the differences between American and British English


the differences between American and British English

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American English is usually defined as the language that is spoken in the United States.

British English is the language spoken in England and the British empire along with countries owned by that empire.

Although both American and British people can generally understand what each other's saying sometimes it is necessary to explain some things. Some words or phrases could be taken the wrong way.

One of the most noticeable differences is in the spelling of some words. Words such as color in American English become a colour in British English. Another example is the American word theater. In British English it becomes theatre. Other words using the same spelling rules also have the added letter u and the reverse of the r e. Words ending in or usually have the letter u added before the letter r. Words ending in er are usually reversed to re. Other words also have various spelling differences.

Many times although words are spelled the same in both forms of English, they may have a different pronunciation. The accent is put on a different syllable in the word .

Sometimes when using a past tense of a verb, while ed may be used in American English, t is common in British English. An example is dreamed and dreamt .

There are also various grammatical differences.

Vocabulary of course is a major difference at times. Because of the widespread usage of American English many British people are starting to use some American nouns to replace some of their British ones. So a lorry is becoming a truck. There are many other words that are being substituted as well.

Many Americans are are aware of many of the British terms and what they mean. It's likewise many of the Britons know what some of our words mean. This helps to eliminate some confusion.

Many times speakers of British English have a more proper and distinct pronunciation of certain letters such as d and t.

There are also times when the same words have completely different meanings in both forms of English. In British English a biscuit is similar to a cooky however in American English it is more like a dinner roll.

Sometimes Britains pronounce their numbers differently mostly the larger numbers. They tend to add the word and between the numbers. While American English speaking people usually say 107
one hundred seven, most British English speaking people say one hundred and seven.

There are also many other minor differences between the two forms of English.

It is interesting to note that many British English speaking people adore American accents. Likewise many American English speaking people simply love British accents.





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Idlewild's picture

count me in

...as one of those people who loves British accents. The pronunciations are also quite interesting. Listening to the BBC, you can hear them say 'shed-jule' for schedule and 'al-oo-MIN-ee-um' for aluminum.

Ivar Tabrizi's picture

English vs English

Sir Winston Churchill had the best explanation for this. I believe he said this at a banquet given in the White House, "We are one nation divided by our language"!!!

By the way how on earth can colour be "color"!!!!!!!

Antonia Dwells's picture

Just remember, a "fanny

Just remember, a "fanny pack" isn't the same thing over in England, just as their "fag" isn't the same thing over here.

Antonia Dwells's picture

'Cause there you can smoke a

'Cause there you can smoke a fag, and here you can stuff a fanny pack.

Well...

Antonia Dwells's picture

Which makes me think about

Which makes me think about expressions.

Know any good British idioms?

Idlewild's picture

Cockney rhyming slang

...is a whole category of expressions. Going up the stairs would be "going up the apples and pears" (this one was used in that Seinfeld commercial for American Express a few years back).

Antonia Dwells's picture

Oh, yes, I love that stuff.

Oh, yes, I love that stuff. There are also some good ones used in "The Limey."

eholody's picture

American English....you mean

American English....you mean like saying like something like, umm, like in every, like, sentence?

I just had a friend come home from Germany complaining about that. Who can, like, help it anymore?

cmofi's picture

Also the pronunciation for

Also the pronunciation for "Either" they change it.

Ivar Tabrizi's picture

English vs English

Another confusion is the American way of denoting dates, since my company does a lot business with USA.You put the month first then the date and we the date first then the month and year. Leads to a lot of confusion. If you write 3/8 we would take it as 3rd August whereas I believe you mean 8th March!!!!!!

Idlewild's picture

In Canada

they say "ehh" where Americans would say "uh." Until I got used to it, it sounded unusual. And then there's "eh," pronounced "ay," which they add to the end of statements, as in "Nice weather we're having, eh?"

Katbluemoon's picture

That can be so confusing,

That can be so confusing, and I'm not sure if I'll ever understand the currency system. Thank goodness for all of your British comedies. At least they help us understand your language, it is the heavy accents that give me trouble.

Are you being served? This one I love the most.

Kat

Michaelu's picture

British and American

British: Do you have any fags?
American: Got any smokes

American: Things went haywire
British: Went buggard

American: Naughty
British: Cheeky

Amerian: Who's picking you up
British: Someone comming to collect you

American: Make a collect call
British: Reverse the call

America: Elevator
British: Lift

American: Bullshit
British: Bullocks

Dr. Andrew J. Smith's picture

English

And I like British women.