British English
British English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English
language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere in the Anglophone world. British
English encompasses the varieties of English used within the UK, including those in England,
Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and to some extent, those spoken in the former British Empire.
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
In written English there is a certain uniformity within the United Kingdom, while the forms of
spoken English vary considerably. So there are different dialects and accents not only amongst the
nations of Great Britain, but also within the countries themselves. There are also some differences
in the English spoken by different socio-economic classes in any particular region.
Dialects
The most common form of English used by the British ruling class is that originating from
southeast England (the area around the capital, London, and the ancient English university towns of
Oxford and Cambridge). This form of the language is known as the "Received Standard", and its
accent is called Received Pronunciation (RP), which is improperly regarded by many people
outside the UK as "the British accent". Earlier it was held as better than other accents and referred
to as the King's (or Queen's) English, or even "BBC English". Originally, this was the form of
English used by radio and television. However, there is now much more tolerance of variation than
there was in the past; for several decades other accents have been accepted and are frequently heard,
although stereotypes about the BBC persist. English spoken with a mild Scottish accent has a
reputation for being especially easy to understand. Moreover, only approximately two percent of
Britons speak RP, and it has evolved quite markedly over the last 40 years. (From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia)
Other important dialects spoken in the southeast area are Cockney and Estuary English.
Cockney is a London dialect spoken by the working class. It includes grammatical variations, such
as the double negative and variations in accent and pronunciation such as the dropping of the letter
“h” (e.g. ouse for house).
Estuary English is a new form of accent that has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it is a
combination of Received Pronunciation and Cockney.
Other important dialects are :
Scouse is a Liverpool dialect which tend to slur words.
Geordie is spoken in northern England and shares many features with Scottish English
Brummie is an urban dialect of the Midlands and it is another dialect which shares features with
northern dialects
American English
There are more speakers of American English than of British English and this is due to the leading
position of the US in the world affairs, cinema, telecommunication, etc.

American English (AE) is the form of English used in the United States.

British English (BE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all
English dialects used within the United Kingdom.
Historical background
The English language was introduced to the Americans by British colonization in the early 17th
century. During the centuries the language used in the USA has changed in many ways since it
developed independently of the British English. Some words were taken from the Native
Americans, other words were added, others were influenced by the Dutch and French setters’
language. The fact that the a lot of immigrants from all over the world have arrived in the USA has
contributed to the development of American English.
Differences between BE and AE
The main differences between British English and American English
lie in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling,
punctuation, idioms, formatting of dates and numbers. Oscar Wilde
once wrote, "We have really everything in common with America
nowadays, except, of course, the language" (The Canterville Ghost,
1888).
Examples of the differences between BE and
AE
Pronunciation
Differences in pronunciation between AE and BE can be divided into:

Differences in accent (i.e. phoneme inventory and realisation). Accents vary widely within
AE and within BE, so the features considered are mainly differences between General
American English and British Received Pronunciation.

Differences in the pronunciation of individual words in the lexicon (i.e. phoneme
distribution). In this article, transcriptions use RP to represent BE and GA and to represent
AE.
Ex.
GA is rhotic while RP is non-rhotic; that is, the letter r is only pronounced in RP when it is
immediately followed by a vowel.
RP has a marked degree of contrast of length between "short" and "long" vowels. In GAE this
contrast is much less evident, and the length symbol is often omitted.
Stress
For many loanwords from French where AE has final-syllable stress, BE stresses an earlier syllable.
Such words include:

BE first-syllable stress:, ballet, , brochure, buffet, café, canard, , chalet, chauffeur, chiffon,
cliché, coupé, croissant, garage, gateau, gourmet, lamé, montage, parquet, pastel, pâté,
précis, sachet, salon, soupçon, vaccine; matinée, negligée, nonchalant, nondescript;
A few French words have other stress differences:

AE first-syllable, BE last-syllable: address (postal), m(o)ustache; cigarette, magazine,

