British and American English: Difference between revisions

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British English and American English have numerous differences in the areas of vocabulary, spelling, and phonology. This article compares standard British, which includes the accent known as Received Pronunciation, or RP, and standard American speech, in this case using Midland American English, which is usually perceived to be the least marked American dialect. Grammatical and lexical differences between British and American English are, for the most part, common to all dialects, but there are many regional differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, usage and slang, some subtle, some glaring, some rendering a sentence incomprehensible to a speaker of another variant.

American and British English both diverged from a common ancestor, and the evolution of each language is tied to social and cultural factors in each land. Cultural factors can affect one's understanding and enjoyment of language; consider the effect that slang and double entendre have on humour. A joke is simply not funny if the pun upon which it is based can't be understood because the word, expression or cultural icon upon which it is based does not exist in one's variant of English.

But it is not only humour that is affected. Items of cultural relevance change the way English is expressed locally. A person can say "I was late, so I Akii-Bua'd (from John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler) and be understood all over East Africa, but receive blank stares in Australia. Even if the meaning is guessed from context, the nuance is not grasped; there is no resonance of understanding. English is a flexible and quickly-evolving language; it simply absorbs and includes words and expressions for which there is no current English equivalent; these become part of the regional English. American English has hundreds of loan words acquired from its immigrants: these can eventually find their way into widespread use, (spaghetti, mañana), or they can be restricted to the areas in which immigrant populations live. So there can be variances between the English spoken in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. Thanks to Asian immigration, a working-class Londoner asks for a cuppa cha and receives the tea he requested. This would probably be understood in Kampala and New Delhi as well, but not necessarily in Boise, Idaho.

Cultural exchange also has an impact on language. For example, it is possible to see a certain amount of Americanization in the British English of the last 50 years. This influence is not entirely one-directional, though, as, for instance, the previously British English 'flat' for 'apartment' has gained in usage among American twenty-somethings. Similarly the American pronunciation of 'aunt' has changed during the last two decades, and it is considered classier to pronounce 'aunt' in the Commonwealth manner, even for speakers who continue to rhyme 'can't' and 'shan't' with 'ant'. Australian English is based on the language of the Commonwealth, but has also blended indigenous, immigrant and American imports.

Applying these same phenomena to the rest of the English-speaking world, and it becomes clear that though the "official" differences between Commonwealth and American English can be more or less delineated, the English language can still vary greatly from place to place.

Vocabulary

British American
abseil rappel
anticlockwise counterclockwise
aubergine egg plant
autumn fall, autumn
barrister [courtroom representation] lawyer
beetroot beet
behove behoove
bill bill, check
bonnet hood
boot [of a car] trunk
braces suspenders
brackets (round brackets) parentheses
break [school] recess
caravan trailer[1]
car-park parking lot
chemist drugstore
chips (chipped potatoes) French fries [2]
cinema movie theatre
claret Bordeaux (wine)
cockerel, cock rooster
coffin coffin, casket [death]
cornflour cornstarch
cotton [sewing] thread
courgette zucchini
crisps (potato crisps) chips (potato chips)
crossroads intersection
curriculum vitae (CV) résumé
curtains drapes, draperies, curtains
dishcloth, tea towel dishcloth, dishrag
draughts [board game] checkers
drawing room [mostly obsolete: class connotations] living room
dual carriageway divided highway, freeway, Interstate
dustbin trash can, garbage can
dustman garbage collector, garbageman
eiderdown comforter
estate agent real estate agent, realtor
estate car, estate wagon station wagon
film movie [3]
flat flat, apartment[4]
fortnight, two weeks, fortnightly two weeks, bi-weekly
football (Association football), soccer soccer
foyer lobby
full stop period
garden yard
geyser water heater
give way [road sign] yield
grill broil
guard’s van caboose
High Street[5] Main Street
hire rent
hock Rhine wine (white)
holiday vacation
hoover vacuum cleaner
ironmonger, ironmongery hardware dealer, hardware
jumper sweater
knickers panties
lift elevator
lend loan (as a verb)
lorry[6] truck
main subject [in education] major
maize corn [one type]
make redundant lay off
marrow squash
maths math
motorway Interstate, divided highway, freeway
mud guard fender [of a bike]
nappy diaper
nought[7] zero[8], cipher
noughts and crosses tic-tac-toe
off-licence liquor store
pants, underpants underwear, underpants
pavement sidewalk
petrol(eum) gasoline, gas
plane (aeroplane) plane (airplane)
plaster (sticking plaster) Band-Aid™, adhesive bandage
primary school elementary school
queue, queue up stand in line, wait in line
railway railway, railroad
road road, pavement
rubber[9] eraser
rubbish trash, garbage
rug blanket
rusticated, sent down expelled, kicked out (of school)
sacked fired
saloon sedan
silencer [car] muffler
skip dumpster
solicitor [mainly deskwork; cf barrister] lawyer
spanner wrench
subsidiary subject, secondary subject [in education] minor
subway pedestrian tunnel
swede [vegetable] turnip, rutabaga [depending on region]
sweets candy
sweetshop candy store
tap [water] faucet
tarmac(adam) tar
tea [sometimes] supper, dinner
tick [box in writing] check
tiffin[10] lunch, luncheon
timber lumber
tin can
tomato sauce, ketchup ketchup[11]
torch [with a battery] flashlight
trainers sneakers
treacle molasses
trousers trousers, pants
underground (railway) subway
vest undershirt
waistcoat vest
wallet pocket-book
windscreen windshield
wing fender [of a car]
wood louse pill bug
year, form[12] [school] grade[13]
Z [unofficially 'zed'] zee

