British vs American English

Heloo KEy family :D

Talking about American and British are interesting, aren't they? Do you know if American English and British English have some differences? Which one do you like? British English? or American English? Well, let's share you about some differences between American English and British English :D

First :

Differences in use of tenses

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has aneffect on the present moment. For example: I've misplaced my pen. Can you help me find it? In American English, the use of the past tense is also permissible: I misplaced my pen. Can you help me find it? In British English, however, using the past tense in this example would be considered incorrect.

Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include the words already, just and yet.

British English: I've just had food. Have you finished your homework yet? American English: I just had food. OR I've just had food.
I've already seen that film.
I've already seen that film. OR I already saw that film.

Second :

Differences  in vocabulary

While some words may mean something in British English, the same word might be something else in Americanenglish and vice versa. For example, Athlete in British English is one who participates in track and field events whereas Athlete in American English is one who participates in sport in general

Rubber in British English: tool to erase pencil markings.
Rubber in American English: condom.

There are also some words like AC, Airplane, bro, catsup, cell phone etc. which are common in American English and not used very often in British English. Some words widely used in British English and seldom in AmericanEnglish are advert, anti clockwise, barrister, cat's eye.

Third :

Differences in spelling

There are many words that are spelt differently in both forms of English. Some examples are:

A majority of the spelling differences between American and British English fall into the following categories:

·         Latin-derived spellings

·         -our (British) and -or (American). e.g. colour vs color

·         -re (British) and -er (American). e.g. centre vs center

·         -ce (British) and -se (American). e.g. defence vs defense

·         Greek-derived spellings

·         -ise (British) and -ize (American). e.g. centralise vs centralize

·         -yse (British) and -yze (American). e.g. analyse vs analyze

·         -ogue (British) and -og (American). e.g. dialogue vs dialog

·         Simplification of ae and oe in American English. e.g. gynaecology vs gynecology

You can see the box below :

American English spelling	British English spelling
Color	Colour
Fulfill	Fulfil
Center	Centre
Analyze	Analyse
Aging	Ageing
Dialog	Dialogue
Anesthesia	Anaesthesia

Fourth :

Differences in the use of Prepositions

There are also a few differences between British and American English in the use of prepositions. For example: While the British would play in a team, Americans would play on a team. Another example: While the British would go out at the weekend, Americans would go out on the weekend.

 Fifth :

Differences in Verb usage

American and British English may also use a base verb in different manners. For example: For the verb " to dream",Americans would use the past tense dreamed while the British would use dreamt in past tense. The same applies to "learned" and "learnt". Another example of differing past tense spellings for verbs in American and British English is "forecast". Americans use forecast while the British would say forecasted in simple past tense.

Sixth :

Differences in Pronunciation

Some words that are pronounced differently in American vs British English are controversy, leisure, schedule etc. There are also some words like Ax (Axe in British) and Defense (Defence in British) which have the same pronunciation but different spellings in both languages.

Seventh :

Time telling in British vs American English

Both languages have a slightly different structure of telling the time. While the British would say quarter past ten to denote 10:15, it is not uncommon in America to say quarter after or even a quarter past ten.

Thirty minutes after the hour is commonly called half past in both languages. Americans always write digital times with a colon, thus 6:00, whereas Britons often use a point, 6.00.

There is a funny video about American & Brtish English, enjoy watching :)

Well, KEy family, have you decided which one do you like? British or American?

Both are important to be learnt :D see ya in our next post :D :D

Reference :

http://www.diffen.com/difference/American_English_vs_British_English#American_vs_British_accent