have a Hong Kong accent?

DialectGuessr's free accent test asks 29 questions about the words you use and how you pronounce them, then scores your answers against the Hong Kong English profile and every other profile in the survey. It takes about two minutes and needs no account.

Hong Kong

The Hong Kong accent

Hong Kong English inherits a British model from the colonial era and a Cantonese sound system underneath it. Long and short vowels merge, so “heat” and “hit” fall together, and the assimilation and elision that smooth British speech are largely absent, which makes each syllable land fully formed. The voiceless TH fronts to F and the voiced TH stops to D.

Take the quiz and see how close your accent is →

How to recognise a Hong Kong accent

Long and short vowels merge: “heat” and “hit” sound the same.
“Three” starts like “free”; “this” starts like “dis”.
Dark L in a coda becomes a vowel, so “ball” ends in a “w”-like sound.
Hong Kong vocabulary: “chop” for a stamp, “jetso” for a discount, “add oil”.

Also known as Hong Kong accent, Hong Kong English, HK English, Cantonese-English accent. Spoken in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong pronunciation fingerprint

These are the answers the quiz expects from a Hong Kong speaker on its 30 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: Does “Bath” Rhyme With “Cat” or “Father”?
“car” ends in a vowel, with no R sound
Rhotic vs Non-Rhotic: Do You Pronounce the R in “Car”?
a clear T in the middle of “bottle”
Bottle, Bo'le or Boddle? The T in the Middle of a Word
“cot” and “caught” rhyme
The Cot–Caught Merger: Do “Cot” and “Caught” Sound the Same?
two of “Mary”, “marry” and “merry” match and one differs
Mary, Marry, Merry: One Sound, Two or Three?
“day” is one flat sound — deh
The Vowel in “Day”: Gliding or Steady?
“go” is one flat sound — gaw
The Vowel in “Go”: Gliding or Steady?
“tune” sounds like “tyoon”, with a Y sound after the T
Tune, Toon or Choon? The Y After a Consonant
no — they sound different
Do “Singer” and “Finger” Rhyme? The Velar Nasal Plus
one — “film”
“Film” or “Fillum”? The Helping Vowel in Highland and Irish English
no — they end in a vowel
The Bristol L: Why “Area” Can Sound Like “Areal”
a d-like sound — “dat”
“Dat” for “That”: TH-Stopping in the Function Words
“ship” and “sheep” share a vowel
Ship or Sheep? The Vowel That Divides Native and Learned English
“put” and “putt” have different vowels
The Foot–Strut Split: Do “Put” and “Putt” Rhyme?
“three” sounds like “free”, starting with F
Three, Free or Tree? What Happens to Your TH
the H in “house” is pronounced
H-Dropping: Do You Say “House” or “'Ouse”?
“fur” and “fair” stay distinct
Fur and Fair: The Merger That Marks Liverpool
“beer” and “bear” stay distinct
Beer and Bear: The Merger That Marks New Zealand
“happy” ends on a long “-ee”
Happy: Does It End in “-ee” or “-ih”?
“wine” and “vine” start with different sounds
Wine or Vine? Where V and W Fall Together
“school” starts straight on the S
“Eschool” for “School”: The Vowel Some Accents Add
“bed” ends with D and “bet” ends with T
Bed or Bet? Final-Obstruent Devoicing
a smooth R, without tapping or rolling the tongue
Rolled, Uvular or Neither? How the R Is Made
“pin” and “pen” stay distinct
Pin or Pen? The Southern US Vowel Merger
the vowel in “ride” glides from one sound to another
Does “Ride” Stay on One Sound? Southern PRICE
“celery” and “salary” stay distinct
Celery or Salary? Melbourne's Quiet Giveaway

Everyday words in Hong Kong

Expected everyday vocabulary for a Hong Kong speaker.
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?	Chips
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?	Takeaway
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
What do you call the household container for unwanted rubbish?	Rubbish bin
What do you call the narrow passageway between or behind houses?	Alley / alleyway
What do you call the insulated box you carry cold drinks in?	Cool box / cool bag
You are waiting your turn behind other people. What are you doing?	Waiting in the queue
“Man’s getting emotional.” Who is “man”?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call the red-amber-green signal at a junction?	Traffic lights
What do you call a circular junction you drive around?	Roundabout
How do you say “the” in a phrase like “I’m going down the shop”?	A full “the”
“We’ll not be home while seven.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
“I’m after having my dinner.” What does that sentence mean to you?	It does not make sense to me
What do you call a shared minibus used as public transport?	I do not have a word for that
Does “she be working on Fridays” sound like a normal way to say she works Fridays regularly?	No — it does not sound like my English
Does “the car needs washed” sound normal — without “to be”?	No — I would say “needs to be washed”
Can “da kine” stand in for a thing you have not named?	No — that is not a word I use

Speakers with a Hong Kong accent

Tony Leung
Hong Kong
A Hong Kong English reference profile; Leung was born and raised in Hong Kong.
Jackie Chan
Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
A Hong Kong English reference profile; Chan was born and raised in Hong Kong.

Accent profiles are anchored to primary-source regional recordings from the International Dialects of English Archive, not to any individual performance.