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How to Develop a Southern Accent

Three Methods:Changing the Way You SpeakUsing Different Words and PhrasesLearning About the Southern AccentCommunity Q&A

Developing a Southern accent is not easy, especially if you’re not from the Southern part of the United States. It’s even harder if you don’t know anyone with a Southern accent or aren’t exactly sure what one sounds like. With experience and hard work, though, you can master the Southern accent, whether you need to have one for a production of a play or you want to impress your friends.

Changing the Way You Speak

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    Speak slowly. People from the South are known for their slow drawl. They have a drawn out way of saying their words, especially their vowels. Part of sounding really Southern is matching the slow pace of southern speech.[1]
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    Mix your vowels. Another aspect of a Southern accent is mixing together some of your vowels. For example, “pen” and “pin” should sound the same, like a mixture between the two words. It’s the same with “tin” and “ten.”[2]
  3. 3
    Speak with a lilt. A Southern lilt involves drawing out vowels to the point where, sometimes, they sound like two syllables. For example, “bill” turns into “bee-hill” and “short” becomes “showat.”[3] Practice using a lilt on
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    Drop your “g”s. Say your words as though there is no “g” at the end. For example, say “fixin’” instead of “fixing” and “fishin’” instead of “fishing.” You don’t have to do this with words like “thing” or “dog,” but words with an “ing” should lose their “g”s.
    • “Fixin’” is also a word commonly used by people with Southern accents, when you’re trying to do something. As in, “I’m fixin’ to go fishin’ this afternoon!”[4]
  5. 5
    Perfect a few phrases first. Perfect a few phrases that you know you can say exactly correctly. Maybe they are phrases you learned from the book you read, ones you’ve copied from a movie you watched, or ones that you learned from a friend or family member from the South. Before you tackle the entire accent, work on these phrases.[5]

Using Different Words and Phrases

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    Use colloquial sayings. Every way of speaking and culture has its own sayings and colloquialisms. Try to learn some southern ones. Here are some examples:
    • “Dad burn it!” essentially means, “Gosh darn it.”
    • “He chews his own tobacco” means that the person is independent.
    • “He could talk a cat out of a tree!” means that the person is persuasive and convincing.[6]
  2. 2
    Reduce your use of the verb “to be.” This mean not using the words “is,” “are,” and “am” as much. For example, instead of saying, “Are you ready?” you would just say “You ready?”[7]
  3. 3
    Relearn the word “done.” In southern speech, “done” can have a few different meanings. Here are some examples:
    • It can be a substitute for “already,” as in, “I done let the dog out this morning.”
    • It can also be used emphatically, as in “I done cannot do this anymore.”
    • It can also mean “did,” as in, “I done my math homework tonight.”[8]
  4. 4
    Incorporate “might could” and “y’all” into your speech. There are lots of grammatical structures unique to Southern speech, and these are two examples. Use them when appropriate!
    • Use “might could” or “might should” when you want to imply both that someone could and should do something. As in, “You might could put another log on the fire.”
    • Use “y’all” instead of “you all.” As in, “Y’all should come here and look at this dog!”

Learning About the Southern Accent

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    Research the specific Southern accent you want to adapt. Southern accents are different in many different parts of the South. Usually, they are grouped into categories by region. Here are two major regions into which the South is divided as well as their differences in speech:
    • Coastal/Lowland: Drop your "r"s at the end of words and blend them with the next word (as in, "bigguh dog" instead of "bigger dog"). Turn short vowels, like "dog," into longer diphthongs ("dah-wug").
    • Inland/Mountain: Exaggerate the "oo" sound in words like "loose." Pay more attention to the "o" in words like "coat."[9]
  2. 2
    Watch TV shows and movies featuring characters with Southern accents. Get used to the way the Southern accent sounds. In the Netflix series House of Cards, Frank Underwood has a slight Southern accent, while in some movies, such as Forrest Gump, many of the characters have stronger Southern accents. Watch a variety of movies and shows to get a feel for different types of Southern accents.[10]
  3. 3
    Try to find someone with a Southern accent. If you know someone with a Southern accent, ask them to sit down and talk with you. If you don’t know someone with a Southern accent, ask around until you find someone who knows what you want to do and doesn’t mind talking to you for a little bit. Repeat the same words over and over again, and try to say the words exactly how the other person says them. Ask them to correct you on how you say certain words and to coach you on how to say these words.
  4. 4
    Read a book about speaking with a Southern accent. Try reading The Complete Guide to Speaking Southern by Steve Mitchell, as well as the book’s sequel.[11] You could also find a book for actors on perfecting accents in general. Reading about how to acquire and maintain a Southern accent will certainly help you when you try to speak with one.

Community Q&A

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  • Find a friend to practice with!
  • Dedicate at least a few weeks to this project. Learning an accent takes persistence over a long period of time.


  • Don’t offend people with southern accents. Emphasize to them why you’re learning this accent and make sure that they know you’re not making fun of them.

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Categories: Personality Traits and Attributes

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