Usage

  • The expression 'I guess', meaning 'I think', common in American English, is not used in British English.[14]
  • In British, one goes 'to hospital' or 'to university'; in American, one goes 'to the hospital' or 'to the university'. However, one goes 'to college' in both.
  • American English generally prefers the singular for collective nouns: 'the government is considering' where British has 'the government are...' Thus, while 'the United States is topping the medals table', 'England are losing another Test Match'.
  • Toss and flip: in British English, one tosses a coin, but in American, it is usually flipped.
  • In British, an ass (rarely used nowadays) is a donkey or a fool; in American it is used instead of 'arse'.
  • In British, mad means crazy; in American angry.
  • In British, to wash up, or to do the washing up, is to do the dishes; in American however it is to wash oneself, where British English would say to wash one's face or have a wash.
  • What Americans call public schools are in Britain 'state schools', because 'public school' is the British term for a traditional fee-paying upper-class private school, of which Eton is the most famous example.
  • 'Uptown' and 'downtown' are not widely used outside America. In British English, the former is rendered variously as 'in the suburbs' or 'on the outskirts', 'suburban' or 'residential', whichever is most appropriate. 'Downtown' is the city or town centre.

Spelling

There are a number of spelling differences, some systemic (most notably in suffixes), and others in individual words.

Suffixes

The most striking differences between the spelling of American English and British English are in these suffixes (the accents, which are not used in English, show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings for a table and English phonemes for a comparison with the International Phonetic Alphabet):

British - American -
-ence defénce -ense defénse
lîcence noun[15] lîcense
offénce offénse[16]
l + l + suffix dîalling -l + suffix dîaling
trávelled tráveled
màrvellous màrvelous[17]
-l fulfíl -ll fulfíll
enrôl enrôll
instål inståll
instíl instíll
-ógue cátalogue -óg cátalog
dîalogue dîalog
démagogue démagog
-our clámour -or clámor
còlour còlor
fâvour fâvor
flâvour flâvor
harbour harbor
hónour hónor
lâbour lâbor
ráncour ráncor
(Many words, however, have -or in both: dóctor, asséssor, sqùalor.)
-p + suffix kídnapping -pp + suffix kídnáping
wörshípped wörshíped
-re céntre[18] -er cénter
mêtre length mêter
manoeûvre maneûver (also no o)
ôchre (ch as k) ôcher (ch as k)
scéptre scépter
thêatre thêater
(But in both, mêter machine, not distance, eûchre *yûker)
-tt + suffix carburétted -t + suffix carburéted

