Name : Alima Shirin Ebadi ( 202100259)

Shifa Islami ( 202100276 )

Class : PKA 2B

How Are British English and American English Different?

Differences between UK and US Vocabulary

AMERICAN (US) BRITAIN (UK)

Garbage, Trash Rubbish

Vacation Holiday

Apartment Flat

Elevator Lift

TV Telly

Sidewalk Pavement

The Subway The Underground

Pants Trousers

Underpants Knickers

The word “pants” can also be used in British English as an adjective, meaning something is
“crappy” or “it sucks.” For examples : “That album is pants.” In American English, you might say
“That album sucks”.

Differences between British and American Accents

a. R- Sound
American English is rhotic, meaning that “r” sounds are always clearly pronounced, while British
English is non-rhotic, meaning that the “r” sound is not pronounced unless it followed by a vowel
sound.
Example : for sentences “My Father’s in the car” in British english the final r sound is not
pronounced. “Father” ends in a simple schwa vowel /ˈfɑː.ðə/ and in “car” the a vowel sound is
lengthened in place of the “r” sound /kɑː/ .

b. The intrusive “r”

In British accent there's The intrusive “r”, that means that people sometimes add an r-sound to a
word that doesn't actually have one if its followed by a vowel ini the next word.
Example : in the sentence “I saw a film.” In british english it sometimes sounds like “I saw’r a
film.” that theres an “r” sound connecting “saw” and “a”.
 c. T-Sounds
In british english (Recieved Pronounciation), “t” sounds are pronounced as hard t’s (voiceless /t/).
In the US, they sometimes sound like /ɾ/ (aveolar tap) instead of /t/ (aveolar stop). This normally
accours in an unstressed syllable, between 2 vowel sounds or between a vowel and a rhotic
sound (“r” sound).

Example :
WORD AMERICAN (US) BRITAIN (UK)

Butter /ˈbʌtɚ/ /ˈbʌ.tə/

Stop fighting! /stɑp ˈfaɪɾɪŋ/ /stɒp ˈfaɪtɪŋ/.

d. O-sounds
WORD AMERICAN (US) BRITAIN (UK)

Stop /stɑp/ “o” sound is an /stɒp/ accent “o” sound is

unrounded vowel /ɑ/ rounded /ɒ/

Hot /hɑt/ /hɒt/.

There's also “O” diphthong

WORD AMERICAN (US) BRITAIN (UK)

Know /noʊ/ /nəʊ/ schwa followed by /ʊ/ as

in “put” /pʊt/

Show /ʃoʊ/ /ʃəʊ/

e. A-Sounds
In other words, sounds represented by the letter “a”
/ɑ:/ in UK normally becomes /ae/ in US (when its not followed by an “r” or an “l” sound)
Example :
WORD AMERICAN (US) BRITAIN (UK)

Half /hæf/ /hɑːf/

How are British spelling and American spelling different?

Noah Webster (whom the Webster dictionary is named after) made an effort to reform
English spelling in the 1700s, in order to make the words spelled the way they sounded. This
resulted in some spelling changes in American English.

Spelling changes in American English

re —-----> er Most (but not all) words that end in ~re in the UK end in ~er in the US.
Example : UK centre / theatre / metre / sombre
US center / theater / meter / somber

~nce —-----> ~nse Some words that end in ~nce in the UK are spelled with ~nse in the US.
Example : UK licence / defence / offence
UK license / defense / offense

Ou —-----> o Some words with “ou” in the UK are spelled with “o” in the US.
Example : UK colour/ favour / honour / labour
US color / favor / honor / labor

~ise —-----> ~ize The ending “ise” became “ize” in the US.
Example : UK organise / apologise
US organize / apologize
This change also occurs in other contexts where the “s” in voiced - /z/
Example : UK analyse / cosy
US analyze / cozy

~ll —-----> ~l There are verbs ending with “l” that take a doubled “l” in British English when a
suffix is added. In American English there is no double “l”.
Example : UK travelled / cancelled / marvellous
US traveled / canceled / marvelous
“Marvel” is a verb, and them am adjectival suffix has been added to it.
Grammatical differences between British English and American English
a. Auxiliary verbs
Brits use “shall” for the future more than Americans, as well as to ask for advice/opinion. Shall i
~?
Some difference in preposition use:
US on the weekend different from / than
UK at the weekend different from / to

Different past tense forms:

US The past tense of the word “learn” is normally “learned”.
UK Is more common to say “learnt”.
This is true for: dreamed / dreamt; burned / burnt; leaned / leant

US In the US, the past tense of “dive” is usually “dove”

UK In the UK it’s more commonly “dived”

b. Past participles
Sometimes past participles have a different form.

“To get”
US get / got / gotten (past participle)
UK get / got / got (past participle)
Both forms have existed since the Middle English period, but “gotten” has fallen out of use in the
UK. Got can be used in American English in the form “have got”, but with the meaning of “have”,
not “have received/become”.

US I haven't gotten the eviction notice yet.

UK I haven't got the eviction notice yet.

US I think we need a lawyer.

UK I reckon we need a solicitor.
British people often use the word “reckon” which means “think” or “suppose” and they often say
“solicitor” which is a type of lawyer that does consultation. The type of lawyer who represents you
in court in the UK in usually a “barrister”, while in the US they are usually referred to as attorneys.

US I’m going for a beer with my friends.

UK I’m going for a pint with my mates.
British people often “pint” where Americans would say “beer”. Brits also say “beer” as countable
noun like this, but “pint” is used frequently. Brits often say “mate” where Americans would say
“friend”.