BRITISH ENGLISH - AMERICAN ENGLISH

Some Differences
SPELLING &
-our/-or Many words end in -our in Britain, and in -or in America. Britain colour favour neighbour -tre/-ter Words ending in -tre in Britain, end in -ter in America, for example: Britain centre litre theatre Doubling of Letters In Britain, the 'l' is doubled in an unstressed syllable : Britain travelling marvellous America traveling marvelous America center liter theater America color favor neighbor

VOCABULARY Here are some examples :

Other Some words are just written differently. In other cases, a different word is used. Here are some examples : Different spelling : Britain analyse catalogue cheque defence kerb plough pyjamas America analyze catalog check defence/defense curb plow pajamas

tyre (for a wheel) Different words : Britain handbag holiday lorry motorway nappy pavement tap

tire

America purse/pocketbook vacation truck freeway diaper sidewalk faucet

-ize/ise In Britain, some verbs end in either -ize or -ise. Both are used. In America, they always end in -ize. e.g. apologise/apologize organise/organize realise/realize

Regular-irregular forms : Some verbs have alternative regular and irregular past tense and past participle forms,for example : dream - dreamed or dreamt. In Britain, the irregular form is more often used, whereas in American English, there is a preference for the regular form. Here are some of those verbs : dream learn spell spoil and also: dive dreamed/dreamt learned/learnt spelled/spelt spoiled/spoilt dived-dived (GB) dove-dived (US only)

VERBS

The Pronoun 'one'

Americans do not often use 'one' meaning "people in general",

nor do they use 'one's' or 'oneself'. GB : US : One should look after one's health. You should look after your health. People should look after their health.

There are differences in the way dates are said and written. GB : US : GB : US : 4th July - the fourth of July July 4 - July four - July fourth 6/12/99 means the 6th of December 1999 6/12/99 means the 12th of June 1999

DATES

NUMBERS

The British use 'and' between hundred and the rest of the number. The Americans leave it out. GB : US : Two hundred and twenty. Two hundred twenty.

Common Words in American and British English

Here are a few of the more common words which are different in American and British English. This is only meant to highlight some of the variety which exists within English, and is not a complete list by any means. It also does not address different vocabulary which is used in Australia, Canada, South Africa and India as well as the Caribbean, Africa, and the many other places in the world which use English as the language of commerce or government.

American
Apartment argument Baby carriage band-aid bathroom can chopped beef cookie corn diaper elevator eraser

British
flat row pram plaster loo or WC tin mince biscuit maize nappy lift rubber

flashlight fries gas guy highway hood (car) jello jelly kerosene lawyer license plate line mail motor home movie theater muffler napkin nothing overpass pacifier pants parking lot period

torch chips petrol bloke, chap motorway bonnet jelly jam paraffin solicitor number plate queue post caravan cinema silencer serviette nought flyover dummy trousers car park full stop

pharmacist potato chips rent sausage sidewalk soccer sweater trash can truck trunk (car) vacation vest windshield (car) zip code

chemist crisps hire banger pavement football jumper bin lorry boot holiday waistcoat windscreen postal code

Spelling differences between American and British English

-or vs. -our

American color favorite honor British colour favourite honour Analyze Criticize

-ze vs. -se

American British analyse criticise memorise

Memorize

-ll vs. -l
American enrollment fulfill skillful fulfil skilful British enrolment center meter theater

-er vs. -re

American British centre metre theatre

-og vs. ogue

American analog catalog dialog British Analogue Catalogue Dialogue

-e vs. -oe or -ae

American encylopedia maneuver medieval British encylycopaedi a manoeuvre mediaeval

-ck or -k vs. que

American bank check checker British Banque Cheque Chequer

-dg vs. -dge (or -g vs. -gu)

American aging argument judgment British ageing arguement judgement

-ense vs. enze

American defense license British Defence Licence jewelry draft pajamas plow program tire

Other
American British jewellery draught pyjamas plough programme tyre

In British English, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel usually double the -l when a suffix is added, while in American English the letter is not doubled. The letter will double in the stress is on the second syllable.

In British English, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel usually double the -l when a suffix is added, while in American English the letter is not doubled. The letter will double in the stress is on the second syllable.

Base Word
counsel equal model quarrel signal travel excel propel

American
counseling equaling modeling quarreling signaling traveling excelling propelling

British
counselling equalling modelling quarrelling signalling travelling excelling propelling

Spelling of verbs
This is related to formation of the past participle for verbs. For a complete list of irregular verb spellings, see Susan Jones' Complete List

of English Irregular Verbs at this web site. Below is a sampling of the three main categories of differeneces with verbs.

-ed vs. -t
The first category involves verbs that use -ed or -t for the simple past and past participle. Generally, the rule is that if there is a verb form with -ed, American English will use it, and if there is a form with -t, British English uses it. However, these forms do not exist for every verb and there is variation. For example, both American and British English would use the word 'worked' for the past form of 'to work', and in American English it is common to hear the word 'knelt' as the past tense of 'to kneel'.

Base form
to dream to leap to learn

American
dreamed leaped leareded

British
dreamt leapt learnt

base form vs. -ed

The second category of difference includes verbs that use either the base form of the verb or the -ed ending for the simple past.

Base form
to fit to forecast to wed

America n
fit forecast wed

British
fitted forecasted wedded

irregular vs. -ed

The third category of difference includes verbs that have either an irregular spelling or the -ed ending for the simple past.

Base form
to knit to light to strive

American
knit lit strove

British
knitted lighted strived

So what does tall his mean for learners of English? In the beginning, unfortunately, it means a lot of memorization (or memorization) and of course, a few mistakes. For spoken English, the differences are barely audible, so forge ahead and don't be too concerned with whether a word is spelled 'dwelled' or 'dwelt'. With written English, however, if you are unsure about the spelling, better to ask your teacher or look the word up in the dictionary and see what the experts say.