-ise and -ize

Spellings with -ise are common in British English, but -ize has been for centuries the standard spelling of Oxford University Press (in contrast to Cambridge UP which uses -ise) and there is some evidence to suggest that the -ise variant predominated in the UK only after 1945; thus, a spelling such as 'realize' is not a good example of an 'American' spelling. The typical 'British' spelling reflects the French spelling from which these words were borrowed, though many originally came from Greek -ιζειν (-izein, with a zeta) via Latin. Some words, such as 'advertise', can supposedly only be spelt with -s- regardless of which side of the Atlantic they are used; however, spellings such as 'advertize' are readily found nowadays.

ae and oe become e

In Latin and Greek words where British has ae or oe, American English usually has a solitary e: aesthétic becomes esthétic and foêtus becomes fêtus.

Other spellings

Other individual spelling variations are:

British American
ádze ádz
alumínium alûminum[19]
ánalyse ánalyze
áxe áx
chéque money chéck all meanings
connéxion, connéction connéction only (cf. compléxion in both)
côsy côzy
diaérisis (both *dî-érisis) diérisis
dràught cold, net, liquids, game, horse dráft all meanings
ër üh
fíllet fílet
furŏrê fûrŏr[20]
grèy grây
jeŵellery jeŵelry
júdgement júdgment[21]
largésse *larzhéss can also be largéss
mîc microphone mîke (both = Mîke Michael)
môuld môld
moustàche mústache[22]
múm mother móm[23]
ómelette ómelet
páralyse páralyze
plòugh plòw
práctíse verb (British English noun is práctíce) práctíce: American English uses only práctíce, reflecting the pronunciation (not -î-).
prôgramme arts[24] prógram
pyjàmas pajàmas
refléxion, refléction refléction only (cf. compléxion in both)
roûble rûble
scéptical sképtical[25]
skílful skíllful
súlphur, súlphate, súlphide súlfur, súlfate, súlfide
tŷre car tîre car, tired
wílful wíllful

Also: dôve is an American alternative to dîved as past tense of dîve, with the same spelling as the bird dòve; matinée (pronounced mátinèe) normally has a written é accent in British English but no accent in American English.

The spelling dísc is preferred in Britain, while American prefers dísk, mainly confining the -c spelling to musical recordings. [1]

Initial capital letters

'Champagne' and 'Cointreau' have initial capitals in American English, as they are proprietary names; in British they both normally begin with a lower-case letter.

Pronunciation

The pronunciations discussed here are standard British (also called Received Pronunciation), which is associated with London and the Home Counties, and General American, heard in much of the United States and Canada.

Postvocalic r

Most strikingly, ‘postvocalic’ r, that is to say r after a vowel and in the same syllable, is silent in British English, but pronounced in American English, in words like fàrm, càrve, cürve, swërve, fïrst, nŏrth, cŏrd, bïrth, ëarth. For some speakers of both, it is heard finally before a vowel in the next word: 'My car isn't ready' ('rizzent') and even an invisible r can be heard: 'relations between China(r)and Russia'; this however is less common in British English than it used to be.

An r between two vowels can have an effect on the first vowel: márry can sound like Mãry. The e in véry can sound like a stressed schwa. British English has ór before a vowel but American English always has ŏr: British English órifice, órigin, fóreign, American English ŏrifice, ŏrigin, fŏreign.

A word like móral can in American English sound like *mŏrrl. British English úr is American English ür: British English coúrage, cúrrency American English coürage, cürrency and British English òr is similarly altered: British English wòrry American English wörry.

a

British English à is very often in American English a long á: cán’t, lást, fást, hálf, ráther, láther. But not in fàther, Coloràdo, Chicàgo (Sh-), pajàmas (British English pyjàmas) nor before r: fàrm, stàrve nor before -lm: càlm, pàlm, bàlm. And in some place names where British English has á, à is preferred by many Americans: one hears Milàn, Vietnàm, Ugànda and Ànkara.