AE first-syllable, BE second-syllable: exposé, liaison,

AE second-syllable, BE last-syllable: New Orleans
Single differences
BE AE
Words
/æ/ /ɑ/ Pablo, pasta
/ɒ/ /oʊ/ compost, homosexual, produce (noun), scone
/ɑː/ /æ/ banana, morale, scenario
/ɛ/ /i/ crematorium, cretin, depot, inherent, leisure, medieval, zebra,
/æ/ /eɪ/ compatriot, patriot, patronise, phalanx, plait
/ɪ/ /aɪ/ dynasty, housewifery, idyll, livelong, , privacy, simultaneous, vitamin.
/z/ /s/
blouse, complaisant, crescent, erase, , parse, valise
/ɑː/ /eɪ/ gala, promenade, pro rata, tomato
/aɪ/ /i/ either, neither
/aɪ/ /ɪ/ diverge, minority, primer (schoolbook).
/eɪ/ /æ/ apricot, dahlia, digitalis, patent
/ʃ/ /ʒ/ Asia, Persia, version
Grammar
The past tense and past participle of the verbs learn, spoil, spell (only in the word-related sense),
burn, dream, smell, spill, leap, and others, can be either irregular (learnt, spoilt, etc.) or regular
(learned, spoiled, etc.). In BE, both the irregular and regular forms are current; in some cases
(smelt, leapt) there is a strong tendency towards the irregular forms (especially by speakers using
Received Pronunciation); in other cases (dreamed, leaned, learned) the regular forms are somewhat
more common. In AE, the irregular forms are never or hardly ever used (except for burnt, leapt, and
dreamt).
Prepositions
Where British people would say "She resigned on Friday", Americans often say "She resigned
Friday", but both forms are common in American usage. The preposition can also be absent when
referring to months: "I'll be here June"
The first of these two examples of omitting prepositions may be seen as yet another German
influence on American English.
Definite article
BE has in hospital and at university (as a student), where AE requires in the hospital and at the
university.
British athletes play in a team; American athletes play on a team. (Both may play for a particular
team.)
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 River Thames).
Vocabulary (Lexis)
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.
American English
British English
hood
Bonnet
trunk
Boot
truck
Lorry
Apartment
Flat
Escalator
Lift
Sweater
Jumper
Sidewalk
Pavement
Parking lot
Car park
Words with differing meanings
Words like bill (AE "paper money", BE and AE "invoice") and biscuit (AE: BE's "scone", BE: AE's
"cookie") are used regularly in both AE and BE, but mean different things in each form.
Between British and American English there are also some differences in the choice of vocabulary.
Some words mean different things in the two varieties.
For example:
Mean: (American English - angry, bad humored, British English - not generous, tight fisted)
Rubber: (American English - condom, British English - tool used to erase pencil markings)
Spelling
-ll vs. -l
American
-er vs. -re
British
American
British
skillful
skilful
theater
Theatre
enrollment
enrolment
center
centre
- or vs. -our
American
- ze vs. -se
British
American
British
color
colour
criticize
criticise
honor
honour
analyze
analyse
-ck or -k vs. -que
American
-dg vs. -dge (or -g vs. -gu)
British
American
British
check
cheque
argument
arguement
bank
banque
judgment
judgement
-ense vs. -ence
American
-og vs. -ogue
British
American
British
defense
defence
catalog
catalogue
license
licence
dialog
dialogue
In British English, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel usually double the -l when a
suffix is added, while in American English the letter is not doubled. The letter will double
in the stress is on the second syllable.
Base Word
equal
model
quarrel
travel
excel
counsel
signal
American
equaling
modeling
quarreling
traveling
excelling
counseling
signaling
British
equalling
modelling
quarrelling
travelling
Excelling
counselling
signalling
Spelling of verbs
-ed vs. -t
Base form
American
British
to dream
to learn
dreamed
leareded
dreamt
learnt
base form vs. -ed
Base form
American
British
to fit
to forecast
fit
forecast
fitted
forecasted
irregular vs. -ed
Base form
American
British
to knit
to light
knit
lit
knitted
lighted
Punctuation
Full stops/Periods in abbreviations: Americans tend to write Mr., Mrs., St., Dr. etc., while British
will most often write Mr, Mrs, St, Dr, etc., following the rule that a full stop is used only when the
last letter of the abbreviation is not the last letter of the complete word.
Idioms
A number of English idioms that have essentially the same meaning show lexical differences
between the British and the American version; for instance:
British English
American English
sweep under the carpet
sweep under the rug
touch wood
knock on wood
see the wood for the trees
see the forest for the trees
skeleton in the cupboard
skeleton in the closet
a home from home
a home away from home
a drop in the ocean
a drop in the bucket
storm in a teacup
tempest in a teapot
flogging a dead horse
beating a dead horse
haven't a clue
have no clue
Formatting of dates
Dates usually include a definite article in UK spoken English, such as "the 11th of July", or "July
the 11th", while American speakers say "July 11th".
Numbers
When saying or writing out numbers, the British will typically insert an "and" before the tens and
units, as in "one hundred and sixty-two" and "two thousand and three". In America, it is considered
correct to drop the "and" as in "two thousand three"; however, this is rarely heard in everyday
speech, "two thousand and three" being much more common.
In the case of years, however, "twelve thirty-four" would be the norm on both sides of the Atlantic
for the year 1234. The year 2000 and years beyond it are read as "two thousand", "two thousand
(and) one" and the like by both British and American speakers. For years after 2009, they are
frequently said "twenty ten", "twenty twelve" etc. by the BBC.
When referring to the numeral 0, British people would normally use "nought", "oh", "zero" or "nil"
in instances such as sports scores and voting results. Americans use the term "zero" frequently.
American dialects
General American English (GAE) is closest to be standard. It is common in Midwest, but it is
spoken everywhere in the USA. People who are said to speak "without an accent" are actually
speaking with this leveled-out form of speech that developed from the mid-Atlantic stretching
westward through the Ohio valley . Most features of Standard American developed from a leveled
mixture of dialects mostly from the poorer classes along the middle Atlantic seaboard who
immigrated west after the American Revolution to find a better life.
Regional dialects in the United States reflect the elements of the language of the main immigrant
groups in any particular region of the country, especially in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary.
There are four main regional variations of spoken American English: Northern (really northeastern), Southern, Midland, and Western (Labov, Ash, & Boberg, 2006). The main differences
between them are in accent and vocabulary.

