British English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom.- American
English (AmE) is
the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the
United States.
Written forms of British and American English as found in
newspapers and textbooks vary little in their essential features, with only
occasional noticeable differences in comparable media[1] (comparing American newspapers with
British newspapers, for example). This kind of formal English, particularly
written English, is often called "standard English".[2][3]
The spoken forms of British English vary considerably,
reflecting a long history of dialect development amid isolated populations. In
the United Kingdom, dialects, word use and accents vary not only between England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but also within them. Received Pronunciation (RP) refers to a way of pronouncing Standard English that is actually used by about two
percent of the UK population.[4] It remains the accent upon which
dictionary pronunciation guides are based, and for teaching English as a
foreign language. It is referred to colloquially as "the Queen's
English", "Oxford English" and "BBC English", although
by no means all who live in Oxford speak with such accent and the BBC does not
require or use it exclusively.[5]
An unofficial standard for spoken American English has
also developed, as a result of mass media and geographic and social mobility, and broadly describes the English
typically heard from network newscasters, commonly referred to as non-regional diction, although local newscasters tend toward more parochial forms of speech.[6] Despite this unofficial standard,
regional variations of American English have not only persisted but have
actually intensified, according to linguist William
Labov Regional
dialects in the United States typically reflect some 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, Southern, Midland, and Western.[7] After the American Civil War, the settlement of the western
territories by migrants from the east led to dialect mixing and levelling, so
that regional dialects are most strongly differentiated in the eastern parts of
the country that were settled earlier. Localized dialects also exist with quite
distinct variations, such as in Southern Appalachia and New York.
British and American English are the reference norms for
English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world. For instance
member nations of the Commonwealth where English is not spoken natively,
such as India, often closely follow British English forms, while many American
English usages are followed in other countries which have been historically
influenced by the United States, such as the Philippines. Although most
dialects of English used in the former British
Empire outside of
North America and Australia are, to various extents, based on British English,
most of the countries concerned have developed their own unique dialects, particularly
with respect to pronunciation, idioms and vocabulary. Chief among other
English dialects are Canadian
English (based on the
English of United Empire Loyalists who left the 13 Colonies),[8] and Australian English, which rank third and fourth in number of native speakers.
For the most part American vocabulary, phonology and
syntax are used, to various extents, in Canada; therefore many prefer to refer
to North American English rather than American English.[9] Nonetheless Canadian English also
features many British English items and is often described as a unique blend of
the two larger varieties alongside several distinctive Canadianisms. Australian
English likewise blends American and British alongside native usages, but
retains a significantly higher degree of distinctiveness from both of the
larger varieties than does Canadian English, particularly in terms of
pronunciation and vocabulary.
Historical background
The English
language was first
introduced to the Americas by British colonization, beginning in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia. Similarly, the language spread to numerous
other parts of the world as a result of British trade and colonization
elsewhere and the spread of the former British
Empire, which, by
1921, held sway over a population of 470–570 million people, approximately a
quarter of the world's population at that time.
Over the past 400 years the form of the language used in
the Americas—especially in the United States—and that used in the United Kingdom
have diverged in a few minor ways, leading to the versions now occasionally
referred to as American English and British English. Differences between the
two include pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling, punctuation, idioms, formatting of dates and numbers, although the differences in written
and most spoken grammar structure tend to be much less than those of other
aspects of the language in terms of mutual intelligibility. A small number of
words have completely different meanings in the two versions or are even
unknown or not used in one of the versions. One particular contribution towards
formalizing these differences came from Noah
Webster, who wrote the
first American dictionary (published 1828) with the intention of
showing that people in the United States spoke a different dialect from
Britain, much like a regional accent.
This divergence between American English and British
English has provided opportunities for humorous comment, e.g. George Bernard Shaw said that the United States and United
Kingdom are "two countries divided by a common language";[10] and Oscar
Wilde wrote "We
have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the
language" (The Canterville Ghost, 1888). Henry
Sweet incorrectly
predicted in 1877 that within a century American English, Australian English
and British English would be mutually unintelligible. It may be the case that
increased worldwide communication through radio, television, the Internet and globalization has reduced the tendency of regional
variation. This can result either in some variations becoming extinct (for
instance, the wireless, being progressively superseded by the radio) or in the
acceptance of wide variations as "perfectly good English" everywhere.
Often at the core of the dialect though, the idiosyncrasies remain.
Although spoken American and British English are
generally mutually intelligible, there are occasional differences which might
cause embarrassment—for example, in American English a rubber is usually
interpreted as a condom rather than an eraser; and a British fanny refers to
the female pubic area, while the American fanny refers to an ass (US) or an
arse (UK).
