Comparison of American and British English
This article outlines the differences between American English, the form of the English language spoken in the United States, and British English, which for the purposes of this article is assumed to be the form of English spoken in south east England, used by the British Government and the BBC and widely understood in other parts of the United Kingdom. English usage in other countries has traditionally followed one model or the other (e.g., British English in much of the Commonwealth, American English in the Philippines). It has been speculated that regional variants of English may eventually diverge into true separate languages, but it may be the case that increased world-wide communication through television, the Internet, or globalization has reduced the tendency to regionalisation, perhaps to the point that either some variations either become extinct (e.g., "apartment" has been gradually displacing "flat" in much of the world) or the variations are accepted as "perfectly good English" everywhere.
- Note to Wikipedians: There are a vast number of resources on the net in this area, all of which are suprisingly inaccurate and incomplete, including this one. We hope the process here will lead to a more useful reference.
Spelling
Some words shared by all English speakers are spelled differently by Americans and Britons. Many of these are American "simplification" of the original spellings, often due to Noah Webster. In some cases, the American versions have found their way across the Atlantic and become common British usage as well, for example program (in the computing sense).
- Words ending in -our: British colour, favour, flavour, honour, humour, labour, savour, etc.; American color, favor, flavor, honor, etc. Also derivatives and inflected forms: British favourite, savoury; American favorite, savory.
- Words ending in -re: British centre, fibre, metre, theatre (showing an influence from French); American center, fiber, meter, theater. Britons use meter for a measuring device and metre for the unit of measure. The British forms are recognizable by Americans and occasionally found in American texts, though their usage may be considered an affectation.
- Verb past tenses with -t: British dreamt, leapt, learnt, spelt; American dreamed, leaped, learned, spelled. As with the "tre" words, these are occasionally found in American texts. The forms with -ed are also common in British English. (The two-syllable form learned is still used to mean "educated" in British English.)
- Other verb past tense forms: British fitted, forecasted, knitted, lighted, wedded; American fit, forecast, knit, lit, wed. However, lit and forecast are also the usual forms in British English. Also, the American participle gotten is never used in British English, which uses got (as do some Americans). British usage retains the forgotten form, though. Fitted is used in American as an adjective ("fitted sheets" are the same size as the mattress) and as the past tense of fit "to suffer epilepsy" ("Leavitt fitted" in The Andromeda Strain).
- Greek-derived words with ae and oe: British aeroplane, aesthetic, amoeba, anaesthesia, archaeology, diarrhoea, encyclopaedia, foetus, gynaecology, mediaeval; American airplane, esthetic, ameba, anesthesia, archeology, diarrhea, encyclopedia, fetus, gynecology, medieval. British manoeuvre seems to be a special case: its oe was not derived from Greek, but was apparently changed to maneuver in American English on the mistaken belief that it was. Some of the British forms are common in American usage as well, particularly aesthetic and amoeba.
- Words ending in -gue: British analogue, catalogue, dialogue; American analog, catalog, dialog. The -gue forms are still common in some American usages such as demagogue.
- Words ending in -ise: British colonise, harmonise, realise; American colonize, harmonize, realize. However, it is not really true that -ise is standard in British English: both the Oxford English Dictionary and Fowler's Modern English Usage prefer -ize. Derivatives and inflected forms: British realisation; American realization. Also: British analyse; American analyze.
- Words ending in -xion: British connexion, inflexion, reflexion; American connection, inflection, reflection. But the forms in -ction are the usual ones in British English too.
- Nouns of direction with -wards: British forwards, upwards, afterwards, etc.; American forward, upward, afterward. However, there is no real distinction here, as both forms are used in both dialects, except that afterward is rare in British English.
- British English generally doubles final -l when adding postfixes that begin with a vowel, where Amercian English doubles it only on stressed syllables. British counsellor, equalling, modelling, quarrelled, signalling, travelled; American counselor, equaling, modeling, quarreled, signaling, traveled. But compelled, excelling, propelled, rebelling in both. Britons sometimes use a single l before postfixes beginning with a consonant where Americans use a double: British enrolment, fulfilment, skilful; American enrollment, fulfillment, skillful.
