British V American English. Understanding the Differences?

Which English is the best? Which English can brag about being the most authentic? Which English is the most widely taught and spoken throughout the world? These are some of the oldest and most political questions in the world of languages, and no matter what your point of view, they never seem to be resolved.

When it comes to the differences in British English and American English spellings even the British get caught out occasionally. The main difference is that British English keeps its historical roots, especially the spelling of words it has absorbed from other languages, mainly French and German. Whilst American English spellings are based mostly on how the word sounds when it is spoken.

English was introduced to what is modern-day America in the 17th century by the British settlers. Since then the language has evolved and has been influenced by the many waves of immigration to the USA.

The spelling of British English words were cemented by Samuel Johnson in what is considered to be one of the most famous dictionaries in the world. It took Johnson, and six helpers, just over eight years to write the 40,000 words that appeared in ‘A Dictionary of the English Language’, which was published in 1755.

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Similarly in America ‘A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language’ was first printed in 1806 and popularised the American English spellings that were being used instead of the British English spellings of words, such as color instead of colour.

The author was Noah Webster who followed up the original dictionary in 1828 with his ‘An American Dictionary of the English Language’ which had over 70,000 words.

British English words ending in ‘our’ usually end in ‘or’ in American English:

BRITISH	US
colour	color
flavour	flavor
humour	humor
labour	labor
neighbour	neighbor

Verbs in British English that can be spelled with either ‘ize’ or ‘ise’ at the end are always spelled with ‘ize’ at the end in American English:

BRITISH	US
apologize or apologise	Apologize
organize or organise	Organize
recognize or recognise	Recognize

Verbs in British English that end in ‘yse’ are always spelled ‘yze’ in American English:

BRITISH	US
analyse	analyze
breathalyse	breathalyze
paralyse	paralyze

In British spelling ‘L’ is doubled in verbs ending in a vowel plus ‘L’. In American English, the ‘L’ is not doubled:

BRITISH	US
travel	travel
travelled	traveled
travelling	traveling
traveller	traveler

British English words that are spelled with the double vowels ae or oe tend to be just spelled with an e in American English: Although there are exceptions to the rule.  For example archaeology is spelt in the same way as British English but archeology would be acceptable in America but is incorrect in the UK.

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BRITISH	US
leukaemia	leukemia
manoeuvre	maneuver
oestrogen	estrogen
paediatric	pediatric

Some nouns that end with ‘ence’ in British English are spelled ‘ense in American English:’

BRITISH	US
defence	defense
licence	license
offence	offense
pretence	pretense

Some nouns that end with ‘ogue’ in British English end with either ‘og’ or ‘ogue in American English:

BRITISH	US
analogue	analog or analogue
catalogue	catalog or catalogue
dialogue	dialog or dialogue

Vocabulary

Another of the most noticeable difference between American and British English is vocabulary. There are hundreds of everyday words that are different. For example, the British call the front of a car the bonnet, while Americans call it the hood.

Americans go on vacation, while Brits go on holidays or hols.

New Yorkers live in apartments; Londoners live in flats.

There are far more examples than we can talk about here. Fortunately, most Americans and British can usually guess the meaning through the context of a sentence.

British Verses American English.
anti-clockwise	counter-clockwise
articulated lorry	trailer truck
autumn	autumn, fall
barrister	attorney
bill (restaurant)	bill, check
biscuit	cookie
block of flats	apartment building
bonnet (car)	hood
bonnet (clothing)	hat
boot	trunk
car park	parking lot
caravan	trailer
chemist's shop	drugstore, pharmacy
chest of drawers	dresser, chest of drawers, bureau
chips	fries, French fries
cinema, the	movies, the
clothes peg	clothespin
coffin	coffin, casket
crisps	potato chips
crossroads	intersection; crossroads (rural)
cupboard	cupboard (in kitchen); closet  (for clothes etc)
diversion	detour
drawing-pin	thumbtack
drink-driving	drunk driving
driving licence	driver's license
dual carriageway	divided highway
dummy (for baby)	pacifier
dustbin	garbage can, trash can
dustman	garbage collector
engine	engine, motor
estate agent	real estate agent
estate car	station wagon
film	film, movie
flat	apartment, flat, studio
flat tyre	flat tire
flyover	overpass
gear-lever	gearshift
gearbox (car)	transmission
Girl Guide	Girl Scout
ground floor	ground/first floor
handbag	handbag, purse, shoulder bag
high street	main street
holiday	vacation
hood (car)	convertible top
jam	jam, preserves
jug	jug, pitcher
juggernaut	18-wheeler
lift	elevator
lorry	truck, semi, tractor
mad	crazy, insane
main road	highway
maize	corn
maths	math
motorbike	motorcycle
motorway	freeway, expressway
motorway	highway, freeway, expressway, interstate highway, interstate
nappy	diaper
naughts and crosses	tic-tack-toe
pants, underpants	underpants, drawers
pavement	sidewalk
pet hate	pet peeve
petrol	gas, gasoline
Plough, the	Big Dipper, the
pocket money	allowance
post	mail
postbox	mailbox
postcode	zip code
postman	mailman, mail carrier, letter carrier
pub	bar
public toilet	rest room, public bathroom
railway	railroad
return (ticket)	round-trip
reverse charge	collect call
ring road	beltway, freeway/ highway loop
road surface	pavement, blacktop
roundabout	traffic circle, roundabout
rubber	eraser
rubbish	garbage, trash
rubbish-bin	garbage can, trashcan
saloon (car)	sedan
shop	shop, store
silencer (car)	muffler
single (ticket)	one-way
solicitor	lawyer, attorney
spanner	wrench
sweets	candy
taxi	taxi, taxi cab
tea towel	dish towel
telly (informal), TV	television, TV
third-party insurance	liability insurance
timetable	schedule
tin	can
toll motorway	toll road, turnpike
torch	flashlight
trousers	pants, trousers
tube (train)	subway
underground (train)	subway
vest	undershirt
waistcoat	vest
wallet	wallet, billfold
wellington boots	rubber boots, rain boots
whisky	whisky/whiskey
windscreen	windshield
zip	zipper

