English varies from country to country, from region to region even. If you go to England, the people of London will speak completely differently to the people from say Manchester. This includes things like pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary amongst other things.
There are many differences between British and American English. I’ve made some graphics so you can see the main differences. Let’s take start by taking a look at how the vocabulary differs from British English to Amrican English.
vocabulary differences
Are you wearing trousers or pants?
Does a baby use a dummy or a pacifier?
Do you like football or soccer?
Do you walk on the pavement or sidewalk?
Scroll through the list and see how our language differs.
clothes vocabulary differences
While we’re on the subject of vocabulary differences… Let’s take a peek at the clothes vocabulary that differs between the 2 countries.
spelling differences
We spell some words differently than in American English. Here is a table of the most noticable spelling differences.
the use of collective nouns
Collective nouns refer to a group of people or things as one unit. Check out this slide for a difference between British and American English.
the differences with verb endings
There are some differences in the verbs used between the two countries. You will notice in the slide below that some verbs are irregular in British English, but they are regular in American English.
This also affects the pronunciation. The pronunciation of the past tense verb and participle in British English will be voiceless.
The pronunciation of the past tense and participle verb in American English will be voiceless.
the use of present perfect
British English favours the present perfect whereas American English prefers auxiliary + infinitive.
the use of ‘have’ and ‘take’
We also use the verbs ‘have’ and ‘take’ differently. Let’s take a look.
the differences in prepositions used
Not only do you have to learn prepositions in British English, but also in American English. Hooray!
telling the time in British and American English
We also tell the time differently too. Don’t worry, there isn’t much difference.
differences between the modal/auxiliary verbs used
Brush up on your modal and auxiliary verb knowledge and revise the differences.
