AMERICAN ENGLISH
VS. BRITISH ENGLISH
Differences and Similarities
HISTORY
• Between the 16th and 17th centuries – The British actually introduced the
language to the Americas when they reached these lands by sea.
• At that time, spelling had not yet been standardised.
• It took the writing of the first dictionaries to set in stone how these words
appeared.
• In the UK, the dictionary was compiled by London-based scholars.
• Meanwhile, in the United States, the lexicographer was a man named Noah
Webster.
• Allegedly, he changed how the words were spelled to make the American
version different from the British as a way of showing cultural independence
from its mother country.
NOAH WEBSTER
• Born in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1758
• Noah Webster came of age during the American
Revolution and was a strong advocate of the
Constitutional Convention.
• He believed fervently in the developing cultural
independence of the United States, a chief part of
which was to be a distinctive American language
with its own idiom, pronunciation, and style.
• 1806 – he published A Compendious Dictionary of the
English Language – the first truly American
dictionary.
NOAH WEBSTER’S SPELLING
REFORM
Noah Webster was struck by the inconsistencies of English
spelling and the obstacles it presented to learners (young and
old alike) and resented that American classrooms were filled
only with British textbooks. The spelling reform featured in his
first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language,
was based on the author's combined vision of logic and
aesthetics.
He changed the –ce in words like defence,offence,
and pretence to –se; abandoned the second, silent "l" in verbs
such as travel and cancel when forming the past tense; dropped
the "u" from words such as humour and colour; and dropped
the "k" from words such as publick and musick. The "publick"
readily accepted many of these changes and just as readily
rejected some of the others.
HISTORY
• In terms of speech, the differences between American and British English
actually took place after the first settlers arrived in America.
• These groups of people spoke using what was called rhotic speech, where
the ‘r’ sounds of words are pronounced.
• Meanwhile, the higher classes in the UK wanted to distinguish the way they
spoke from the common masses by softening their pronunciation of the ‘r’
sounds.
• Since the elite even back then were considered the standard for being
fashionable, other people began to copy their speech, until it eventually
became the common way of speaking in the south of England.
2 VARIETIES OF ENGLISH:
American English and British english
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY
AMERICAN ENGLISH AND
BRITISH ENGLISH?
AMERICAN ENGLISH
• American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United
State. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of
America.
• Regional dialects in the United States typically reflect the elements of
the language of the main immigrant groups in any particular region of
the country, especially in terms of pronunciation and vernacular
vocabulary. Scholars have mapped at least four major regional variations
of spoken American English: Northern (really north-eastern), Southern,
Midland, and Western.
BRITISH ENGLISH
• British English (BrE) also has a reasonable degree of uniformity in its
formal written form. The spoken forms though vary considerably,
reflecting a long history of dialect development amid isolated
populations. Dialects and accents vary not only between the countries in
the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales,
but also within these individual countries.
• There are also differences in the English spoken by different socio-
economic groups.
IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING THE
DIFFERENCES
• The two varieties of English most widely found in print and taught
around the world are British and American - it is therefore important for
teachers to be aware of the major differences between the two. And
while lexical differences are the easiest ones to notice, a knowledge of
grammatical and phonological differences can be useful not only for
teachers to be aware of, but also to be able to deal with should they come
up in class.
• Lack of awareness can lead to embarrassment and confusion.
AREAS OF DIFFERENCES
• Pronunciation
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Idioms
• Formatting of dates
• Numbers
GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES
• 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 OF GRAMMATICAL
DIFFERENCES
American English British English
• I have lost my keys. Can you help me • I have lost my keys. Can you help me
look for it? (Accepted in AmE) look for it? (Incorrect in BrE)
• Did you finish your work? • Have you finished your work?
• I already saw that film. • I‘ve already seen that film.
• I just had lunch. • I‘ve just had lunch.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF
GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES
American English British English
• Jenny feels ill. She’s ate too much. • Jenny feels ill. She’s eaten too much.
• I can’t find my keys. Did you see them • I can’t find my keys. Have you seen them
anywhere? anywhere?
• A: Is Samantha here?
• A: Is Samantha here? • B: No, she’s just left.
• B: No, she just left.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
American English British English
• In American English, collective nouns • In contrast, collective nouns can be
are considered singular . either singular or plural in British English
depending on whether the group is
thought of as one idea, or as many
EXAMPLE: individuals, although the plural form is
most often used.
The band is playing.
EXAMPLE:
Which team is losing?
The band are playing.
Which team is/are losing?
GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES
• The British are also more likely to use formal speech, such as ‘shall’, whereas Americans
favour the more informal ‘will’ or ‘should’.
Example:
• I will be late this evening. (AmE)
• I shall be late this evening. (BrE)
• Americans, however, continue to use ‘gotten’ as the past participle of ‘get’, which the British
have long since dropped in favour of ‘got’.
Example:
• He has gotten much better at playing tennis. (AmE)
• He has got much better at playing tennis.(BrE)
GRAMMATICAL DIFFERENCES
• Needn’t’, which is commonly used in British English, is rarely, if at all used in American
English. In its place is ‘don’t need to’.
Example:
• We don’t need to hurry. (AmE)
• We needn’t hurry. (BrE)
• In British English, ‘at’ is the preposition in relation to time and place. However, in American
English, ‘on’ is used instead of the former and ‘in’ for the latter.
Example:
• On the weekend. (AmE)
• At the weekend. (BrE)
VOCABULARY DIFFERENCES
• The Americans and the British also have some words that
differ from each other. The table below lists some of the
everyday objects that have different names, depending
on what form of English you are using.
EXAMPLES OF VOCABULARY
DIFFERENCES (IN CLOTHES)
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
EXAMPLES OF VOCABULARY
DIFFERENCES (IN TRANSPORTATION)
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
EXAMPLES OF VOCABULARY
DIFFERENCES (IN BUILDINGS)
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
EXAMPLES OF VOCABULARY
DIFFERENCES (IN
MISCELLANEOUS)
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
EXAMPLES OF SPELLING
DIFFERENCES
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
• British and American English have some spelling differences. The common ones
are presented in the table below.
AMERICAN ENGLISH BRITISH ENGLISH
Center Centre
Liter Litre
Fiber Fibre
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
American English British English
color colour
flavor flavour
humor humour
labor labour
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
American English British English
Apologize Apologise
Organize Organise
Analyze Analyse
Paralyze Paralyse
SPELLING DIFFERENCES
American English British English
Dialog Dialogue
Catalog Catalogue
FINAL POINT
• While there may be certain differences between British
and American English, the key takeaway is that the two
have more similarities. Accidentally using one instead of
the other will not automatically lead to miscommunication.
Americans and Brits can usually communicate with each
other without too much difficulty, so don’t be too hard on
yourself if you are unable to memorise the nuances of
both languages.
CONCEPT MAP
NUMBERS VOCABULARY
AMERICAN
ENGLISH
GRAMMAR VS. STANDARD SPELLING
BRITISH
ENGLISH
PRONOUNCIATION DATE
NUMBER
SAYING WRITING
NUMBERS NUMBERS
GRAMMAR
NOUNS VERBS PREPOSITIONS MISCELLANEOUS
AMERCAN ENGLISH
AND BRITISH ENGLISH
PRONOUNCIATION PARTICULARITY
VOCUBULAR
Y
DIFFERENT WORD, SAME
SAME WORD, DIFFERENTLY
MEANING
SPELLING
WORDS WITH WORDSENDING
DIFFERENT DOUBLE
IN “OR”
ENDINGS CONSONANTS
DATE
DATE FORMAT SAY THE DATE.