The suffix -ary has a silent a in traditional British English, but in American English it is sounded as é: díctionary, vocábulary (*dícshənéry, vəcábyəléry). Indeed, featuring as it does in so much in pop music, the American English sound has become increasingly common in British English, and this is also the sound of both varieties in the equivalent adverbs: necessarily (*néssəssérily). Similarly in British English labóratory American English láboratŏry one o is stressed, rendering the other redundant: British English *labóratry, American English *lábratŏry. Similarly cátegŏry, perémptŏry in American English, and also céremôny, álimôny and ácrimôny where British English has o as schwa. However, both varieties have a schwa sound for the a when the preceding syllable is the stressed one: suppleméntary (*súpləméntəry), compliméntary (*compləméntəry).

British English åu and åw are American English àu and àw: British English åwful, låw, cåught, American English àwful, làw, càught, but British English American English wår, American English wårrior British English ẁarrior. British English ŏught and is American English *ót or *àt; similarly with cåught, bŏught, fŏught and other words with this ending (see English spellings, Retroalphabetical List).

Short o

The [ɒ] (ó) vowel in British English hot does not exist for the vast majority of American English speakers, as it developed following the establishment of colonies in the New World (Australians do use it, since Australia was colonised later). American English may employ a variety of vowels in this position, depending on the phonological context and the speaker's regional background - [ɔ], [ɑ] or others in roughly the same area of the mouth, low and towards the back. They also make distinctions through the use of r, which for British English speakers are homophonous: court and caught both use [ɔː], whereas American English speakers pronounce the r in the former: [kɔɹt] and [kɔt], for example. So also, American hót sounds like British heàrt.

wh-

In words beginning wh- (apart from who, which is pronounced *hoô in both varieties) the h is ignored in British English but sounded before the w in American English, so that whén and whístle are pronounced *hwén and *hwíssle.

-ile

The suffix -île in British English is usually schwa in American English so that vólatîle becomes *vólatle, stérîle *stérral, frágîle *frájle and míssîle *míssle, sounding like míssal prayers.

-duce

The suffix -dûce, as in redûce, indûce, prodûce verb and próduce noun is dyoôss or -joôss in British English but -doôss in American English.

-age

In three similar words from French, where British English has an anglicised version, American English prefers to keep the French model, so á in the first syllable cedes its stress to the suffix -àge (this is not to be confused with the cockney pronunciation of 'garage' as 'garridge', for example):

British American
bárràge (-àzh) barràge (*bəràzh)
gáràge (-àzh) garàge (*gəràzh)
mássàge (-àzh) massàge (*məssàzh)

-t- and -d- between vowels

In American English -t- and -d- between vowels, of which the first vowel is stressed, are voiced and sound like -d-, though actually the sound is a [ɾ] (a 'tap' or 'flap', i.e. a very rapid contact just behind the top front teeth): lâter, *lâ[ɾ]er, bútter, *bú[ɾ]er, lítter, *lí[ɾ]er, shoôting, *shoô[ɾ]ing; British English speakers keep these as -t- or -d-. In American English twénty, -t- blends with the n and disappears altogether. The 'flap' often appears as the Scottish English pronunciation of /r/. British English speakers often partially or completely 'glottalise' -t- where American English speakers produce a flap. This glottal stop [ʔ] is common in London English, for example: bu[ʔ]er 'butter'. It also often replaces /t/ at the end of a syllable: ca[ʔ] 'cat'. The glottal stop, which is formed by the vocal cords briefly coming together to restrict airflow, is not a phoneme of English and so speakers will usually identify it as a variant of -t-.

-euse

This ending has two pronunciations in American English: in words such as American English masseûse, the final e can also be sounded: chanteûsê. British English has only the French-style massëuse, rhyming with the masculine plural form massëurs.