Grammar
Nouns
Formal and notional agreement
In BrE, collective nouns can take either singular (formal agreement) or plural (notional agreement) verb forms, according to whether the
emphasis is on the body as a whole or on the individual members respectively; compare
a committee was appointed with the committee were unable to agree.[11][12] The term the Government always takes a
plural verb in British civil service convention, perhaps to emphasize the
principle of cabinet collective responsibility.[13] Compare also the following lines of Elvis Costello's song "Oliver's Army": Oliver's Army are on their way
/ Oliver's Army is here to stay. Some of these nouns, for example staff,[14]
actually combine with plural verbs most of the time.
In AmE, collective nouns are almost always singular in
construction: the committee was unable to agree. However, when a speaker wishes
to emphasize that the individuals are acting separately, a plural pronoun may
be employed with a singular or plural verb: the team takes their seats or the
team take their seats, rather than the team takes its seats. However, such a
sentence would most likely be recast as the team members take their seats.[15] Despite exceptions such as usage in
The New York Times, the names of sports teams are usually treated as plurals
even if the form of the name is singular.[16]
The difference occurs for all nouns of multitude, both
general terms such as team and company and proper nouns (for example where a
place name is used to refer to a sports team). For instance,
BrE: The
Clash are a
well-known band; AmE: The Clash is a well-known band.
BrE: Spain are the champions; AmE: Spain is the champion.
BrE: Spain are the champions; AmE: Spain is the champion.
Proper nouns that are plural in form take a plural verb
in both AmE and BrE; for example, The
Beatles are a
well-known band; The Saints are the champions, with one major
exception: largely for historical reasons, in American English, the United
States is is almost universal. This is due to the growth in federal control
over state governments following the American Civil War (cf. the inclusion of the term
"indivisible" in the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag); before
this, the construction "the United States are" was more common.[17]
Verbs
Verb morphology
- The past
tense and past participle of the verbs learn, spoil, spell, burn, dream,
smell, spill, leap, and others, can be either irregular (learnt, spoilt,
etc.) or regular (learned, spoiled, etc.). In BrE, both irregular and
regular forms are current, but for some words (such as smelt and leapt)
there is a strong tendency towards the irregular forms, especially by
users of Received Pronunciation. For other words (such as
dreamed, leaned, and learned[18])
the regular forms are somewhat more common. In most accents of AmE, the
irregular forms are never or rarely used (except for burnt, leapt and
dreamt).[19]
The t endings may be encountered frequently in older American texts. Usage may vary when the past participles are used as adjectives, as in burnt toast. (The two-syllable form learnèd /ˈlÉœrnɪd/, usually written without the grave, is used as an adjective to mean "educated" or to refer to academic institutions in both BrE and AmE.) Finally, the past tense and past participle of dwell and kneel are more commonly dwelt and knelt in both standards, with dwelled and kneeled as common variants in the US but not in the UK. - Lit as the
past tense of light is more common than lighted in the UK; American
English uses lit to mean "set afire" / "kindled" /
"made to emit light" but lighted to mean "cast light
upon" (e.g., "The stagehand lighted the set and then lit a
cigarette.").[20] Conversely, British English favours fitted as the
past tense of fit generally, whereas the preference of American English is
more complex: AmEng prefers fitted for the metaphorical sense of having
made an object [adjective-]"fit" (i.e., suited) for a purpose;
in spatial transitive contexts, AmEng uses fitted for the sense of having
made an object conform to an unchanged object that it surrounds (e.g.,
"fitted X around Y") but fit for the sense of having made an
object conform to an unchanged object that surrounds it (e.g.,
"fit[-past] X into Y"); and for the spatial senses (both
intransitive and transitive) of having been matching with respect to
contour, with no alteration of either object implied, AmEng prefers fit
("The clothes [past-]fit."; "The clothes [past-]fit me
well.").[21]
- The past
tense of spit "expectorate" is spat in BrE, spit or spat in AmE.[22] AmE typically has spat in figurative contexts, for
example, "He spat out the name with a sneer", or in the context
of expectoration of an object that is not saliva, for example, "He
spat out the foul-tasting fish" but spit for "expectorated"
when it refers only to the expulsion of phlegm or saliva.
- The past
participle of saw is normally sawn in BrE and sawed in AmE (as in
sawn-off/sawed-off shotgun).[23]
- The past
participle gotten is never used in modern BrE (apart from in the dialects
of North-Eastern and Western England), which generally uses got, except in
old expressions such as ill-gotten gains. According to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, "The form gotten is not
used in British English but is very common in North American
English." The American dictionary Merriam-Webster, however, lists
"gotten" as a standard past participle of "get." In
AmE gotten emphasizes the action of acquiring and got tends to indicate
simple possession (for example, Have you gotten it? versus Have you got
it?). Gotten is also typically used in AmE as the past participle for phrasal verbs using get, such as get off, get on, get into, get
up, and get around: If you hadn't gotten up so late, you might not have
gotten into this mess. Interestingly, AmE, but not BrE, has forgot as a
less common alternative to forgotten for the past participle of forget.
