American vs british english

British English Vs American English
VS

History of British vs. American English
 The English language was introduced to America
through British colonization in the early 17th
century. It also spread to many other parts of
the world because of the strength of the British
empire. Over the years, English spoken in the
United States and in Britain started diverging
from each other in various aspects. This led to a
new dialects in the form of American English.

American Vs British
British English: Is the form of English used
in the United Kingdom. It includes all
dialects used in the United Kingdom.
American English: Is the form of English
used in the United States. It includes all
dialects used in the United States.

Differences between American
English and British English
 Pronunciation
 Grammar
 Vocabulary
 Spelling
 Punctuation
 Idioms
 Dates/Numbers

Pronunciation
( R )
 Birth
 Turn
 Learn
 Work
 Germ
 Farm
 Clever
 Director

Pronunciation
( T )
Saturday
Waiter
Matter
What about
Party
Sort of
Part of

Pronunciation
elimination of (T) after (N)
Center
Interview
Internet
International
In British they don’t pronounce R

Grammar
 Use of the Present Perfect:
 In British English it is used to talk about past actions that have an effect in the present
 In American English past simple and present perfect are used in the same situations.
 I have lost my pen. Can you borrow me yours? (BE)
 I lost my pen. OR I have lost my pen. (AE)
 Other differences include the use of: already, just and yet.
 The British use the present perfect with these adverbs of indefinite time.
 In American English simple past and present perfect are both possible
 "I have got to leave now" - British English
 "I have to leave now" - American English
 "I have already seen that movie"- British English
 "I already saw that movie" - American English
 "You've missed Sarah. She's just left." - British English
 "You missed Sarah. She just left" - American English

Grammar
Yet:
 She hasn't come yet. (BE)
 She didn't come yet. (AE)
Already:
 I have already seen this movie. (BE)
 I already saw this movie. (AE)
Just:
 He has just gone home. (BE)
 He has just gone home. (AE)

Grammar
 tenses
 British English employs the present perfect to talk about
a recent event {i.e. “I’ve already eaten,” “I’ve just
arrived home.”}
 auxiliaries
 British English often uses “shall” and “shan’t”
 American English uses “will” and “won’t”

Simple past tense for present perfect
 Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect
tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of
British English. In spoken American English it is very common
to use the simple past tense as an alternative in situations
where the present perfect would usually have been used in
British English.

EXAMPLES
BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH
I have lost my keys. Can you help
me look for it?(incorrect in BrE)
I lost my keys. Can you help me
look for it?(accepted in AmE)
Have you finished your work? Did you finish your work?
I‘ve already seen that film. I already saw that film.
I‘ve just had lunch. I just had lunch.

Some more examples
BRITISH ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH
 Jenny feels ill. She's eaten too
much.
Jenny feels ill. She ate too
much.
I can't find my keys. Have you
seen them anywhere?
I can't find my keys. Did you
see them anywhere?
A: Is Samantha here?
B: No, she's just left.
A: Is Samantha here?
B: No, she just left.

Some more examples
A: Can I borrow your book?
B: No, I haven't read it yet
A: Can I borrow your book?
B: No, I didn't read it yet.
A: Are they going to the show
tonight?
B: No. They've already seen it.
A: Are they going to the show
tonight?
B: No. They already saw it.

The verb “get”
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
He has gotten much better at
playing tennis
He has got much better at playing
tennis.

Have you got/ do you have
 In AmE ‘have’ and forms with do/does/did are the
usual way to show possession, etc,in positive
statements,negatives and questions. Have got is not
used in questions but is used in positive
statements,especially to emphasise that somebody
has one thing rather than the other. “Does your
brother have brown hair”?. “No, he has got blond hair.”
 “Have you got” is the usual verb in BrE to show
possession,etc, in positve statements in the present
tense, in negative statements and in the questions.

have you got/ do you have
They have got a wonderful house.
(BrE)
They have a wonderful house.(AmE)
Have you got a meeting today? Do you have a meeting today?
I have got no objection.
I have no objection.(formal)
We don’t have a television

 In British English collective nouns, (i.e. nouns referring to particular
groups of people or things), (e.g. staff , government, class, team) can
be followed by a singular or plural verb depending on whether the
group is thought of as one idea, or as many individuals , e.g.:
 My team is winning.
The other team are all sitting down.
In American English collective nouns are always followed by a
singular verb, so an American would usually say:
 Which team is losing?
whereas in British English both plural and singular forms of the verb
are possible, according to whether the emphasis is, respectively, on
the body as a whole or on the individual members as in:
 Which team is/are losing?
Collective nouns

Examples
 committee was appointed
 the committee were unable to agree
 Compare also the following lines of Elvis Costello's song
"Oliver's Army": Oliver's Army are on their way / Oliver's Army
is here to stay. Some of these nouns, for example staff, actually
combine with plural verbs most of the time.
 In AmE, collective nouns are usually singular in construction:
the committee was unable to agree
 the team takes their seats

 differences in preposition use:
 at the weekend
 Different from
 from 5 to 6
 Past Simple/Past Participles
Burnt OR burned
irregular form is more
common in Br. E.
 on the weekend
 Different than
 from 5 through 6
dreamt OR dreamed
regular form is more
common to American English.

Time telling in British vs
American English
 Both languages have a slightly different structure of telling the time.
While the British would say quarter past ten to denote 10:15, it is
not uncommon in America to say quarter after or even a quarter
after ten.
 Thirty minutes after the hour is commonly called half past in both
languages. Americans always write digital times with a colon, thus
6:00, whereas Britons often use a point, 6.00.

Present Progressive (also known as
Present Continuous)
There are some verbs in British English that cannot be
used in the Present Progressive while in American
English they can. Here are two examples:
 British English
 "I like this conversation more
and more.”
 "I remember this quite
clearly."
 American English
 "I’m liking this conversation more
and more.“
 "I’m remembering this quite
clearly."

British English - American English
Vocabulary
British English American English
 Biscuits
 Block of flats
 Bonnet (clothing)
 Bonnet (car)
 Boot
 Car park
 Chemist's shops
 Chips
 The cinema
 Cookie
 Apartment building
 Hat
 Hood
 Trunk
 Parking lot
 Drugstore, pharmacy
 Fries, French fries
 The movies

British English - American English
Vocabulary
Shop Store
Bill Check
Bin Trash can
Biscuit Cookie
Car park Parking lot
Lift Elevator
Full stop Period
Engaged Busy

Spelling Differences
 Many of these spelling differences result from
French influence on English.
1. British English has a tendency to keep the
spelling of many words of French origin.
2. Americans try to spell words more closely to
the way they sound phonetically and they tend
to omit some letters.

Spelling Differences
British American
 Armour
 Behaviour
 Colour
 Favourite
 Flavour
 Harbour
 Honour
 Humour
 Armor
 Behavior
 Color
 Favorite
 Flavor
 Harbor
 Honor
 Humor

Spelling, continued.
AMERICAN – “-e” BRITISH – “-ae” or “-oe”
Encyclopedia Encyclopaedia
Maneuver Manoeuvre
AMERICAN – “-dg” “-g” “-
gu”
BRITISH – “-dge” “-ge” “-
gue”
Aging Ageing
Argument Arguement
Judgment Judgement
AMERICAN – “-ense” BRITISH – “-ence”
License Licence
Defense Defence

Differences in Punctuation
 While the British would write Mr, Mrs, Dr, the Americans would write
Mr., Mrs., Dr.
Mr.
Mrs.
Dr.
Mr
Mrs
Dr

American vs british english

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