Other pronunciations

Other individual differences are as follows (= means that the pronunciation is the same):

British American
accòmplice accómplice
accòmplish accómplish
addréss áddress
ádult adúlt
advërtísement ádvertîsement (cf. ádvertise in both)
alumínium alûminum (different spelling, too)
Al-Qàêda (-Kŷda, or stress on ê) Al-Qâeda
ámateur (eur as schwa: ámətə) ámateur also; or various more phonetic variants, typically ámateûr (*ámatyure)
ámbergrìs ámbergrís
amen *à-mén *â-mén
ántì- ántî-
ápparâtus (either stressed) apparátus
áristocrat arístocrat
ásthma (*ássma) *ázma
àunt áunt uncle (= ánt insect)
authóritative authŏritâtive
Baghdád Bághdad
báton batón
Bërnard Bernàrd, generally, although not always[26]
bêta bèta
bòrough (*búrə) bòrôugh town (= búrrow ground)
càdre (-der) càdrè
cándidate (-ət) cándidâte
capíllary (kəp-) cápillãry
Caribbêan (*Cárri-bêən) Caríbbêan (-bêən)
Cécil (*Séssle) Cêcil (*Sêazle)
cérebral cerêbral
chágrín (sh-) chagrìn (*shəgrêen)
charàde (sh-) charâde (sh-)
cigarétte cígarette
clìchè clichè (where the American is closer to the French; the French accent may be written: cliché)
cómplex compléx
cómbatant combátant
cómrâde cómráde
córrugate cörrugate
coyôtê *kîôte
dâta dáta
Dâvíes (= Dâvis) Dâvìês (-êez)
débris (*débrêe or dâybrêe) *dəbrêe; the French accent may be written: débris
depot American English dêpo, British English déppo
derby (à) dërby
defénce dêfense (this pronunciation is for sport only, but always the different spelling)
dêtail detâil
dôcîle dócile (*dóssle)
dýnasty dŷnasty
económic, -al, -s (ê-) (é-)
Edinburgh (-brə) (-bórô)
eîther êither
entreprenëur entrepreneûr (both ón-)
êra éra (= British English érror)
erâse (-z) erâse (-s)
ërr érr (= American English ãir)
évidently evidéntly
explêtive éxpletive
fålcon fálcon
fígure (*fígə) (can be *fígyùr)
fíllet rhymes with bíllet, t pronounced *filây (after French)
furŏrê fûror (different spelling, too)
gàla gâla
génuíne génuîne
gêyser water (= gêezer man) geŷser
grimâce grímace
hárass haráss
hegémony (híg-) hégemôny (héj-)
hërb *ërb
húrricane (a as schwa: -cən) hürricâne
ídyll idyllic îdyll = îdle lazy = îdol god
improvisâtion (o as schwa, -əvî-) improvisâtion (-óví-)
inquîry = enquîry ínquiry = enquiry (*ínkwəry)
îron (*îən) (*îrən or *îərn)
jágûar (*jágyûə) jáguàr (*jágwàr)
kílomêtre kilómeter (different spelling, too)
Kósovo Kôsovo
labóratory láboratŏry
Lébanon (-ən) Lébanón
léisure lêisure
lêver léver
lieuténant (léft-) (lût-)
massëuse (after French) masseûse
Maurice (= Mórris) Maurìce (*Mərìs, after French)
mãyor town (= mãre horse) mâyor
médicine (*médsən) (*médísən)
moôg *môag (can be capital M in both)
Móscôw can be Móscòw
moustàche (*məstàsh) mústache (*mústásh, also different spelling)
múltì- múltî-
Mùslim Múslim
nåusea (-zìə) (-shə)
neîther nêither
nónchalant (ch as sh) *nonshalàn
óccult occúlt
offénce óffense (sport only, but always)
paêdo- pédo- (different spelling, too)
páprika paprìka
partisán (-zán) pàrtisan (-zən)
pâtent pátent
pátronize, -ise pâtronize, -ise
përfume perfûme
prêdecessor prédecessor
prémier government premìêr (= premìêre)
prémiére performance premìêre (= premìêr)
prívacy prîvacy (but prîvate in both)
prôcess prócess
prôgress noun prógress noun: progréss verb in both
Pûerto Rìco (Pŏr-) Puérto Rìco (Pwãir-)
qùadruplet (second u as schwa) quadrûplet (similarly with quínt- etc.)
râbid rábid
récŏrd noun (rhyming with cŏrd) récord (o as schwa: -kərd)
renâissànce rénaissànce
resëarch rêsëarch
resŏurce rêsource
réspîte réspíte
roûte journey (= roôt plant) ròute (= ròut victory)
sálon salón
sándwich (-ídge) (-ích)
scenàrio scenãrio
schédule (shé-) (ské-)
simultâneous (sí-) (sî-)
spínach (-ídge) (-ích)
stâtus státus
stràta strâta (= British English strâighter)
stràtum strâtum
thòrough (*thúrə) thòrôugh
tomàto tomâto [cf. potâto in both, ‘potàto’ being an invention of Cole Porter]
tournament British English tŏrnament, American English türnament
tourniquet British English toûrnikây, American English türnikit
ván Gógh (*Góff = Góugh) ván Gôgh (= gô come)
vàse (*vàhz) vâse (*vâce, rhyming with báse, or *vâze, rhyming with hâze)
vërmouth vermoûth
vítamin vîtamin
wåltz (-lss) wåltz as spelt
yógurt yôgurt