- In BrE,
the past participle proved is strongly preferred to proven; in AmE, proven
is now about as common as proved.[24] (Both dialects use proven as an adjective, and in
formulas such as not proven).[25]
- AmE
further allows other irregular verbs, such as dive (dove)[26][27] or sneak (snuck),[28][29] and often mixes the preterite and past participle forms (spring–sprang, US also
sprung–sprung),[30][31] sometimes forcing verbs such as shrink (shrank–shrunk)
to have a further form, thus shrunk–shrunken.[32][33] These uses are often considered nonstandard; the AP Stylebook in AmE treats some irregular verbs as
colloquialisms, insisting on the regular forms for the past tense of dive,
plead and sneak. Dove and snuck are usually considered nonstandard in
Britain, although dove exists in some British dialects and snuck is
occasionally found in British speech.
- By
extension of the irregular verb pattern, verbs with irregular preterits in
some variants of colloquial AmE also have a separate past participle, for
example, "to buy": past tense bought spawns boughten. Such
formations are highly irregular from speaker to speaker, or even within idiolects. This phenomenon is found chiefly
in the northern US and other areas where immigrants of German descent are
predominant and may have developed as a result of German influence.[34] Even in areas where the feature predominates,
however, it has not gained widespread acceptance as standard usage.
Use of tenses
- Traditionally,
BrE uses the present perfect to talk about an event in the recent past and with
the words already, just and yet. In American usage these meanings can be
expressed with the present perfect (to express a fact[citation needed])
or the simple past (to imply an expectation[citation needed]). This American style has become
widespread only in the past 20 to 30 years; the British style is still in
common use as well. Recently the American use of just with simple past has
made inroads into BrE, most visibly in advertising slogans and headlines
such as "Cable broadband just got faster".
- "I
have just arrived home." / "I just arrived home."
- "I
have already eaten." / "I already ate."
- Similarly
AmE occasionally replaces the past perfect with the simple past.[citation needed]
- In BrE,
have got or have can be used for possession and have got to and have to
can be used for the modal of necessity. The forms that include got are usually used in
informal contexts and the forms without got in contexts that are more
formal. In American speech the form without got is used more than in the
UK, although the form with got is often used for emphasis. Colloquial AmE
informally uses got as a verb for these meanings—for example, I got two
cars, I got to go.
- In conditional sentences, US spoken usage often
substitutes would and would have (usually shortened to [I]'d and would've)
for the simple past and for the pluperfect (If you'd leave now, you'd be
on time. / If I would have [would've] cooked the pie we could have
[could've] had it for lunch). This tends to be avoided in writing because
it is often still considered non-standard although such use of would is
widespread in spoken US English in all sectors of society. Some reliable
sources now label this usage as acceptable US English and no longer label
it as colloquial.[35][36] (There are, of course, situations where would is
used in British English too in seemingly counterfactual conditions, but
these can usually be interpreted as a modal use of would: If you would
listen to me once in a while, you might learn something.)[37][38] In cases in which the action in the if clause takes
place after that in the main clause, use of would in counterfactual
conditions is, however, considered standard and correct usage in even
formal UK and US usage: If it would make Bill happy, I'd [I would] give
him the money.[37]
- The subjunctive mood (morphologically identical with
the bare infinitive) is regularly used in AmE in mandative clauses (as in They suggested that he
apply for the job). In BrE, this usage declined in the 20th century in
favour of constructions such as They suggested that he should apply for
the job (or even, more ambiguously, They suggested that he applied for the
job). However, the mandative subjunctive has always been used in BrE.[39]
Verbal auxiliaries
- Shall (as
opposed to will) is more commonly used by the British than by Americans.[40][41] Shan't is almost never used in AmE; rather, it is
almost invariably replaced by won't or am not going to. American grammar
also tends to ignore some traditional distinctions between should and
would;[42] however, expressions like I should be happy are
rather formal even in BrE.The periphrastic future "be going to" is about twice as frequent
in AmE as in BrE.
Transitivity
- agree:
Transitive or intransitive in BrE, usually intransitive in AmE (agree a
contract/agree to or on a contract). However, in formal AmE legal writing
one often sees constructions such as as may be agreed between the parties
(rather than as may be agreed upon between the parties).
