British vs. American English                                                      Dr. Elisabeth Kuhn

                                                                                                ekuhn@vcu.edu

Vocabulary                                                                  

 

Same word, different meaning:

 

rubber:   condom (AE);  pencil eraser (BE)

chips:    thin, crispy, deep-fried potato slices (AE);  "French" fries (BE) – note: "fish & chips"

mean:    unkind (AE);  stingy, tight-fisted with money, unkind (BE)

school:  kindergarten through Ph.D. (AE); grade/elementary school through high school (BE)

student: kindergarten through Ph.D. (AE);  college only (BE)

public school:  state (or locally) funded school (AE); (exclusive) private school (BE)

 

 

Different words for the same thing:

 

AE                    BE                                            AE                    BE

apartment           flat                                            attorney             barrister/solicitor

hood                 bonnet                                       diaper                nappy

potato chips        crisps                                        cookie               biscuit (sweet)

cracker               biscuit (dry)                                wheat                corn

fries                  chips                                         garbage              rubbish

gas(oline)           petrol                                        grade school       elementary school

intersection         junction                                     janitor               caretaker

mail                  post                                          major                main subject/take a degree in

one-way ticket     single                                        round trip           return

pants                 trousers                                      raise (salary)       rise

second floor        first floor                                   to stand in line    to queue

line                   queue                                        zipper                zip                                           

 

 

Prepositions etc.:

 

AE:                               BE:

on the weekend;              at the weekend

on a team                       in a team

please write me soon        please write to me soon

 

I'll check that out             I'll check up on that

to talk with someone        to talk to someone  ("talk with" has potentially punitive connotations)

 

It opens January 1.           It opens on January 1.

I start my vacation (on) Friday.      I start my holidays on Friday.

 

I work nights.                 I work at night.

 

Is Susie home?                Is Susie at home?

Let's stay home tonight.   Let's stay at home tonight.

 

He's in the hospital.         He's in hospital.   (meaning:  he's hospitalized)

He wants out.                 He wants to get out.

 

(Phone:) Is this Susie?      Is that Susie?

 

 

 

Past tense/past participle forms:

 

burn:     burnt     or         burned

dream:   dreamt   or         dreamed

lean:      leant      or         leaned

learn:     learnt     or         learned

smell:    smelt     or         smelled

spell:     spelt      or         spelled

spill:     spilt      or         spilled

spoil:    spoilt    or         spoiled 

 

BE prefers the irregular form, AE favors regular form.

 

BUT the following words are irregular in AE and regular in BE:

AE:  fit, quit, wet                        BE:  fitted, quitted, wetted

 

Dive is regular in BE, but can be irregular in AE.  And spit has both spit and spat as past tense and participle in AE.

 

 

Spelling:

 

words ending in –or (AE) vs. –our (BE):  color vs. colour, favor vs. favour, humor vs. humour, etc.

words ending in –ize (AE) vs. –ise (BE):  analyze vs. analyse, recognize vs. recognise, etc.

words ending in –er (AE) vs. –re (BE):  theater vs. theatre, center vs. centre.

deletion of the second consonant in AE:  traveler (AE) vs. traveller (BE),  wagon (AE) vs. waggon (BE)

 

AE:                   BE:                               AE:                   BE:

aluminum          aluminium                     catalog               catalogue

check                 cheque                           jeweler               jeweller

instal                 install                            pajamas             pyjamas

plow                 plough                           defense              defence

offense               offence                           specialty            speciality

pronunciation      pronounciation

 

Pronunciation:

 

BE has an extra vowel:  pot, spot, hot, are pronounced with an openish o in BE and with a short ah in AE.

 

BE:  "r" only before vowels;  AE:  "r" pronounced wherever they appear, plus if an "r" follows a vowel, that vowel becomes "r-colored."  i.e.:  AE "hot," "clock," "lock" sound like BE "heart," "clerk," and "lark."

 

(Note the difference in the evaluation of "r"-lessness in AE vs. BE dialects.)

 

"t" between vowels:

writer, bitter, butter, Betty, Patty, etc.  pronounced as a "t" in BE, as a flap-D in AE.

Moreover, t and d between vowels are pronounced the same in AE – i.e.: writer vs. rider.

 

BE often inserts a y sound in front of u when u comes after a t,th, d, n, l, and sometimes other consonants. Example:  tune (pronounced: TOON (AE) vs. TYOON (BE).  See also enthusiastic, duty, new, illuminate.

 

Words ending in unstressed –ile (e.g. reptile, missile, senile, fertile) are pronounced to rhyme with "tile" in BE, with just an /l/, to rhyme with "turtle," in AE.

 

Some words ending in –ary or –ory, such as secretary or factory, have an extra syllable in AE, or one less syllable in BE, depending on point of  view:  The vowel before –ry is not pronounced in BE.

Differences in stress:

 

AE:                   BE:

ADDress            adDRESS

deTAIL              DEtail

CIGarette           cigaRETTE

gaRAGE            GArage

LABoratory        laBOratory

REcess              reCESS

 

Words from French are often stressed differently:  paté or ballet, for example, are stressed on the first syllable in BE, and on the second syllable in AE.

 

 

GRAMMAR:

 

Use of have:

 

"Have you..." vs. "Do you have..." (i.e., "do you own..." (in general))  BE uses both, AE mostly the latter.

 

"Do you have..." (meaning "at this moment in time"):  AE only

 

"Have you had your holidays yet?" BE

"Did you have your vacation yet?"  AE

 

Use of Present Perfect:  in BE it is used for an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment.  I.e.:

 

I've lost my reading glasses.  Can you read the small print on this ticket?

 

In American English you can use the present perfect, but also the past tense:

 

I lost my reading glasses...

 

Have you already read that book?

Did you read that book?

In BE, only the top one is correct, in AE, both are.

 

HAVE vs. HAVE GOT:

 

Do you have a cat?  vs.  Have you got a cat?

 

Both are acceptable in BE and AE; however, BE prefers HAVE GOT and AE prefers HAVE.

 

GET:  The past participle of "get" is "gotten" in AE and "got" in BE.

 

 

LINKS:

 

For British English vs. American English:  http://esl.about.com/library/weekly/aa110698.htm   (some of which is excerpted on this handout)

 

For Slangman Guide to Street Speak 1, 2, and 3 (also for his guides to Biz Speak, and even a video) see www.slangman.com or find all on Amazon.com by searching for "Slangman."