Northern dialects are spread west from New York and Boston. The old rich families of
Boston speak with a distinctive Bostonian accent which is similar to Britain’s RP.

Midland dialects developed when settlers left Philadelphia. These dialects contain features
from the Northern and Southern ones.

Southern dialects are quite different. It has been influenced by French, Spanish, African
Americans and native American languages in fact black English and Southern dialects have
a lot in common. Every foreigner can recognize the southern drawl accent.

Western dialects contain features from the Northern and Southern groups. Within the
Western dialects there are a increasing differences. For example in south-western dialects
there a a lot of influences of Mexican Spanish.
The three major dialect regions of the United States identified in Map 1 -- the Inland North, the
South, and the West -- correspond to the three vowel patterns first presented in "The Three Dialects
of English" (Labov 1991). They are the major expanding patterns that are actively forming the
linguistic landscape of the country., As developed in this paper, the phonological center of these
opposing patterns are the Northern Cities Shift in the Inland North, the Southern Shift in the South,
and the Low Back Merger in the West. Since that time, a fourth phonological pattern, the Canadian
Shift, has been reported in Clark, Elms and Youssef 1995. Discussion of this pattern will be
presented when the Canadian interviews are analyzed.
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Sources
McArthur, T., Oxford Guide to World English. Oxford:, Oxford University Press, 2002
Bragg, M., The Adventure of English, London, Sceptre, 2004
Peters, P., The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
2004
Simpson, John (ed.), Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press,
1989
Algeo, J., British or American English?. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006
Peters, P., The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,
2004
Complete the sentences
BE is …………………………………………………………………….
AE is ……………………………………………………………………..
RP is ………………………………………………………………...…..
RS is ……………………………………………………………………..
GAE is …………………………………………………………………...
Answer the following questions
1. What are the most important dialects in
England?
_________________________________________
2. What is Cockney?
__________________________________________
________________________________________
__________________________________________
________________________________________
3. And Estuary English?
__________________________________________
________________________________________
__________________________________________
________________________________________
4. Where is Geordie spoken?
__________________________________________
________________________________________
__________________________________________
________________________________________
5. What are the most important dialects in the USA?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. What are the most important differences between BE and AE?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Choose whether the noted spelling, vocabulary word or phrase, or grammar is
British English, American English.
We went on a two week vacation last month.
o
British
o
American
Could you pass me an eraser? I need to erase this mistake.
o British
o American
Why is there so much rubbish in here?
o British
o American
Excuse me, where is the rest room?
o British
o American
Did you see that new programme last night?
o British
o American
Put your luggage in the trunk.
o British
o American
It's in the town center.
o British
o American
Did you see that new program last night?
o British
o American
Here you are some British words. Write the common American word.
BE
AE
Lift
Car park
Pavement
Lift
Flat
Jumper
The following words are spelled in British English - write the American spelling
The American spelling of colour is ………………………………….
The American spelling of licence is ……………………………………………
The American spelling of programme is ………………………………….
The American spelling of theatre is …………………………………….
The American spelling of tonight can be ……………………………..
The American spelling of defence is ……………………………………………
The American spelling of centre is ……………………………………
The American word for - and spelling of aeroplane is ………………………………….
Write the common American word instead of the British English word
She ate a biscuit. She ate a …………………………..
She took her clothes from the wardrobe. She took her clothes from the …………………………….
She bought a tin of beer - She bought a ………………………. of beer.
They had three weeks holiday. They had three weeks …………………………….
He bought some sweets. He bought some …………………………….
Fill up the tank with petrol. Fill up the tank with ………………………….
The tube is an effective transport. The ……………………… is an effective transport.
In October it is autumn. In October it is ………………………………