Differences Between British English And American English

British English And American English Exercises

Exercise -4

Exercises

Differences Between British English And American English

British English and American English represent the two main dialects of the English language. There are some differences in language usage and pronunciation between English-speaking countries. Here are some key differences between these two dialects:

1- Pronunciation:

– In British English, “r” sounds are pronounced more prominently, while in American English, they are often softer or sometimes not pronounced at all.

– The stress and sound structure of certain words can also vary. For example, the word “schedule” is pronounced as “shed-yool” in British English, while it is pronounced as “sked-yool” in American English.

2- Vocabulary and Spelling Differences:

– British English and American English have some differences in vocabulary. Certain words may have different terms or meanings. For example, “lift” (British English) is “elevator” in American English, and “biscuit” (British English) is “cookie” in American English.

– Spelling can also differ in some cases. For instance, British English uses “colour” while American English uses “color,” and British English uses “centre” while American English uses “center.”

3- Grammar:

– Both dialects generally follow the same grammar rules, but there are some variations in usage. For instance, the present perfect tense is commonly used in British English, while American English often uses the simple past tense in similar contexts.

It’s important to note that these differences are not absolute and there is a considerable amount of overlap between the two dialects. Individuals in each country may also have their own regional variations.

British English And American English

BE	AE	BE	AE
aluminium	aluminum	axe	ax
cheque	check	gaol	Jail
goodbye	goodby	grey	gray
judgement	judgment	kerb	cerb
pyjamas	plow	through	thru
tyre	tire	copies	copys
leaves	leafs

Vocabulary

BE	AE	BE	AE
accumulator	battery	pavement	sidewalk
autumn	fall	petrol	gas, gasoline
barrister	attorney	pictures	movie
biscuit	cake, cookie	post	mail
block of flats	apartment house	puncture	blow- out
chemist’s	drugstore	queue	line
chips	French fries	return	round trip
cinema	movie theater	ring up	call up
cooker	oven	rubber	eraser
curtains	drapes	rubbish	garbage
flat	apartment	shop	store
garden	yard	spirits	liquor
grain	corn (cereals)	surname	last name
handbag	purse	sweets	candy
holiday	vacation	tap	faucet
hostel	dormitory	telegramme	wire
ill	sick	timetable	schedule
label	tag	toilet	bathroom
letterbox	mailbox	torch	restroom
lift	elevator	trousers	flashlight
lorry	track	underground	pants, slacks
luggage	baggage	undershirt	subway
mark	grade	wardrobe	vest
million	billion		closet

Grammar Review

British English	American English
Present Perfect	Past Simle
I have just had lunch I have already posted the letter. I haven’t told them	I just had lunch. I already mailed the letter. I didn’t tell them about it yet.
Future Perfect (Progressive)	Future Simple
What will you have done by the time you go to bed tonight? How long will you have been doing that?	What will you do by the time you go to bed tonight? How long will you do that?
I’ve got I haven’t got Have you got?	I have I don’t have Do you have?
Questions
Do you know anything? Have you ever been to London? Do you need a job?	You know something? Ever been in London? Need a job?
hospital in a team at the week-end/at week-ends different to write to someone	the hospital on a team on the week-end/on week-ends different than write someone
Irregular Verbs
burn-burn-burnt learn-learnt-learnt get-got-got prove-proved-proved	burn- burned-burned learn-learned-learned get-got-gotten prove-proved-proven
Should
I demand that I should be released.	I demand that I be released.

Colloquialism

BE	AE	BE	AE
Yes	Yep, Yup, Yeah	want to	wanna
No	Nope, Naw, Hah	have got (have)	gotta
You	Ya	let me	lemme
have to	hafta	out of	outta
don’t you	don’tcha	give me	gimmie
going to	gonna	I don’t know	I dunno

Exercise-1

Match the words in American English on the left with their British
equivalents on the right.

American English	British English
1. apartment 2. candy 3. cookies 4. drapes 5. elevator 6. eraser 7. faucet 8. flashlight 9. French fries 10. garbage 11. purse 12. vest	1. lift 2. chips 3. handbag 4. undershirt 5. rubber 6. rubbish 7. sweets 8. biscuits 9. tap 10. flat 11. torch 12. curtaines

1
10

2
7

3
8

4
12

5
1

6
5

7
9

8
11

9
2

10
6

11
3

12
4

Exercise-2

Match the words in American English on the left with their British
equivalents on the right.

American English	British English
1. baggage 2. blow-out 3. gasoline 4. round trip 5. line 6. sidewalk 7. subway 8. tag 9. truck 10. vacation 11. wire 12. yard	1. holiday 2. telegramme 3. garden 4. pavement 5. luggage 6. label 7. petrol 8. underground 9. queue 10. puncture 11. lorry 12. return

1
5

2
10

3
7

4
12

5
9

6
4

7
8

8
6

9
11

10
1

11
2

12
3