- appeal (as
a decision): Usually intransitive in BrE (used with against) and
transitive in AmE (appeal against the decision to the Court/appeal the
decision to the Court).[44]
- catch up
("to reach and overtake"): Transitive or intransitive in BrE,
strictly intransitive in AmE (to catch sb up/to catch up with sb). A
transitive form exists in AmE, with a different meaning: to catch somebody
up means that the subject will help the object catch up, rather the opposite
of the BrE transitive meaning.
- cater
("to provide food and service"): Intransitive in BrE, transitive
or intransitive in AmE (to cater for a banquet/to cater a banquet).
- claim:
Sometimes intransitive in BrE (used with for), strictly transitive in AmE.
- meet: AmE
uses intransitively meet followed by with to mean "to have a meeting
with", as for business purposes (Yesterday we met with the CEO), and
reserves transitive meet for the meanings "to be introduced to"
(I want you to meet the CEO; she is such a fine lady), "to come
together with (someone, somewhere)" (Meet the CEO at the train
station), and "to have a casual encounter with". BrE uses
transitive meet also to mean "to have a meeting with"; the
construction meet with, which actually dates back to Middle English, appears to be coming back into use in Britain,
despite some commentators who preferred to avoid confusion with meet with
meaning "receive, undergo" (the proposal was met with
disapproval). The construction meet up with (as in to meet up with
someone), which originated in the US,[45]
has long been standard in both dialects.
- provide:
Strictly monotransitive in BrE, monotransitive or ditransitive in AmE (provide sb with
sth/provide somebody something).
- protest:
In sense "oppose", intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (The
workers protested against the decision/The workers protested the
decision). The intransitive protest against in AmE means "to hold or
participate in a demonstration against". The older sense
"proclaim" is always transitive (protest one's innocence).
- write: In
BrE, the indirect object of this verb usually requires the preposition to,
for example, I'll write to my MP or I'll write to her (although it is not
required in some situations, for example when an indirect object pronoun
comes before a direct object noun, for example, I'll write her a letter).
In AmE, write can be used monotransitively (I'll write my congressman;
I'll write him).
Complementation
- The verbs
prevent and stop can be found in two different constructions:
"prevent/stop someone from doing something" and
"prevent/stop someone doing something". The latter is well
established in BrE, but not in AmE.
- Some verbs
can take either a to+infinitive construction or a gerund construction (for example, to
start to do something/to start doing something). For example, the gerund
is more common:
Presence or absence of syntactic
elements
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- Where a
statement of intention involves two separate activities, it is acceptable
for speakers of AmE to use to go plus bare infinitive. Speakers of BrE
would instead use to go and plus bare infinitive. Thus, where a
speaker of AmE may say I'll go take a bath, BrE speakers would say I'll go
and have a bath. (Both can also use the form to go to instead to suggest
that the action may fail, as in He went to take/have a bath, but the tub
was full of children.) Similarly, to come plus bare infinitive is
acceptable to speakers of AmE, where speakers of BrE would instead use to
come and plus bare infinitive. Thus, where a speaker of AmE may say
come see what I bought, BrE speakers would say come and see what I've
bought (notice the present perfect: a common British preference).[53]
- Use of
prepositions before days denoted by a single word. Where British people
would say She resigned on Thursday, Americans often say She resigned
Thursday, but both forms are common in American usage. Occasionally the
preposition is also absent when referring to months: I'll be here December
(although this usage is generally limited to colloquial speech).
- In the UK,
from is used with single dates and times more often than in the United
States. Where British speakers and writers may say the new museum will be
open from Tuesday, Americans most likely say the new museum will be open
starting or on Tuesday. (This difference does not apply to phrases of the
pattern from A to B, which are used in both BrE and AmE.) A variation or
alternative of this is the mostly American the play opens Tuesday and the
mostly British the play opens on Tuesday.
- American legislators and lawyers always use the
preposition of between the name of a legislative act and the year it was
passed; their British compeers do not. Compare Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to Disability Discrimination Act
1995.
The definite article
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- A few
'institutional' nouns take no definite article when a certain role is implied:
for example, at sea (as a sailor), in prison (as a convict), and at/in
college (for students). Among this group, BrE has in hospital (as a patient) and at university
(as a student), where AmE requires in the hospital and at the
university (though AmE does allow in college and in school). When the
implied roles of patient or student do not apply, the definite article is
used in both dialects. However, both variations drop the definite article
with rush hour: at rush hour (BrE)/in rush hour (AmE).
- BrE
distinguishes in future ("from now on") from in the future
("at some future time"); AmE uses in the future for both senses.
- AmE omits,
and BrE requires, the definite article in a few expressions[clarification needed] such as
tell (the) time, play (the) piano.
