American vs British English

American vs British English

What are the differences?

Varieties

• American English as well as British English are two different varieties of English.

• They have many similarities, and most speakers of British English will understand American English pretty well, and vice versa.

• But... there are also many differences!

Open Ended

What other major varieties of English do you know?

What variety is this; AmE or BrE?

- Oh no, did you hear the rumour? It is said that our aeroplane is broken and the flight is cancelled… 

- Bollocks! Let’s go and buy some sweets and a few litres of fizzy drink while we are waiting!

- Alright, I’m just going to the loo first.

Multiple Select

Which variety is this; AmE or BrE?

"Oh no, did you hear the rumour? It is said that our aeroplane is broken and the flight is cancelled…"

"Bollocks! Let’s go and buy some sweets and a few litres of fizzy drink while we are waiting!"

"Alright, I’m just going to the loo first."

• American English (AmE)

• British English (BrE)

Open Ended

How would you write this in American English?

"Oh no, did you hear the rumour? It is said that our aeroplane is broken and the flight is cancelled… "

"Bollocks! Let’s go and buy some sweets and a few litres of fizzy drink while we are waiting!"

"Alright, I’m just going to the loo first."

Sometimes it's the spelling that differs

AmE - BrE

Favor - favour (tjänst)

Deciliter - decilitre

Tire - tyre (däck)

Flavor - flavour (smak)

Center - centre (centrum)

Color - colour (färg)

Airplane - aeroplane (flygplan)

Canceled - cancelled (inställt)

Note that the ground form of the word is cancel in both varieties

Sometimes it's the spelling that differs

AmE - BrE
Theater - theatre (teater)

Jewelry - jewellry (smycken)

Realize - realise

Rumor - rumour (rykte)

Mustache - moustache (mustasch)

Gray - grey (grå)

Open Ended

Write your thoughts

Can you think of one or a few principles when it comes to the spelling differences between American and British English?

Write them here!

Three spelling principles

• In AmE, the suffix is often -or, while in BrE, it is -our. Example: Color - colour

• Most words ending with -re in BrE ends with -er in AmE. Example: Liter - litre

  (exception for words that ends on -cre in AmE/BrE, like mediocre)

• In AmE, words are sometimes spelled with z when spelled with s in BrE
  
  

  Or, you can say that British spelling is more complicated than American.

Sometimes, it's only the pronunciation that differs

• fast /faest/ ----- fast /fɑːst/

• tomatoe /təˈmeɪdoʊ/ ----- tomatoe /təˈmɑːtəʊ/

• (but potatoes is the same)

• walking ----- walking

Open Ended

Can you think of other words that are pronounced differently in American and British English? Write them here!

A video clip about pronunciation differences

Part 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj7o0AAfM1U

Poll

What do you think:

Would you prefer to speak with an American accent or with a British accent?

• American English, coz it's cool

• British English, because it sounds rather nice

Sometimes the words are completely different.

• Subway ----- tube (tunnelbana)

  In Britain, subway can mean a tunnel under a road, for pedestrians

  In North America, tube can mean television: “I was watching the tube in a country bar”

• Soccer ----- football (fotboll)

  In North America, football is what the rest of the world refer to as American football

• Apartment ----- flat (lägenhet)

  
  

• Candy ----- sweets (godis)

  In Britain, candy is crystallized sugar

• Pants ----- trousers (byxor)

• Underwear ----- underpants (underkläder)

• Line ----- queue (kö)

• Faucet ----- tap (kran)

• Soda ----- fizzy drink, soft drink (läsk)

  Soda can be used in both varieties, but in slightly different ways.

  
  

  
  

• Bangs ----- fringe (lugg)

  Note that bangs always are in plural, ex: “After brushing her hair and letting her bangs fall over her forehead, Jewel went into the kitchen of her apartment”

  Fringe, however, is singular: “Scott put out his cigarette in the ashtray, and wiped his hand across his forehead, pushing back his fringe”

• Truck ----- lorry (lastbil)

• Moose ----- elk (älg)

• Restroom ----- loo (toalett)

  Note that loo is more informal than restroom

  More on toilets:

  American: washroom, men's room, ladies' room, comfort station

  British: WC, water closet, public convenience, cloakroom, the Ladies, the Gents, powder room, earth closet

• Sidewalk ----- pavement (trottoar)

  In AmE, pavement is the hard surface of the road. Ex: “If John hadn't been holding onto her, she would have crashed painfully to the hard pavement of the street below her feet.”

A video clip about pronunciation differences

Part 2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj7o0AAfM1U

Multiple Choice

True or false:

Americans more often than Britons pronunce the letter "t" as "d".

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Which variety pronounces a word like "new" as n-j-u, with a j-sound?

• American English

• British English

Sometimes the grammar is different

• In AmE, “that” is used more often than “which” in constructions like this one: I was controlling the car that was first in line. 

  In BrE, it would have been I was controlling the car which was first in line.

• In informal AmE, it’s okay to say some plural nouns as singulars, for example a scissors, a scale.

More on grammar differences

• Collective nouns - for example family, government, Manchester United - are treated differently in AmE compared to BrE.

  Ex: In BrE you use a verb in the plural form when speaking about football teams, Manchester United win on penalties whereas in AmE, it would have been Manchester United wins on penalties.

Multiple Choice

Which variety spells like this?

neighbour

armour

harbour

• American English

• British English

Multiple Choice

Which variety spells like this?

Liter

Kilometer

Center

• American English

• British English

Multiple Choice

Which variety uses these words for a toilet?

Restroom

Men's room

Comfort station

• American English

• British English