- British English often keeps silent e when adding postfixes where American English doesn't. British ageing, judgement, routeing; American aging, judgment, routing. Arguement is found in some places (like where?), though the form argument is universal in British English.
- Nouns ending in -ce with -se verb forms: American English retains the noun/verb distinction in advice / advise (pronouncing them differently), but has lost the same distinction with licence / license and practice / practise that British English retains. American English uses "practice" exclusively for both meanings, and "license" for both meanings (although "licence" is an accepted variant spelling). Also, British defence, offence, pretence; American defense, offense, pretense.
- Miscellaneous: British aluminium, cheque, draught, gaol, jewellery, kerb, mould, plough, pyjamas, programme, speciality, sulphur, tyre, carburettor; American aluminum, check, draft, jail, jewelry, curb, mold, plow, pajamas, program, specialty, sulfur, tire, carburetor. The word curb is used in British for the verb meaning "to lessen", but the edge of a roadway is always a kerb. British English uses both draught and draft, depending on the sense, and uses jail more often than gaol. The form program is normal in British English when referring to a computer program, but for other uses programme is usual. British use storey for a level of a building and story for a tale; Americans use story for both. Americans use vise for the tool and vice for the sin, while British use vice for both.
Grammar
- Collective nouns: Nouns like "team" and "company" that describe multiple people are often used with the plural form of a verb in British English, and with the singular form in American. British "the team are concerned"; American "the team is concerned".
- Differences in which nouns are the same in both their plural and singular forms, such as the word "sheep". In American English "shrimp" is such a word but with British English the plural of "shrimp" is "shrimps". ("Shrimps" is occasionally heard in the southern U.S., but is otherwise rare).
- In names of American rivers, the word 'river' comes after the name (e.g. 'Colorado River'), whereas for British rivers it comes before (e.g. 'River Thames').
Punctuation
- American newspapers tend to write "U.S.", "U.N.", etc., while most British newspapers will write "US", "UN", etc.
Vocabulary
The differences most likely to create confusion are in the use of different words for concepts. Most of these are for modern concepts where new words were coined independently, or else the terms are slang or vulgar. Regional variations even within the US or the UK can create the same problems.
It should also be noted that most American words can be freely interchanged with their British versions within the United Kingdom without leading to confusion. It tends to be only when the situation is reversed that problems occur. However, there are some exceptions, such as dumpster and stroller (in the sense of pushchair) which are unlikely to be understood by most speakers of British English.
Words only used in British English
| British | American |
| advocate | lawyer (distinction in Scots law) |
| aerial | antenna |
| arse | ass (buttocks) |
| barrister | lawyer (distinction in English law) |
| bollocks | balls (testicles) (interchangeable in British English) |
| bloody | damn (e.g., This bloody car won't start.) |
| bonnet (of a car) | hood |
| boot (of a car) | trunk |
| bumper pack | fanny pack |
| candy floss | cotton candy |
| concession | discount |
| crisps | chips (e.g., potato or corn) |
| current account | checking account |
| engaged tone | busy signal |
| fairy cake | cupcake |
| flat | apartment |
| indicator | turn signal |
| laundrette | laundromat |
| lift | elevator or ride (in car) |
| lorry | truck (interchangeable in British English) |
| maths | math |
| MD (managing director) | CEO (Chief Executive Officer) |
| mobile (phone) | cell phone |
| nappy | diaper |
| paraffin | kerosene |
| petrol | gasoline |
| pram | baby carriage |
| pudding | dessert (interchangeable in British English) |
| randy | horny (interchangeable in British English) |
| ring someone | call someone (interchangeable in British English) |
| settee | couch (interchangeable in British English) |
| snogging | kissing / "making out" |
| solicitor | lawyer (distinct from an advocate in Scots Law or a barrister in English law) |
| spanner | wrench |
| sticking plaster | Band-Aid |
| trapezium | trapezoid |
| tube | subway |
| underground | subway |
| valve | tube, or vacuum tube |
Words only used in American English
Speakers of British English are generally aware of the American English term, but would not generally use it.
