North American English - Definition and Overview

North American English is a collective term to describe the varieties of the English language that are spoken in the United States and Canada. Because of the considerable similarities in pronunciation and accent between American English and Canadian English, the two spoken languages are sometimes grouped together under a single category, as distinguished from the varieties of English that are spoken in the United Kingdom, Australia, or New Zealand and the Hiberno-English used in Ireland.

Commonwealth English is sometimes used to collectively describe Australian English, British English, Canadian English, Caribbean English and New Zealand English due to their historical Commonwealth connections and similarity of spelling.