The American vs. British English Differences

Introduction

Nowadays, many differences between the cognates or dialects of the same language can be seen. English likewise did not avoid years of existence in different continents and separate development. There are three types of significant differences between the British and American variants. The first relates to intonation and pronunciation, another to differences in vocabulary, and the last to disparities in writing. Thus, American English is quite dissimilar compared to British English.

American English Words Missing from British English and Vise Versa

Eventually, the American colonies gained independence from Great Britain and became the United States. The American people developed linguistic differences from their British counterparts as the US continued to grow and integrate different world cultures. Phrases that already existed in British English changed. Minced beef became ground beef, for example. Additionally, new words were invented as science and technology advanced. After the invention of the automobile in the twentieth century, Americans began to fill their cars with gasoline while Brits filled theirs with petrol. Uniquely American things, such as s’mores or grits, do not have British equivalents.

Americans may like their s’mores and grits, but they may not like the Great Britain breakfast staple black pudding – a sausage containing pork, pig’s blood, and suet. On the other hand, they may better enjoy eating pasties – pies filled with meat. Moreover, some phrases are challenging to translate from British English to American English because many of them have been created from the evolving British culture. For example, the phrase “sixes and sevens” initially referenced the order of the companies in the London Livery Company but has become a common idiom meaning “muddled.”

Vocabulary Differences

Some words exist in American and British English but mean different things. One would not want to mix up an American geezer (meaning an elderly person) with a British geezer (a person of any age, typically male, who might be one’s friend or a person one thinks is “cool”). Similarly, one would not want to call an American house homely (meaning plain or ugly) if you mean the British version of the word (cozy, comfortable). Depending on where people are, they will likewise want to make sure they are referring to the correct football. Across Europe and throughout most of the world, football refers to the sport with the black-and-white ball kicked across a field (Americans call this soccer). In the United States, however, football is an entirely different sport, played by throwing an oval-shaped ball with laces. Arguably one of the essential vocabulary differences is the pervasive British acronym WC, which stands for water closet, and it is an important acronym to remember if one has to use the restroom.

American and British Spelling and Grammar

One person is responsible for some of the spelling differences that exist between American and British English. In the early nineteenth century, Webster saw the extra letters in British English words and decided that they were excessive. He created his famous dictionary in accordance with his vision, while British English remained less revised. For example, words like “color” and “favorite” in American English are spelled “colour” and “favourite” in other parts of the world, like Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Those words were borrowed from the French language roots and did not get revised spelling in early American history. Some other spelling differences include American English’s tendency to end words with -ize rather than the British -ise. The -er ending of words like theater and center is reversed in British English (theatre and centre, respectively). Other words are almost unidentifiable as cognates, such as kerb and curb.

In British English, you have to use the present perfect for recent actions that affect the present: “I’ve broken your vase”. American English accepts the present perfect as correct, but it likewise offers additional possibility of using the past simple: “I broke your vase.” American English is tolerant of present perfect, but it is not as understanding of Britain’s past participles. For example, Americans would use “gotten” as the past participle of the verb “to get”, “leaned” in the place of “leant”, and “spoiled” instead of “spoilt”: “You have got much better at breaking things! It’s because you’ve leant too hard against the furniture. Now it’s spoilt!”

Conclusion

Based on all of the above, there are a significant number of differences between the two versions of the same language. In addition to those nuances that are easy to describe and relate to the language’s vocabulary or the features of writing, one should not forget the more complex differences. The questions of differences in intonation or pronunciation in the vast number of additional regional dialects of each language are the subject of many separate pieces of research.