CHOOSING BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH

Chirea Ana Maria

English is spoken in many countries either as the mother tongue or as a second language. The
few bifferences that exist between British and American English tend rather to enrich communication
than slow it down.

While there are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are
two varieties that are taught in our country. The are words with specific American meanings that have
different meanings in British English, and/ or additional meanings common to both dialects.

Regional dialects in the United States typically 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 while the sopen forms of British English vary considerably, reflecting a long history of
dialect development among isolated populations.

American Eglish- is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all
English dialects used within the United States.

British English- is the form of English used in the U. K. It includes all English
dialects used within the United Kingdom.

In the early 18th Century, British spelling was not standardized. Differences became
noticeable after the publishing of influential dictionaries. Curent British English spellings
follow, for the most part, those of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language,
whereas many American English spellings follow Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary
of the English Language.

Modern British is heavily influenced by American English, so some of the contrasts

are disappearing. Pronunciation is sometimes very different, but most American and British
speakers can understand each-other without great difficulty.

American English is spoken in the USA, Canada and many Pacific Rim countries
where America has exerted an influence.
 British English is spoken throughout the British Commonwealth of 54 countries, some
of the most notable being the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

There are words with specific American meanings that have different meanings in
British English, and /or additional meanings common to both dialects. For instance, the word
”ace” means good, excellent in British English, the common meaning for both dialects is ”a
one in a suit of playing cards”, while in American English is ” to perform outstandingly”; the
word ”apartment” has different meaning in the two varieties and no common use; ”Brilliant”
is a word used only in British English as ”excellent, of the highest quality” having though a
common value in both varieties as very bright, very intelligent.

British and American Spelling – there are several areas in which British and
American spelling are different. There are the main ones to be aware of:

1. Words ending in ”-re” . British English words that end in ”-re” often
end in ”-er” in American English: centre-center, theatre-theater.

2. Words ending in „-or” (American), and „-our” (British): color- colour,

humor-humour, flavor-flavour.

3. Words ending in „-ize” or „-ise” at the end are always spelled with „-
ize” at the end in American English: apologise, apologize/apologise.

4. Verbs ending in „-yse”. Verbs in British English that end in „-yze” in

American English: British- paralyse; U.S.: -paralyze.

There are also a few differences in preposition use including:

• American English- on the weekend

British English – at the moment

• In American English, one always speaks of the streets on which an

address is located, whereas in British English it can also be used in some contexts.
„In” suggests an address on a city street, so a service station would always be on a
major road, but a department store might be. Example:

American English – on a team

British English –in a team

 • American English – Please write me soon

British English – Please write to me soon

• Preposition a/ an: before some words beginning with a pronounced (not

silent) h in an unstressed first syllable, such as historic (al), holiday. British writers
prefer to use „an” over „a” (an historical event).

• Which. In both countries some prescriptionists feel that which should

not be used as an antecedent in restrictive clauses. According to the Elements of Style,
that is the defining or restrictive pronoun, „which” the nondefining, or nonrestrictive.

Grammar.

Possession – there are two forms to express possession in English: Have or Have got.
While both forms are correct, have got is generally the preferred form in British English and
most speakers of American English employ the „have”.

Use of the Present Perfect - The British use the present perfect to talk about a past
action which has an effect on the present moment. In American English both simple
past and present perfect are possible in such situations:I have lost my pen. Can you borrow
me yours? (British English) - I lost my pen. OR I have lost my pen. (American English)

Other differences include the use of „already”, „just” and „yet”. The British use the
present perfect with these adverbs of indefinite time. In American English simple past and
present perfect are both possible.

• He has just gone home. (British English)

• He just went home. OR He has just gone home. (American English)

The Verb Get- The past participle of the verb get is „gotten” in American English and
„got” in British English.

Need - In British English needn't and don't need to are both possible. Americans
normally use don't need to:You needn't reserve seats. OR You don't need to reserve seats.
(British English) - You don't need to reserve seats. (American English)
 Past Simple/ Past Participles –the following verbs have two acceptable forms of the
past simple/past participle in both American and British English, but the irregular one is rather
specific to British English: burn- burnt/burned, dream- dreamt/dreamed, learn-learnt/learned,
spell- spelt/spelled.

In British English, collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms, while
this is not the case in American English. In American English, collective nouns are used in
singular verb form using plural pronouns at times for agreement.

Punctuation.

The use of quotations marks, also called inverse commas, is very slightly complicated
by the fact that there are two types and both types we frequently encounter in textbooks:
single quotes (') and double quotes (”). As a general rule, British usage has in the past usually
preferred single quotes for ordinary use, but double quotes are now increasingly common;
American usage has already preferred double quotes.

Abbreviations. American tend to write Mr., Mrs., the British will most often write Mr,
Mrs, Dr, following the rule that a full stop/ period is used only when the last letter of the
abbreviation is not the last letter of the complete word. This kind of abbreviation is known as
a contraction in the UK.

Vocabulary.

However, the largest difference is probably that of vocabulary. Due to the difficulties
in communication because of the lack of technology, British English and American English
began to differ in some vocabulary and expressions quite early on.

It was not until the twentieth century, after the introduction of new technology such as
radio and television the two varieties started to use the same word when new terms were
introduced. However, the British built their first large multilane highway; they created a new
word of their own, „motorway”, instead of borrowing the existing American word
„expressway”. Another exception is that the Americans use „cell phone” while the British use
„ mobile phone” for the same item.

About 4000 words are different in American English and British English; same words
are known in both countries, but many words are not: petrol - gasoline, autumn - fall, cooker
-stove, post - mail, film - movie, cab - taxi, shop - store, ring - call, schedule - timetable,
semester - term, sick - ill, sidewalk - pavement, pants - trousers, hood - bonnet, truck - lorry,
anyplace -anywhere, French fries - chips, mad - crazy, maize - corn, motorbike- motorcycle,
pub -bar, car - automobile.

Pronunciation differences - British English speakers pronounce word like BATH,

DANCE, and AFTER, with (a) while general American English speakers use /æ/. If we look
more closely into the varieties we can see that there are also some regional differences. In
Britain, for instance, even Scots and Irish men use different pronunciation.

It is important to point out that it is very difficult to say whether pupils in Romania use
British and American English pronunciation since almost all of them will use English as a
foreign language.

Since most of the words chosen for use in today’s teaching in our country are British,
we may say that even if the American dialect is used more often in films, trade or usual
communication, British English is the one that’s being taught in our classrooms.

There is an amazing variety of spelling, meaning, pronunciation, usage, and even

punctuation in the English language among the many people who speak it. What it is
important to remember? That both British English and American English are accepted on the
examinations as long as you consistently use either one or the other.

Bibliography

 Bickerson, Anthea (1985). American-English, English –American: a two way –glossary of

words in daily use of both sides of the Atlantic

 Davis, Christopher (2005). Divided by a Common Language: A Guide to British and

American English. Houghton Mifflin

 Hargraves, Orin (2003). Mighty Five Words and Smashing Expressions: Making Sense of
Transatlantic English.Oxford University Press.

 List of American vs. British Spelling, by Susan Jones

 The American-British British-American Dictionary(2004), Jeremy Smith, Printed by
Hignell Printing Ltd, Canada