- In BrE,
numbered highways usually take the definite article (for example "the
M25", "the A14"); in America they usually do not
("I-495", "Route 66"). Upstate New York, Southern California English and Arizona are exceptions, where
"the 33", "the 5" or "the 10" are the
standard. A similar pattern is followed for named roads (for example,
Strand in London is almost always referred to as the Strand), but in
America, there are local variations and older American highways tend to
follow the British pattern ("the Boston Post Road").
- AmE
distinguishes in back of [behind] from in the back of; the former is
unknown in the UK and liable to misinterpretation as the latter. Both,
however, distinguish in front of from in the front of.
- Dates
usually include a definite article in UK spoken English, such as "the
eleventh of July", or "July the eleventh"; American
speakers most commonly say "July eleventh" and the form
"July eleven" is now occasionally used by American speakers.
Prepositions and adverbs
- In the
United States, the word through can mean "up to and including"
as in Monday through Friday. In the UK (and for many Americans) Monday to
Friday, or Monday to Friday inclusive is used instead; Monday through to
Friday is also sometimes used. (In some parts of Northern England, mainly
Lancashire and Yorkshire, the term while can be used in the same way, as
in Monday while Friday, whereas in Ireland[citation needed]
Monday till Friday would be more natural.)
- British
sportsmen play in a team; American athletes play on a team. (Both may play
for a particular team.)
- In AmE,
the use of the function word out as a preposition in out the door and out
the window is standard to mean "out through". For example, in
AmE, one jumps "out of a boat" by jumping "out the
porthole," and it would be incorrect in standard AmE to "jump
out the boat" or climb "out of the porthole." (Although
"out of the porthole" is used in certain Northeastern American
dialects) In BrE, out of is preferred in writing for both meanings, but
out is common in speech.[54] Several other uses of out of are peculiarly British
(out of all recognition, out of the team; cf. above);[55]
all of this notwithstanding, out of is overall more frequent in AmE than
in BrE (about four times as frequent, according to Algeo[56]).
- In the New
York City area, "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. Elsewhere in AmE, one waits "in
line". Throughout AmE, going "online" (one word) refers to
using the Internet. Usage of "queue" among Americans has
increased in the last twenty years.[citation needed]
In BrE, queue is the universal term and no variants of line are used in
relation to waiting in turn. In BrE, people talk of standing in a queue,
queuing up, joining the queue, sitting in a queue (for example, when
driving) and simply queuing.
- The word
heat meaning "mating season" is used with on in the UK (Regional
Variation) and with in in the US.
- The
intransitive verb affiliate can take either with or to in BrE, but only
with, or, in the case that "affiliate" is used as a noun,
"of" (as in the phrase "Microsoft is an affiliate of my
company") in AmE.
- The verb
enrol(l) usually takes on in BrE and in in AmE (as in "to enrol(l)
on/in a course") and the on/in difference is used when enrolled is
dropped (as in "I am (enrolled) on the course that
studies....").
- In AmE,
one always speaks of the street on which an address is located, whereas in
BrE in can also be used in some contexts. In suggests an address on a city
street, so a service station (or a tourist attraction or indeed a village)
would always be on a major road, but a department store might be in Oxford Street. Moreover if a particular place on the street is
specified then the preposition used is whichever is idiomatic to the
place, thus "at the end of Churchill Road."
- BrE favours
the preposition at with weekend ("at (the) weekend(s)"); the
constructions on, over and during (the) weekend(s) are found in both
varieties but are all more common in AmE than BrE.[57] See also Word derivation and compounds.
- Adding at
to the end of a question requesting a location is common in the southern
states of the U.S, for example, "where are you at?", but is not
considered correct in standard American English and would be considered
superfluous in standard BrE (though not in some dialects). However, some
south-western British dialects use to in the same context; for example
"where are you to?", to mean "where are you".
- After talk
American can also use the preposition with but British always[citation needed]
uses to (that is, I'll talk with Dave / I'll talk to Dave). The former
form is sometimes seen as more politically correct in British organizations,
inducing the ideal of discussing (with) as opposed to lecturing (to). This
is unless talk is being used as a noun; for example: "I'll have a
talk with him" in which case this is acceptable in both BrE and AmE.
- In both
dialects, from is the preposition prescribed for use after the word
different: American English is different from British English in several
respects. However, different than is also commonly heard in the US, and is
often considered standard when followed by a clause (American English is
different than it used to be), whereas different to is a common
alternative in BrE.[58][59]
- It is
common in BrE to say opposite to as an alternative to opposite of when
used as a noun, the only form normally found in AmE. The use of opposite
as a preposition (opposite the post office) has long been established in
both dialects but appears to be more common in British usage.
- The noun
opportunity can be followed by a verb in two different ways: opportunity
plus to-infinitive ("the opportunity to do something") or
opportunity plus of plus gerund ("the opportunity of doing
something"). The first construction is the most common in both
dialects but the second has almost disappeared in AmE and is often
regarded as a Briticism.