| American | British |
| ass | arse |
| busy signal | engaged tone |
| checking account | current account |
| cookie | biscuit |
| cotton candy | candy floss |
| cupcake | fairy cake |
| diner | cafe |
| dumpster | skip |
| fall | autumn |
| fanny | bum |
| fanny pack (N.B.: Do not use in UK!) | bumper pack |
| flashlight | torch |
| french fries | chips |
| gasoline | petrol |
| hood (of car) | bonnet |
| math | maths |
| ride (in car) | lift |
| stroller | pushchair |
| trunk (of car) | boot |
| turn signal | indicator |
Words which have one meaning in British English and another in American English
| Word | British meaning | American meaning |
| bum | butt (buttocks) | hobo, homeless person |
| cafe | diner | French cafe |
| chemist | pharmacist, pharmacy | a person whose profession is chemistry |
| chips | french fries | crisps |
| biscuit | cracker or cookie | a pastry similar to a scone |
| dummy | pacifier | mannequin, esp. for automobile crash tests (also British) |
| fag | cigarette | queer |
| fanny | pussy (vagina) | bum (not obscene) |
| lounge | living room | verb: to laze about, to relax |
| muffler | scarf | silencer |
| outside lane | inside lane | American outside lane is the lane furthest from the median or central reservation. The British outside lane is the lane closest to the median or central reservation. In both cases this will be the rightmost lane. |
| pavement | sidewalk | asphalt; the road surface |
| pissed | drunk | angry |
| rubber | eraser | condom |
| rubbish | garbage; trash | understood by Americans as a Britishism |
| shag | fuck | a type of carpet, or a kind of a dance |
| silencer | muffler | silences the sound of a pistol |
| tap | faucet | device for dispensing beer from a keg |
Pronunciation
The name of the letter Z is pronounced zed in British English (and most other European languages) as opposed to zee in American English, though the words are rarely spelled out in either. Some greek letters, such as theta and beta, are also pronounced differently.
Americans pronounce T's differently to Britons, often changing T sounds into softer D sounds between two vowels (called slurring). More precisely, in American English, when either a 't' sound or a 'd' sound occurs between two vowels, it changes to a flap, similar to the 'r' in Spanish 'pero'. Consequently, to a speakers of both dialect groups, an American's pronunciation of "atom" and "Adam" are homophonous in casual speech. See linguistics and allophones more more information on this category of phenomenon.
The vowels are also somewhat different. American English generally has a simplified vowel system as compared to the British dialects. In particular, with the exception of New England, Americans have lost the distinction between the vowels of "awl" and "all", as well as "caught" and "cot", tending to pronounce all of these with something between a long form of the sound in "cot" and the "a" of "father".
The "a" of father is used in many British words, especially common ones, in two phonetic situations. Firstly, before three of the four voiceless fricatives, as in path, laugh, chaff, pass, past, though not before sh. Secondly, before some instances of n and another consonant, as in aunt, plant, dance. (Australian does not follow British in this second case.) But by no means all words follow this pattern, e.g. ant is the same as in American.
Most American dialects have not lost the non-prevocalic r. That is, "standard" American English preserves the sound of "r" in all occurrences, whereas British English only preserves it when it is followed by a vowel (see rhotic). However, this does not hold true for all American dialects nor for all British dialects; the dialects of New England and the American South both exhibit the same sound change found in southern England. This phenomenon also partially accounts for the interlocution of 'r' between a word ending in a vowel and one beginning with a vowel (e.g. "the idear of it") exhibited both in some dialects of Britain and in the Boston (USA) dialect of American English. Most other American dialects interpose a glottal stop where "r" appears in the Boston example, and appears to perform the same function of separating adjacent (non-dipthongized) vowels.