Differences in BrE and AmE
• Language is a part of culture, and it plays an important role in
culture. Language reflects the characteristic of a nation. It not only
includes the history and cultural background of a nation, but also
fosters the nation's attitudes towards life, and ways of living and
thinking of the nation. Language and culture are influential and
complementary to each other.
• Therefore, to my point of view, the cause of language differences is
basically the differences between cultures. As we know, USA is a
country boasts a lot of immigrants. Its ancient immigrants mainly
came from Britain, so its culture is close to British culture. However,
as time goes by, more and more European immigrants flood to the
New World, including people from Germany, Holland, France etc.
Hence, American culture is both a mixed and multiple culture .
People from all around the world speak different languages with
different accents , living and working here together. So, it is not hard
to understand why American English is different from British English.
• There are a multitude of differences between American and British
English caused by the different history and culture. Even if the same
words , the expressions may be different , just like American and
British English. This paper is to concisely discuss the differences
between American and British English in pronunciation , vocabulary
and the grammar.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(1) Sometimes we usually soften or don’t read the vowel (especially the [ə ] or [ i ] ) in the
unstressed syllable out
in Br.E , while we should read all vowels out in the Am.E . So , Americans speak more
slowly and clearly than the British people. British people often have the “ eat vowel ”
phenomenon. e.g.:
Am.E
Br.E
factory
[ fæ k t ə r i ]
[ f æk t r i ]
secretary [ s e k r ə t ə r i ]
[sekrətri]
history
[histəri]
[histəri]
(2) [æ ]—[ɑ:]: When the letter “ a ” comes before -s, -f, -th, -lf, -ph, -n , etc. we pronounce
[æ ] in Am.E , while [ɑ:] in Br.E. e.g.:
Am.E
Br.E
answer
[æn s ə ]
[a: n s ə ]
staff
[ s t æf ]
[s t a:əf ]
path
[ p æθ ]
[ p a: θ ]
(3) [ɑ: ]—[ɔ] : When the vowel letter “ o ” comes after a stressed closed syllable in a
plosive , we usually pronounce it [ɔ] in the standard Br.E , while [ ɑ: ] in Ar.E . e.g. :
Am.E
Br.E
job
[ j ɑ: b ]
[jɔb]
body
[ b ɑ: d i ]
[bɔdi]
object [ ɑ: b j e k t ]
[ɔ b j e k t ]
(4) In Am.E , we should pronounce the letter “ r ” in every circumstance , but we don’t
say so unless it is before the vowel . e.g. :
Am.E
Br.E
modern [ m ɑ: d ə r n ]
[mɔdən]
popular [ p ɑ: p ju l ə r ]
[ p ɔ p ju l ə ]
floor
[ f l ɔ: r ]
[ f l ɔ: ]
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
(5) When the letter “ e ” exits in the unstressed syllable , it’s pronounced [ e ] in Ar.E , while [ i ] in Br.E . e.g
Am.E
Br.E
effect [ e f e k t ]
[ifekt]
extend [ e x t e n d ]
[ikstend]
express [ e k s p r e s ]
[ikspres]
(6) We pronounce [ i l ] or [ l ] in Ar.E while [ ail ] in Br.E when the words end with –ile . e.g. :
Am.E
Br.E
missile [ m i s i l ]
[m i s ai l]
fertile [ f ə: t l ]
[f ə: t ai l ]
reptile [ r e p t l ]
[ r e p t ai l ]
(7) We pronounce [hw- ] in Am.E while [ w- ] in Br.E when the words begin with wh-. e.g.:
Am.E
Br.E
when
[when]
[wen]
wheat [ h w i: t ]
[ w i: t ]
(8) [ u: ] —[ ju :]: Americans pronounce [ u: ] while British people [ ju: ] when “ u ” and “ new ” come after
n-, d-, t- etc. e.g. :
Am.E
Br.E
knew
[ n u: ]
[ n ju: ]
duke
[ d u: k ]
[d ju: k ]
tube
[ t u: b ]
[ t ju: b ]
(9) [ i: ] —[ ai ]: We pronounce the monogram “ ei ” [ i: ] in Am.E while [ ai: ] in Br.E . e.g. :
Am.E
Br.E
either
[ i: ðə ]
[ ai ðə ]
neither
[ n i: ðə ]
[ n ai ðə ]
(10) Even though the same word , there are some pronunciation differences in Am.E and Br.E . e.g. :
Am.E
Br.E
clerk
[ k l ə: k ]
[ k l ɑ: k ]
figure
[figə]
[ f i g jər]
American and British English vocabulary differences :
• The spellings are the same for most words , but some are different
between the tow languages. e.g. :
• (1) In AmE the words end with –er , while –re in BrE. e.g. :
• meter metre
center centre
• (2) In AmE the words end with –or , while –our in BrE e.g.
