Singapore English

Singapore English (SgE, SE, en-SG) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Singapore. In Singapore, English is spoken in two main forms: Singapore Standard English, which is grammatically similar to British English, and Singapore Colloquial English—better known as Singlish—the colloquial register of English spoken between Singaporeans. Many Singaporeans code-switch between the two forms where necessary.

Singapore is a cosmopolitan society. In 2020, nearly half of Singaporeans of Chinese descent reported English as their main language at home, while only a third spoke Mandarin. The remaining spoke various varieties of Chinese such as Hokkien, Cantonese or Teochew. Most Singaporeans of Indian descent speak either English or a South Asian language. Many Malay Singaporeans use Malay as the lingua franca among the ethnic groups of the Malay world, while Eurasians and other mixed-race Singaporeans are usually monolingual in English.

English is the medium of communication among students from preschool to university in Singapore. Many families use two or three languages on a regular basis, and English is often one of them. The level of fluency in English among residents in Singapore also varies greatly from person to person, depending on their educational background, but English in general is nevertheless understood, spoken and written as the main language throughout the country.