Collective nouns

There are a few grammatical differences between the two varieties of English. Let’s start with collective nouns. We use collective nouns to refer to a group of individuals.

In American English, collective nouns are singular. For example, staff refers to a group of employees; band refers to a group of musicians; team refers to a group of athletes. Americans would say, “The band is good.”

But in British English, collective nouns can be singular or plural. You might hear someone from Britain say, “The team is playing tonight” or “The team is playing tonight.”

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Auxiliary verbs

Another grammar difference between American and British English relates to auxiliary verbs. Auxiliary verbs, also known as helping verbs, are verbs that help form a grammatical function. They “help” the main verb by adding information about time, modality, and voice.

Let’s look at the auxiliary verb shall. Brits sometimes use shall to express the future.

For example, “I shall go home now.” Americans know what shall means but rarely use it in conversation. It seems very formal. Americans would probably use “I will go home now.”

In question form, the British might say, “Shall we go now?” while an American would probably say, “Should we go now?”

When Americans want to express a lack of obligation, they use the helping verb do with negative not followed by need. “You do not need to come to work today.” the British drop the helping verb and contract not. “You needn’t come to work today.”

Past tense verbs

You will also find some small differences with past forms of irregular verbs.

The past tense of learn in American English is learned. British English has the option of learned or learnt. The same rule applies to dreamed and dreamt, burned and burnt, leaned and leant.

Americans tend to use the –ed ending; the British tend to use the -t ending.

In the past participle form, Americans tend to use the –en ending for some irregular verbs. For example, an American might say, “I have never gotten caught” whereas the British would say, “I have never got caught.” Americans use both got and gotten in the past participle. the British only use got.

Don’t worry too much about these small differences in the past forms of irregular verbs. People in both countries can easily understand both ways, although the British tend to think of the American way as incorrect.

Tag questions

A tag question is a grammatical form that turns a statement into a question. For example, “The whole situation is unfortunate, isn’t it?” or, “You don’t like him, do you?”

The tag includes a pronoun and its matching form of the verb be, have or do. Tag questions encourage people to respond and agree with the speaker. Americans use tag questions, too, but less often than British.

Spelling

There are hundreds of minor spelling differences between British and American English. You can thank American lexicographer Noah Webster for this. You might recognize Webster’s name from the dictionary that carries his name.

Noah Webster, an author, politician, and teacher, started an effort to reform English spelling in the late 1700s.

He was frustrated by the inconsistencies in English spelling. Webster wanted to spell words the way they sounded. Spelling reform was also a way for America to show its independence from England.

You can see Webster’s legacy in the American spelling of words like color (from colour), honor (from honour), and labor (from labour). Webster dropped the letter u from these words to make the spelling match the pronunciation.

Other Webster ideas failed, like a proposal to spell women as wimmen. Since Webster’s death in 1843, attempts to change spelling rules in American English have gone nowhere.

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Not so different after all

British and American English have far more similarities than differences. We think the difference between American and British English is often exaggerated. If you can understand one style, you should be able to understand the other style.

With the exception of some regional dialects, most British and Americans can understand each other without too much difficulty. They watch each other’s TV shows, sing each other’s songs, and read each other’s books.

I hope that this article was helpful with your studies.

Good luck and good studying.

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