Speak like a Queen with Received Pronunciation. So you want to speak posh English?
Well, let’s get on with it, shall we?
Posh English is a British English accent that we call Received Pronunciation, or RP for short. This accent can also be referred to as Standard Southern British, the Queen’s English, “proper” English, Cambridge English, or BBC English. It’s the accent traditionally associated with the British aristocracy and well educated speakers in Southern England. It’s what you hear when you watch “The Crown!”
Wiki Commons Photo Credit: “Trooping the Colour” By Jon – Flickr, CC BY 2.0
Table of Contents
Received Pronunciation (RP) is noted for elegance and specific phonetic features. Here are some straightforward tips to help you sound posh, along with some useful comparisons to Standard American English (SAE).
For brevity, we will refer to RP and SAE.
Focus on the clarity of vowel sounds. For example, in RP, pronounce “bath” as “bahth” and “glass” as “glahss.” Think about the sound the doctor asks you to make when he puts the tongue depressor in your mouth. He asks you to “Say ah.” That’s the RP sound in dance, glass and bath. By contrast, in American English, these words would typically have a very flat, short A sound.
Note: AE vowels are generally less breathy than RP vowels, where we hear a hint of an H sound in words like baahth.
In words like house, ground and cow, be sure to produce a rich, round OU sound. Note: OU is sometimes a diphthong. A diphthong is a sound composed of two, more or less merged vowel sounds and often includes a schwa in the second position. (Of course, OU and O make other sounds as well, so don’t over-apply this rule.)
In RP, the R at the end of words is usually not pronounced. For instance, “car” sounds more like “cah” and “far” sounds like “fah.” In contrast, American English is rhotic, meaning the R is pronounced clearly. Practice phrases like “Mr. Tartar’s car is far away” to form this new habit of deleting mid and final position Rs and adding a bit of breath to hint at where the R appears in the written word.
When speaking posh English, you should enunciate your consonants clearly. For example, in the tongue twister “Betty Batter bought a bit of butter,” an RP speaker would pronounce it as “Betty Battah bought a bit of buttah,” with clear T sounds and no R in butter!
In contrast, an American would say the same phrase as “Beddy Badder bod a bid a budder,” where the ‘t’ sounds are softened to ‘d’ sounds (also known as a flap T), and clearly express the R. The breathiness of the vowels, the missing Rs, and Ts that sound like proper Ts will produce a posh RP sound.
RP, like all dialects, has its own language music. Statements tend to have a falling (descending) intonation. American English generally features a more varied, up and down intonation, like jazz!
To sound RP, try saying aloud, “The cook served cold eggs today.” Let each word fall a bit lower than the previous word. Avoid the temptation to emphasize the noun and the verb, as an SAE speaker would.
Need to get the sound of RP in your head? At Netflix, listen to episodes of “The Crown.” See if you can hear examples of this descending statement intonation pattern.
Avoid the glottal stop, where the ‘t’ sound is replaced by a pause, as in common in Cockney and related accents. For example, say “bottle” clearly instead of “bo’le.” In American English, a mid position T will usually shift to a D. But in any case, do not use the glottal stop if you are trying to sound posh!
Keep those Ts clear and true! See Betty Butter, tip #9.
Avoid slang and regional expressions. Instead of saying “mate,” use “friend” or “colleague.” This aligns your speech with the more formal tone that is prevalent in RP, but would sound snobby in American English.
Speak at a moderate pace. RP speakers often articulate words slowly and deliberately, which adds to their sophistication. Americans, on average, tend to speak more quickly, especially in casual settings. Practicing at a slower pace will help you sound more RP.
Spend time listening to native RP speakers. BBC news presenters or actors from classic British films often use this accent. Try to imitate their speech patterns and pronunciation, which may differ significantly from American media.
If you like, you can first try saying this famous tongue twister in RP and SAE to clarify many of the above tips.
But of course if your goal is RP, you’ll want to repeat this – with your posh, RP accent – a lot. And then you can move on to other resources – from series to films to podcasts, there’s lots of RP around.
But for the best results, you really need a native speaker British English trainer – a coach – to help you recognize, produce and perfect your elegant new English sound.
Would you like to start with a free intake appointment online? Or do you just have some questions? Contact us! We’re happy to speak with you.
“Betty Botter bought a bit of butter;
But, she said, this butter’s bitter!
If I put it in my batter
It will make my batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter
Will make my batter better.
Then she bought a bit of better butter
Better than the bitter butter,
And it made her bitter batter better.”
1. “The elegant, sparkling car parked by the grand Horton House is far more beautiful than any other.”
Focus on the clarity of vowels and consonants and dropping mid and final Rs. Keep a true T in “beautiful.”
2. “Henry, Harry and I visited Harrington House in Hampstead.”
Pronounce the Hs (make them a bit breathy), and keep a steady, moderate pace with descending intonation. Produce a very round O in the word house.
3. “She danced gracefully across the stage, captivating everyone in the audience.”
Put the “ah” in danced. Pay attention to intonation and ensure crisp pronunciation of consonants. Note that the D at the end of danced sounds like a T. Say dahnct.”
4. “It’s important to maintain a calm demeanor while discussing sensitive matters.”
Work on eliminating glottal stops (which are common in some British English dialects. (Think Adele.) Maintain clear mid position Ts. Drop the R in matters and say mattahs.
Author: Brenda de Jong-Pauley, MA, Director, The English Center. Brenda is an American ESL trainer living in Amstelveen, Netherlands. She loves thinking and writing about English. She does not speak posh English herself, but she has trainers on her team who can help you speak it!
Contact The English Center today about private accent training and get a great English accent.
Wiki Commons Photo Credit: “Trooping the Colour” By Jon – Flickr, CC BY 2.0
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