“We (the British and American) are two countries separated by a common language.”
G.B. Shaw
British and American English are both variants of World English .The are more similar than different especially with “educated” and “scientific” English. Most divergence can be ascribed to differing histories and cultural development.
They are both the reference norms for English spoken, written and taught in the rest of the world. The English speaking members of the Commonwealth of Nations often naturally follow the Standard British English, although the dialects and idioms may differ.
American English has grown steadily in an international significance since the World War II., parallel to the growth of US political, economic, technical and cultural influence worldwide.
American English is currently the dominant influence largely due to the following:
- Population: the US vs. Great Britain
- Magnitude of the publishing industry
- Magnitude of global mass media and media technology influence
- Appeal of American pop culture on language habits
- International political and economic position of the US
There are many categories of difference between standard American English (SAM) and Standard British English (SBE). Following are the principal categories and examples that students may come across the most:
1. Spelling
- Color (Br.) - colour
- Cheque - check
- Ageing - aging
- Tyre - tire
- Humor - humour
- lavor - flavour
- Traveling - traveling
- licence - license
Words ending in -ise (Br.) - ize (Am.) - recognise - recognize
2. Use of the Present Perfect
In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment.
Ex.: I have lost my wallet. Can you help me look for it?
I have just had dinner.
In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my wallet. Can you help me look for it?
I just had dinner.
It the SBE the above would be considered incorrect, however both forms are accepted in SAE.
3. Possession
There are two forms to express possession in English “have” and “have got”
While both forms are correct and accepted in both SBE and SAE. “have got” is more preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English use “have”
Ex.: Do you have a car? x Have you got a car?
He doesn’t have any books x He hasn’t got any books
4. Past participle
- got (Br.) gotten burnt burned
- learnt learned spelt spelled
- dream dreamed leant- leaned
5. Prepositions
- at the weekend (Br.) on the weekend
- in a team on a team
- please write to me soon please write me soon
6. Different words, same meaning
- Autumn (Br.) fall petrol - gas
- Ground floor first floor class - grade
- Rubbish - garbage tin - can
Of course we can find many more variations that would suggest how different the two languages are. But the direction of modern world tend to prove otherwise. New media and globalization enable more and more people to actively exchange their experience and ideas and therefore the differences in the versions of English are becoming less strict. The most important rule for both teachers and students is trying to be consistent in the usage of the language (pronunciation, spelling, grammar) but at the same time being open to changes depending particular culture, location and other attributes that change the way English is spoken or written.
Radka Cardaci
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