You are on page 1of 18

British English vs American English

(BE vs AE)
misunderstanding between British and
American!?
So I (an American) was playing Frisbee with
a British girl. I threw it to her and while
trying to catch it she broke a nail. She was
whining about it so I told her, Suck it up! To
us this means just deal with the pain and
continue. To them it has a bad sexual
meaning. Embarrassing! (From Daniel).

British English vs American English


Ever get confused by these following:
Who lives on a street, and who lives in a street?
Who takes a bath, and who has a bath?
Who says Neither do I, and who says Nor do I?
After thank you, who says Not at all and who says You re
welcome?
Whose team are on the ball, and whose team is?
(from British or American
English?)

British English vs American English


Differences between BE and
AE

Grammar

vocabulary

pronunciatio
n

British English vs American English


I. Pronunciation:
Pronunciation
variations

stress

affixes

sounds

British English vs American English


I.1. Stress:
- In many English-French words (which have more than one
syllable), BE often stresses on the first syllable, AE on the
last syllable.
Example:
adult,ballet,baton,beret,bidet,blas,brevet,brochure,b
uffet,cafA2,canardB2,chagrin,chaletA2,chauffeurA2,B2,chiffon
,clichB2,coup,croissant,debrisB2,debut,dcor,detailA2,d
tenteB2,flamb,frapp,garageB2,gateau,gourmetA2,lam,
montageA2,parquet,pastel,pastille,pt,prcis,sachet,sal
on,soupon,vaccine;matine,nglige,
nonchalant,nondescript; also some French names.
(Wikipedia)

British English vs American English


I.1. Stress:
-According to Wikipedia, most 2-syllable verbs ending-atehave
first-syllable stress in AE and second-syllable stress in BE.
Such verbs includes:
castrate,dictate, donate ,locate,mandate,migrate,placate,
prostrate,pulsate,rotate,serrate,spectate,striated,translate,
vacate,vibrate. (Wikipedia).

British English vs American English


I.2. Affixes:
-ary -ery -ory : when these suffixes are stressed, AE will
pronounce them as /ri/ or /ri/. Meanwhile, BE often reduces
the affixes to schwa /ri/ or even omits the vowel sound to /ri/.
Example:
Military
AE
/mltri/
BE
Victory
AE
BE

/mltri/ or /mltri/
/vktri:/
/vktri/ or /vktri/

British English vs American English


I.3. Sound variations:
AE

BE

Example

//

//

Hanoi, annato, Caracas, Natasha, Pablo, pasta

//

/i/

aesthete, anaesthetize,
devolution,ecumenical,epoch

/o/

//

compost, homosexual, produce (noun), yogurt, interpol

/e/

//

compatriot, patriot, patronise, phalanx, plait,


repatriate

/a/

//

dynasty, idyll, livelong, long-lived, privacy,


simultaneous

//

//

Asia, Persia, version

/u/

/ju/

Student, news, barracuda, puma

(From
wikipedia)

British English vs American English


II. Vocabulary:
Lexical variation between the two dialects is increasingly
noticeable
AE
BE
counter-clockwise

anti-clockwise

autumn, fall

autumn

barrister

barrister

drugstore, pharmacy

chemist's shop

the movies

the cinema

garbage can, trash can

dustbin

garbage collector

Dustman

(The above table is just an example, not all differences

British English vs American English


III. Grammar:
Grammar
variation

nouns

verbs

Definite
articles

Adverbs
and
prepositio
ns

British English vs American English


III.1. Nouns:
1. In British English, collective nouns can agree with either singular or
plural verb forms. It depends on whether the emphasis is on each
individual or all members as a whole.
Example: Oliver's Army are on their way / Oliver's Army is here to stay.
In American English, however, collective nouns often goes with singular
verb forms.
The exception will appear when a speaker wishes to emphasize
separate individuals.
Example: the team takes their seatsor the team take their seats

British English vs American English


III.2. Verbs:
Verb variation

Verb
morpholo
gy

Verb
tenses

Transitivit
y

Auxiliary
verbs

British English vs American English


III.2.1. Verb morphology
The past tense and past participle of the
verbslearn,spoil,spell,burn,dream,smell,spill,leap, and others, can
be either irregular (learnt,spoilt, etc.) or regular (learned,spoiled, etc.).
(Wikipedia).
In British English, both forms are popular:
Example:
Learn
learnt or learned.
Spoil
spoilt or spoiled
In American English, however, the irregular form is oldfashioned:
Example:
Learn
learned
Spoil
spoiled

British English vs American English


III.2.2. Verb tenses:
- American English has recently inclined to use simple past with
just or already to replace the present perfect tense.
American English

British English

The Cable broadband just got


faster

The Cable broadband has just got


faster

I just arrived home

I have just arrived home

I already ate

I have already eaten

British English vs American English


III.2.3. Transitivity:
The following verbs show differences in transitivity between British English and American English:

agree: Transitive or intransitive in BE (agree a contract/agree tooron a


contract), usually intransitive in AE. However, in formal AE legal writing
one often sees constructions such asas may be agreed between the
parties(rather thanas may be agreeduponbetween the parties).
appeal(as a decision): Usually intransitive in BE (used withagainst)
and transitive in AE (appeal the decision to the Court).
cater("to provide food and service"): Intransitive in BE, transitive
or intransitive in AE (to cater for a banquet/to cater a banquet).
claim: Sometimes intransitive in BE (used withfor), strictly
transitive in AE.
( from
wikipedia )

British English vs American English


III.2.4. Auxiliary verbs
Shall(as opposed towill) is more commonly used by the British than
by Americans.Shan'tis almost never used in AE (almost invariably
replaced bywon'toram not going to) and is increasingly rare in BE as
well.
"be going to, as future form, is about twice as
frequent in AE as in BE.
May is used in British English in expressions of unrealized possibility in
the past, for which American (and most British usage) would require
might
Dare without to is British, rare, and mainly negative as in dare not,
darent
or interrogative as in dare I?

British English vs American English


III.3. Definite article:
A few nouns take nodefinite articleswhen a certain role is implied:
for example,at sea(as a sailor),in prison(as a convict), andat/in
college(for students). Among this group, BE hasinhospital(as a
patient) andat university(as a student), where AE
requiresinthehospitalandattheuniversity(though AE does
allowat collegeandin school). When the implied roles of patient or
student do not apply, the definite article is used in both dialects.
BE distinguishesin future(from now on) fromin the future(at
some future time); AE usesin the futurefor both senses.

In BE, numbered highways usually take the definite article (for


example "the M25", "the A14"); in America they usually do not ("I-495",
"Route 66").

British English vs American English


III.4. adverbs and prepositions
In the AE,on the weekendis used instead of the British equivalent,at
the weekend.
British sportsmen playin a team; American athletes playon a
team.
American homeless people live on a street, and British homeless
people live in a street.

In AE, "on line" (two words) refers to the state of waiting in a line or
queue; for example, standing on a sidewalk waiting for a table at a
restaurant. In other parts of the USA, one waits "in line". In
BE,queueis the universal term and no variants oflineare used in
relation to waiting in turn.

You might also like