- Both
British and Americans may say (for example) that a river is named after a
state, but "named for a state" would rightly be regarded as an
Americanism.
- BrE
sometimes uses to with near (we live near to the university); AmE avoids
the preposition in most usages dealing with literal, physical proximity
(we live near the university), although the to reappears in AmE when near
takes the comparative or superlative form, as in she lives nearer/nearest
to the deranged axe murderer's house.
- In BrE,
one rings someone on his or her telephone number; in AmE, one calls
someone at his or her telephone number.
- When
referring to the constituency of an American legislator, the preposition
"from" is usually used: "Senator from New York,"
whereas British MPs are "for" their constituency: "MP for
East Cleveland."
- In AmE,
the phrases aside from and apart from are used about equally; in BrE,
apart from is far more common.[60]
- In AmE,
the compound "off of" may be used where BrE almost always uses
"off", and "off of" is considered slang. Compare AmE
"He jumped off of the box" and BrE "He jumped off the
box".
- In AmE
absent is sometimes used as a preposition to introduce a prepositional
phrase[61]
(Absent any objections, the proposal was approved.). The equivalent in BrE
would be In the absence of any objections, the proposal was approved; this
form is also common in AmE.
Phrasal verbs
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- Influenced
by the German "ausfĂ¼llen", in the US forms are usually but not
invariably filled out but in Britain they are usually filled in. However,
in reference to individual parts of a form Americans may also use in (fill
in the blanks). In AmE the direction fill it all in (referring to the form
as a collection of blanks, perhaps) is as common as fill it all out.
- Britons
facing extortionate prices may have no option but to fork out, whereas
Americans are more likely to fork (it) over or sometimes up; however, the
out usage is found in both dialects.
- In both
countries, thugs will beat up their victim; AmE also allows beat on
(as both would for an inanimate object, such as a drum) or beat up on,
which are often considered slang.
- When an
outdoor event is postponed or interrupted by rain, it is rained off in the
UK and rained out in the US.
Miscellaneous grammatical differences
- In names
of American rivers the word river usually comes after the name (for
example, Colorado River) whereas for British rivers it comes before (as in
the River Thames). Exceptions in BrE include the Fleet River, which is rarely called the River
Fleet by Londoners outside official documentation, and also where the
river name is an adjective (the Yellow River). Exceptions in the US are the River Rouge and the River Raisin, both in Michigan and named by the French. The American convention is
used in Australia, while convention is mixed in some Commonwealth nations,
where both arrangements are often seen.
- In BrE
speech, some descriptions of offices do not become titles (Winston
Churchill, the Prime Minister and Mr Jones, the team's coach), while they
do in AmE (Prime Minister Churchill and Coach Jones).
- In BrE the
word sat is often colloquially used to cover sat, sitting, and seated:
I've been sat here waiting for half an hour. The bride's family will be
sat on the right-hand side of the church. This construction is not often
heard outside the UK. In the 1960s, its use would mark a speaker as coming
from the north of England but by the turn of the 21st century this form
had spread to the south. Its use often conveys lighthearted informality,
when many speakers intentionally use a dialect or colloquial construction
they would probably not use in formal written English. This colloquial
usage is widely understood by British speakers. Similarly stood can be
used instead of standing. To an American and still to many Britons these
usages are passive and may imply that the subject had been involuntarily
forced to sit or stand or directed to hold that location.
- In a few
areas of the Upper Midwest of the United States, the word with is also
used as an adverb: I'll come with instead of I'll come along, although it
is rarely used in writing. Come with is used as an abbreviation of come
with me, as in I'm going to the office – come with by speakers in Minnesota and parts of the adjoining
states. These parts of the United States have high concentrations of both Scandinavian and German American populations (German mitkommen). It is similar to South African English, where the expression comes from
Dutch, and is used by Afrikaans speakers when speaking English.
These contractions are rarely used by native BrE speakers.
- The word
also is used at the end of a sentence in AmE (just as as well and too are
in both dialects) but not so commonly in BrE, although it is encountered
in Northern Ireland. Additionally, the
sentence-ending as well is more formal in AmE than in BrE.
- Before
some words beginning with a pronounced (not silent) h in an unstressed
first syllable, such as hallucination, hilarious, historic(al), horrendous
and horrific, some (especially older) British writers prefer to use an
over a (an historical event, etc.).[62] An is also preferred before hotel by some writers
of BrE (probably reflecting the relatively recent adoption of the word
from French, where the h is not pronounced).[63] The use of "an" before words beginning
with an unstressed "h" is more common generally in BrE than
American.[63] Such usage would now be seen as affected or
incorrect in AmE.[64] American writers normally use a in all these cases,
although there are occasional uses of an historic(al) in AmE.[65] According to the New Oxford Dictionary of English,
such use is increasingly rare in BrE too.[62] Unlike BrE, AmE typically uses an before herb,
since the h in this word is silent for most Americans.