Notes

  1. Only with the meaning 'towed dwelling'; otherwise 'caravan' is used in American English.
  2. Though strictly, these are two different shapes, chips being broader than fries.
  3. ‘Movie’ is nowadays normal in British English when discussing Hollywood.
  4. Increasingly heard in British English; in San Francisco, California, at least, a city of small, shared buildings, both "flat" and "apartment" are used, mostly interchangeably. Purists, however, distinguish between the two: an "apartment" is in a building that has a shared main entrance; a "flat" has its own outside entrance door.
  5. In a sentence, High Street requires a definite article: in the High Street, cf. on Main Street. One can also put the name of the town before it, unlike with Main Street: Bromley High Street.
  6. British trucks are traditionally small, and pulled, typically on rails.
  7. Pronounced exactly like 'naught', which means 'nothing' in a few phrases: 'I shall stop at naught'.
  8. Sometimes used in British English in scientific contexts.
  9. A pitfall for British visitors to America, where 'rubber' is a vulgar term for a condom.
  10. Used in India.
  11. In American English, 'tomato sauce' refers to any kind but ketchup.
  12. Add ten or eleven to the number of the form or year to get an approximation of a child's age: thus, third formers are thirteen to fourteen-year-olds
  13. Add five to the number of the grade to get an approximation of a child's age: thus, fifth graders are mostly ten-year-olds
  14. "If any one were asked to give an Americanism without a moment's delay, he would be more likely than not to mention I guess. Inquiry into it would at once bear out the American contention that what we are often rude enough to call their vulgarisms are in fact good old English. I guess is a favourite expression of Chaucer's...But although it is good old English, it is not good new English" (The King's English by H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler, Oxford University Press Third edition 1931, p 33.)
  15. lîcense is the verb in British English, cf. licensêe in both. Mostly -ence is used in both, as with fénce; but sénse, dénse and suspénse in both.
  16. In American sporting contexts, one may hear óffénse and dêfénse.
  17. but British English wílful American English wílful or wíllful
  18. And so in other forms: British English céntred, American English céntered.
  19. Also pronounced differently: ['æləmɪnjəm] in British English, [ə'lu:mɪnəm] in American.
  20. Also pronounced differently: [fjʊ'rɔri] in British English, ['fʊrɔr] in American.
  21. Also British legal use.
  22. Also pronounced differently: [mə'stɑʃ] in British English, ['mʌstæʃ] in American.
  23. Also pronounced differently: though it sounds much like múm to British ears, it is actually *màhm, as American ó = à. Hóckey múm in British English has two different stressed vowels, while in American, hóckey móm has a third repeated.
  24. prôgram computer is also British English, but usually -grám in both: grám, dîagram, càrdiogram.
  25. The k spelling is of course more logical, cf. scêne view (= sêen see), scént smell (= sént send).
  26. St. Bernard's, a prominent, and exclusive, school for boys in New York City is pronounced in the British fashion.

See also