Caribbean English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, there is a great deal of variation in the way English is spoken. Scholars generally agree that although the dialects themselves vary from island to island, like African American Vernacular English, they are largely influenced by a single source - the African continent.

Examples of the English in daily use in the Caribbean include a reduced set of pronouns, typically, me, we, he, she, and they (pronounced "day" or "deh").

A simple statement, "I don't know" could be stated, "I ain' know" in the case of Barbados, "Mi nuh know" in the case of Jamaica, "Me eh' know" or "I eh know" in Trinidad and "Me nah know" in Tobago. "Me'en know" in the case of the Virgin Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis, or "I nuh business"/"Me nuh know" in the case of Belize.

Caribbean countries where English is an official language or where English-based creole languages are widespread include:

• Anguilla
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Aruba
• The Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Colombia (San Andres and Providencia islands)
• Costa Rica
• Dominica
• Grenada
• Guyana
• Honduras (Bay Islands)
• Jamaica¹
• Montserrat
• Netherlands Antilles (St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius)
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• U.S. Virgin Islands

See also

• Bajan
• Belizean Creole
• Bermudian English
• Jamaican English
• Jamaican Creole
• Saint Kitts Creole
• Virgin Islands Creole
• Guyanese English
• Guyanese Creole

Caribbean | English language | Forms of English | Languages of the Caribbean