Word derivation and compounds
- Directional
suffix -ward(s): British forwards, towards, rightwards, etc.; American
forward, toward, rightward. In both dialects distribution varies somewhat:
afterwards, towards, and backwards are not unusual in America; while in
Britain forward is common, and standard in phrasal verbs such as look forward to. The
forms with -s may be used as adverbs (or preposition towards) but rarely
as adjectives: in Britain as in America, one says "an upward
motion". The Oxford English Dictionary in 1897 suggested a semantic
distinction for adverbs, with -wards having a more definite directional
sense than -ward; subsequent authorities such as Fowler have disputed this contention.
- AmE freely
adds the suffix -s to day, night, evening, weekend, Monday, etc. to form
adverbs denoting repeated or customary action: I used to stay out
evenings; the library is closed Saturdays. This usage has its roots in Old
English but many of these constructions are now regarded as American (for
example, the OED labels nights "now chiefly N. Amer. colloq.";
but to work nights is standard in BrE).
- In BrE,
the agentive -er suffix is commonly attached to football (also cricket; often netball; occasionally basketball). AmE
usually uses football player. Where the sport's name is usable as a verb,
the suffixation is standard in both dialects: for example, golfer, bowler (in Ten-pin bowling and in Lawn Bowls), and shooter. AmE appears sometimes to use the BrE form in
baller as slang for a basketball player, as in the video game NBA Ballers. However, this is derived from
slang use of to ball as a verb meaning to play basketball.
- English
writers everywhere occasionally (and from time immemorial) make new
compound words from common phrases; for example, health care is now being
replaced by healthcare on both sides of the Atlantic. However, AmE has
made certain words in this fashion that are still treated as phrases in
BrE.
- In compound nouns of the form
, sometimes AmE favours the - Generally
AmE has a tendency to drop inflectional suffixes, thus favouring clipped
forms: compare cookbook v. cookery book; Smith, age 40 v. Smith, aged 40;
skim milk v. skimmed milk; dollhouse v. dolls' house; barbershop v.
barber's shop.[66] This has recently been extended to appear on
professionally printed commercial signage and some boxes themselves (not
mere greengrocers' chalkboards): can vegetables and mash potatoes appear
in the US.
- Singular
attributives in one country may be plural in the other, and vice versa.
For example the UK has a drugs problem, while the United States has a drug
problem (although the singular usage is also commonly heard in the UK);
Americans read the sports section of a newspaper; the British are more likely
to read the sport section. However, BrE maths is singular, just as AmE
math is: both are abbreviations of mathematics.
Vocabulary
Most of the differences in lexis or vocabulary between
British and American English are in connection with concepts originating from
the 19th century to the mid 20th century, when new words were coined
independently.[citation needed] Almost the entire vocabularies of the car/automobile and
railway/railroad industries (see Rail terminology) are different between the UK
and US, for example. Other sources of difference are slang or vulgar terms
(where frequent new coinage occurs) and idiomatic phrases, including phrasal
verbs. The differences most likely to create confusion are those where the same
word or phrase is used for two different concepts. Regional variations, even
within the US or the UK, can create the same problems.
It is not a straightforward matter to classify
differences of vocabulary. David Crystal identifies some of the problems of
classification on the facing page to his list of American English/British
English lexical variation and states "this should be enough to suggest
caution when working through an apparently simple list of equivalents".[67]
Overview of lexical differences
Note: A lexicon is not made up of different words but
different "units of meaning" (lexical units or lexical items e.g.
"fly ball" in baseball), including idioms and figures of speech[citation needed]. This makes it
easier to compare the dialects.
Though the influence of cross-culture media has done much
to familiarize BrE and AmE speakers with each other's regional words and terms,
many words are still recognized as part of a single form of English. Though the
use of a British word would be acceptable in AmE (and vice versa), most
listeners would recognize the word as coming from the other form of English and
treat it much the same as a word borrowed from any other language. For instance
a British speaker using the word chap or mate to refer to a friend would be
heard in much the same way as an American using the Spanish word amigo.
Words and phrases that have their
origins in BrE
Most speakers of AmE are aware of some BrE terms,
although they may not generally use them or may be confused as to whether
someone intends the American or British meaning (such as for biscuit). It is
generally very easy to guess what some words, such as "driving
licence", mean. However, use of many other British words such as naff (slang but commonly used to mean "not very
good") are unheard of in American English.