• labor labour
color colour
• (3) In AmE the words end with –ize , while –ise in BrE. e.g. :
• memorize memorise
realize realise
• (4) In AmE the words begin with in- , while en- sometimes in Br.E.
e.g.:
• inclose enclose
inquiry enquiry
• (5) In AmE the words end with –se , while –ce in BrE . e.g. :
• Defense defence
license licence
• (6) In AmE some words only contain one –l , while two in Br.E. e.g.:
• traveller— traveler installment— instalment
• (7) In AmE the words end with –g , while –gue in Br.E . e.g. :
• dialog dialogue
catalog catalogue
• (8) In AmE some compound adjectives end with –able . But we
should keep the last letter of the last word in BrE and the spelling is
–sable. e.g.:
• AmE
BrE
• likable
likeable
• lovable
loveable
• sizable
sizeable
• Using differences : AmE differs from BrE when expressing the same
word . e.g. :
• a half→half a
apartment→ flat
• barber→ men’s hairdresser
corn→ maize
• guy→chap
icebox→ refrigerator
• insurance→ assurance
no place→ nowhere
• truck→lorry
pants→trousers
• sales girl→ shop assistant
some place→somewhere
• package→parcel
vacation→holidays
• to hang up →to ring off
to drive→to motor
• Grammatical differences：American English and British
English do not differ from each other very much, in spite
of this, there is still the most noticeable difference：
inconsistent usage of the verb “have”. In American
English, interrogative sentences (Do you have …?) and
negative sentences (I do not have…) are
indiscriminatingly constructed with such auxiliary verbs
（助动词） as “ do，does，did” etc，whereas in British
English，no auxiliary verbs such as “ do，does，did”
are employed to function so when “have” implies
meanings of “ ownership” and“illness”，in this case
interrogative sentences（疑问句） and negative
sentences are constructed in conformity with the rules of
anomalous finites，namely, have you a (any)…? And I
have no (not any)… are chosen,
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
for instance：
Am.E
Br.E
Do you have any brothers? Have you any brothers?
Does he have a high fever? Has he a high fever?
He doesn’t have much fever? He hasn’t much fever?
“Have got” is preferable in British colloquialism and is changed in line with the
anomalous finite verb if the above meanings refer to transient phenomena or special
occasions. For example：
Have you got a new job now?
I haven’t got any job now.
In both American English and British English, however, “do，does and did” are the
choices for constructing interrogative sentences and negative sentences when “have”
act as a verb, meaning “ eat”,“ drink”,“take”,“receive”,and “experience” etc or when it
forms other meanings in combination with other nouns.
For example：
Do you have coffee every day?
Yes. But I don’t have coffee in the evening.
Did you have a good time last Sunday?
Do you often have a dream?
“No. I don’t often have a dream.” is always in the form of “I seldom have a dream.”
in colloquialism.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Secondly，differences exist in the using of tenses.
Sometimes, British people use present perfect tense
while Americans prefer simple past tense. Because
some American grammarians are a little different from
that , especially in informal texts. For instance：
AmE
BrE
He just read the essay.
He has just read the essay.
He just went to town.
He has just gone to town.
Did you have your lunch?
Have you had your lunch?
Did you hear the news?
Have you heard the news?
•
In addition， the past participle of the verb “get” has two varieties, “got” and
“gotten” in American English，as against only one past participle , “got” is
available in British English；In American English，verbs like “burn, dream,
lean, learn, smell, spell, spill and spoil” are changed as regular verbs, but
they can be changed both as regular verbs and by adding -t to the original
form in British English；The verb “wake” is changed as a regular verb in
American English by adding –d to the original form，yet it is changed as a
irregular verb in British English， that it to say , the past form is woke and
the past participle is woken. “fit, quit and wet” are all irregular verbs in
American English with past forms and past participles equal to the original
forms, whereas they are changed as regular verbs in British English；In
American English，drive is an irregular verb ：drive-drove，driven, but it is
regarded as a regular verb in British English. In object clauses led by that
and after words like order，suggest，insist etc which express command,
request, suggestion, requirement, insistence etc, and in subject clauses led
by that and after It is important (vital, necessary, suggested…) , the
predicate verbs often take the original forms in American English
（Subjunctive Mood），while in British English they often take the form of
should+ original form of verbs；in American English, when “one” acts as an
indefinite pronoun he and his are employed as substitutes afterwards for
fear of repetition，whereas one and one’s are usually the preferences in
British English. All these constitute the subtle grammatical differences
between American English and British English.
•
•
•
•
•
conclusion
Today , English is spoken in many countries. However , English spoken in
the USA is a little different from that in the UK in spelling , meaning ,
pronunciation , grammar usage and so on . Sometimes even English
spoken in the UK is very different in every region within the United Kingdom .
We only mentioned a few differences between the two “different” languages.
However , differences in these aspects don’t prevent speakers of American
English understanding the meanings of the words . Of course, they don't
prevent speakers of American English from understanding the meanings of
the words. Differences in those aspects are not a big problem for even
speakers of English as a second language.
However , when different words in British English and American English are
used to describe the same thing or same word has a different meanings in
British English and American English, sometimes people will be very
confused if they don't know common differences between British English
and American English in meanings and usages. It is because that there are
a large number of homonyms and synonyms in British English and
American English.
That's the reason that confusion or gross misunderstandings will be caused
in some situations. We should feel obliged to study hard to evade this kind
of embarrassing situation.