American and British English

 

While there are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL programs. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is "correct" however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage. If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent in your spelling (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour - color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy - or possible. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English
:Here are some differences
Use of the PresentPerfect
In British English thepresent perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recentpast thathas an effect on the present moment. For example
?I've lost my key. Canyou help me look for it
:In American English the following is alsopossible
?I lost my key. Can you help me look for it
In British English theabove would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally acceptedin standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the presentperfect in British English and simple past in American English includealready, just and yet
:BritishEnglish
I've just hadlunch
I've already seen that film
?Have you finished your homeworkyet
:AmericanEnglish
I just had lunch ORI've just had lunch
.I've already seen that film OR I already saw thatfilm
?Have your finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homeworkyet
Possession
There are two forms toexpress possession in English. Have or Have got
?Do you have acar
?Have you got a car
.He hasn't got any friends
.He doesn't have anyfriends
.She has a beautiful new home
.She's got a beautiful newhome
While both forms arecorrect (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have yougot, he hasn't got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British Englishwhile most speakers of American (English employ the have (do you have, hedoesn't have etc
The VerbGet
The past participle ofthe verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better atplaying tennis. British English - He's got much better at playingtennis
Vocabulary
Probably the majordifferences between British and American English lies in the choice ofvocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties forexample
(Mean: (AmericanEnglish - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tightfisted
(Rubber: (AmericanEnglish - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencilmarkings
There are many moreexamples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, yourdictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Manyvocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the bestexamples of this is the terminology used for automobiles
 
  • American English - hood
    British English - bonnet
 
  • American English - trunk
    British English - boot
 
  • American English - truck
    British English - lorry
     
 
.Once again, yourdictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or AmericanEnglish
Prepositions
:There are also a fewdifferences in preposition use including the following
 
  • American English - onthe weekend
    British English - at the weekend
 
  • American English - ona team
    British English - in a team
 
  • American English - please write me soon
    British English - please writetome soon
     
 
Past Simple/PastParticiples
The following verbshave two acceptable forms of the past simple/past participle in both Americanand British English, however, the irregular form is generally more common inBritish English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more commonto American English
 
  • Burn
    Burnt ORburned
 
  • Dream
    dreamt ORdreamed
 
  • Lean
    leant ORleaned
 
  • Learn
    learnt ORlearned
 
  • Smell
    smelt ORsmelled
 
  • Spell
    spelt ORspelled
 
  • Spill
    spilt ORspilled
Spoil
spoilt ORspoiled
 
 
Spelling

:Here are some generaldifferences between British and American spellings

.Words ending in -or (American) -our (British) color, colour, humor, humour, flavor, flavouretc
.Words ending in -ize (American) -ise (British) recognize, recognise, patronize, patronise etc

The best way to make sure that you are beingconsistent in your spelling is to use the spell check on your word processor (ifyou are using the computer of course) and choose which variety of English youwould like. As you can see, there are really very few differences betweenstandard British English and standard American English. However, the largestdifference is probably that of the choice of vocabulary and pronunciation



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