Words and phrases that have their
origins in AmE
Speakers of BrE are likely to understand most common AmE
terms, examples such as "sidewalk", "gas
(gasoline/petrol)", "counterclockwise" or "elevator
(lift)", without any problem, thanks in part to considerable exposure to
American popular culture and literature. Certain terms that are heard less
frequently, especially those likely to be absent or rare in American popular
culture, e.g. "copacetic (satisfactory)", are unlikely to be
understood by most BrE speakers.
Divergence
Words and phrases with different
meanings
Words such as bill and biscuit are used regularly in both
AmE and BrE but mean different things in each form. In AmE a bill is usually
paper money (as in "dollar bill") though it can mean the same as in
BrE, an invoice (as in "the repair bill was £250"). In AmE a biscuit
is what in BrE is called a scone. In BrE a biscuit is what AmE calls a cookie.
As chronicled by Winston
Churchill, the opposite
meanings of the verb to
table created a
misunderstanding during a meeting of the Allied forces;[68] in BrE to table an item on an agenda
means to open it up for discussion whereas in AmE, it means to remove it from
discussion, or at times, to suspend or delay discussion.
The word "football" in BrE refers to Association football, also known as soccer. In AmE, "football" means American
football. However, the
standard AmE term "soccer", a contraction of "association
(football)", is also of British origin, derived from the formalization of
different codes of football in the 19th century, and was a fairly unremarkable
usage (possibly marked for class) in BrE until relatively recently; it has
lately become perceived incorrectly as an Americanism.[citation needed]
Other ambiguity (complex cases)
Words with completely
different meanings are relatively few; most of the time there are either (1) words with one
or more shared meanings and one or more meanings unique to one variety (for
example, bathroom and toilet) or (2) words the meanings of which are actually
common to both BrE and AmE but that show differences in frequency, connotation
or denotation (for example, smart, clever, mad).
Some differences in usage and/or meaning can cause
confusion or embarrassment. For example the word fanny is a slang word for vulva in BrE but means buttocks in AmE—the AmE phrase fanny pack is bum bag in BrE. In AmE the word fag
(short for faggot) is a highly offensive term for a gay
male but in BrE it is a normal and well-used term for a cigarette, for hard
work, or for a chore, while a faggot itself is a sort of meatball. In AmE the word pissed means being annoyed whereas in
BrE it is a coarse word for being drunk (in both varieties, pissed off means
irritated).
Similarly, in AmE the word pants is the common word for
the BrE trousers, while the majority of BrE speakers would understand pants to
mean underwear. Many dialects in the North
of England agree with the
AmE usage and use pants to refer to trousers; this is often incorrectly
considered an Americanism by people from elsewhere in Britain. The word pants
is a shortening of the archaic pantaloons, which shares the same source as the French for trousers, pantalon.
Sometimes the confusion is more subtle. In AmE the word
quite used as a qualifier is generally a reinforcement: for example, "I'm
quite hungry" means "I'm very hungry". In BrE quite (which is
much more common in conversation) may have this meaning, as in "quite
right" or "quite mad", but it more commonly means
"somewhat", so that in BrE "I'm quite hungry" can mean
"I'm somewhat hungry". This divergence of use can lead to
misunderstanding.
Frequency
- In the UK
the word whilst is historically acceptable as a conjunction (as an
alternative to while, especially prevalent in some dialects). In AmE only
while is used in both contexts.[citation needed]
- In the UK
generally the term fall meaning "autumn" is obsolete. Although found often from Elizabethan literature to Victorian literature, continued understanding of the
word is usually ascribed to its continued use in America.[citation needed]
- In the UK
the term period for a full stop is not used; in AmE the term full stop is rarely,
if ever, used for the punctuation mark. For example, Tony Blair said, "Terrorism is wrong,
full stop", whereas in AmE, "Terrorism is wrong, period."[69]
Speakers in both the United States and the United Kingdom
use several additional terms for specific types of secondary school. A US prep
school or preparatory school is an independent school funded by
tuition fees; the same term is used in the UK for a private school for pupils under
thirteen, designed to
prepare them for fee-paying public schools. An American parochial school covers costs through tuition and has
affiliation with a religious institution, most often a Catholic church or diocese. (Interestingly, the
term "parochial" is almost never used to describe schools run by fundamentalist Protestant groups.) In England, where the
state-funded education system grew from parish schools organized by
the local established church, the Church of England (C. of E., or C.E.), and many schools,
especially primary
schools (up to age 11)
retain a church connection and are known as church schools, C.E. Schools or C.E. (Aided) Schools.
There are also faith schools associated with the Roman Catholic Church and
other major faiths, with a mixture of funding arrangements.
Source:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_British_English- 16.05.2013
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