Differences between British English and American English

Although there are many other dialects in spoken English, the United States and Britain are the most common ESL/ESOL/EFL courses. Perhaps this is because there are millions of students studying in the United States, and the British accent is really charming. The following are some differences between British English and American English, which I hope will help you.

1. There are spelling differences.

British English and American English are roughly the same in spelling, but there are some differences in details.

There are many similar words. In fact, most American English endings are -or, -ter, -og, -ize, -action and so on. British English prefers to end with -our, -tre, -ogue, -ise, -xion, etc.

In addition, if you really can't skillfully use the spelling habits of British English, then use American English. Of course, this is only a stopgap measure. It is best to learn English spelling. But be careful not to mix the two. It looks strange.

2. Different words

In the use of vocabulary, it can best reflect the difference between British English and American English. Compared with British English, American English is more inclusive and diverse, and the absorption and reference of various cultures also integrates the linguistic characteristics of various cultures. The vocabulary used in Britain is more retro and traditional.

Of course, most American English words come from British English, because the United States was once a British colony, but since the independence of the United States, its language has begun to change. To give a simple example, Americans generally use Fall in autumn, and British people use autumn; The sidewalk is sidewalk in the United States, and pavement is used in Britain.

In fact, language is just a matter of habit. The differences between words are mainly used for differences that are not commonly used, so they can be replaced by each other occasionally, but some words have great semantic differences. For example, when buying a ticket in Britain, one-way or two-way is called "one-way or round trip", while in America it means "one-way or round trip", so when buying a ticket in Britain, don't think that the conductor is asking you if you want a ticket. For example, the British ground floor is on the first floor, and the first floor is on the second floor; The first floor in America means the first floor.

3. Pronunciation should be different

Where British English is pronounced as [w], American English is habitually pronounced as [HW]; When, what, why, which, why and so on are all like this. In addition, the sound [ju:] in British English is [u:] in American English, such as New, Duty, Nuclear, Student and so on. The sound [аi] in British English is pronounced as [i] or [i:] in American English, such as words like FrAgile and Agile. The pronunciation of [a:] in British English is [? ], such as glass, answer, public and other words. Also note that [a] is unique to American English phonetic symbols, but not British English. Moreover, the British generally don't pronounce the word "R", but the United States is just the opposite. When "t" appears between two vowels, British English is pronounced as [t] and American English as [d]. The stress treatment of other words is also different.

4. The grammar is different

There are also subtle differences in grammar between British English and American English. For example, in some cases, British English uses the present perfect tense while American English uses the past tense. The difference between these tenses is also reflected in the spelling of verb participle tenses. There are also some differences between modal verbs and definite articles.

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