British and American English

Some parts of this article use accent marks to indicate stress and pronunciation: for an explanation and table, see English spellings

Between British English and American English there are numerous differences in the areas of vocabulary, spelling, and phonology. This article compares the forms of British and American speech normally studied by foreigners: the former includes the accent known as Received Pronunciation, or RP; the latter uses Midland American English, which is normally perceived to be the least marked American dialect. Actual speech by educated British and American speakers is more varied, and that of uneducated speakers still more. Grammatical and lexical differences between British and American English are, for the most part, common to all dialects, but there are many regional differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, usage and slang, some subtle, some glaring, some rendering a sentence incomprehensible to a speaker of another variant.

American and British English both diverged from a common ancestor, and the evolution of each language is tied to social and cultural factors in each land. Cultural factors can affect one's understanding and enjoyment of language; consider the effect that slang and double entendre have on humour. A joke is simply not funny if the pun upon which it is based can't be understood because the word, expression or cultural icon upon which it is based does not exist in one's variant of English.

But it is not only humour that is affected. Items of cultural relevance change the way English is expressed locally. A person can say "I was late, so I Akii-Bua'd (from John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler) and be understood all over East Africa, but receive blank stares in Australia. Even if the meaning is guessed from context, the nuance is not grasped; there is no resonance of understanding. English is a flexible and quickly-evolving language; it simply absorbs and includes words and expressions for which there is no current English equivalent; these become part of the regional English. American English has hundreds of loan words acquired from its immigrants: these can eventually find their way into widespread use, (spaghetti, mañana), or they can be restricted to the areas in which immigrant populations live. So there can be variances between the English spoken in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. Thanks to Asian immigration, a working-class Londoner asks for a cuppa cha and receives the tea he requested. This would probably be understood in Kampala and New Delhi as well, but not necessarily in Boise, Idaho.

Cultural exchange also has an impact on language. For example, it is possible to see a certain amount of Americanization in the British English of the last 50 years. This influence is not entirely one-directional, though, as, for instance, the previously British English 'flat' for 'apartment' has gained in usage among American twenty-somethings. Similarly the American pronunciation of 'aunt' has changed during the last two decades, and it is considered classier to pronounce 'aunt' in the Commonwealth manner, even for speakers who continue to rhyme 'can't' and 'shan't' with 'ant'. Australian English is based on the language of the Commonwealth, but has also blended indigenous, immigrant and American imports.

Applying these same phenomena to the rest of the English-speaking world, and it becomes clear that though the "official" differences between Commonwealth and American English can be more or less delineated, the English language can still vary greatly from place to place.

Vocabulary

British	American
abseil	rappel
aeroplane (ãirəp-)	airplane (ãirp-)
anticlockwise	counterclockwise
aubergine	egg plant
autumn	fall, autumn
barman, barmaid	bartender
barrister [courtroom representation]	lawyer
beetroot	beet
behove	behoove
bill [invoice]	bill, check
biscuit	cookie
bonnet [of a car]	hood
boot [of a car]	trunk
braces [attached to trousers]	suspenders
brackets (round brackets; but called parentheses in the printing and publishing trades)	parentheses
break [school]	recess
caravan	trailer
car-park	parking lot
chemist	drugstore
chips (chipped potatoes)	fries, French fries
cinema	movie theater
claret	Bordeaux (wine)
cockerel, cock	rooster
coffin	coffin, casket [death]
cool-box	cooler
cornflour	cornstarch
cotton [sewing], thread	thread
courgette	zucchini
crisps (potato crisps)	chips (potato chips)
crossroads, junction	intersection
curriculum vitae (CV)	résumé
curtains	drapes, draperies, curtains
dishcloth, tea towel	dishcloth, dishrag
draughts [board game]	checkers
drawing room [mostly obsolete: class connotations], sitting room, living room	living room
driving licence	driver's license
dual carriageway	divided highway, freeway, Interstate
dumb	mute
dustbin	trash can, garbage can
dustman	garbage collector, garbageman
eiderdown	comforter
estate agent	real estate agent, realtor
estate car, estate wagon	station wagon
film	movie
fire engine	fire truck
flat	flat, apartment
fortnight, two weeks	two weeks
fortnightly	bi-weekly
football (Association football), soccer	soccer
foyer	lobby
full stop	period
gammon	ham, smoked ham, bacon
garden	yard
give way [road sign]	yield
grill	broil
guard’s van	caboose
High Street	Main Street
hire	rent
hock	Rhine wine (white)
holiday	vacation
hoover, vacuum, vacuum cleaner	vacuum cleaner
icebox, freezer	freezer
imperial (measurement system)	English, US Common
ironmonger, ironmongery	hardware dealer, hardware store, hardware
knickers	panties
lift	elevator
lend	loan (as a verb)
lorry	truck
main subject [in education]	major
maize	corn [one type]
make redundant	lay off
marrow	squash
maths	math
motorway	Interstate, divided highway, freeway
mud guard	fender [of a bike]
nappy	diaper
note [cash]	bill
nought, zero	cipher, zero
noughts and crosses	tic-tac-toe
off-licence	liquor store
pants, underpants	underwear, underpants
pavement	sidewalk
petrol(eum)	gasoline, gas
plaster, sticking plaster	Band-Aid™, adhesive bandage
primary school	elementary school
queue, queue up	stand in line, wait in line
railway	railroad, railway
rise [pay]	raise
road	road, pavement
rubber	eraser
rubbish	trash, garbage
rug	blanket
rusticated, sent down, expelled, excluded	expelled, kicked out (of school)
sacked	fired
saloon [car]	sedan
silencer [car]	muffler
skip	dumpster
solicitor [mainly deskwork; cf barrister]	lawyer
spanner	wrench
subsidiary subject, secondary subject [in education]	minor
subway	pedestrian tunnel
swede, turnip [vegetable]	turnip, rutabaga [depending on region]
sweets	candy
sweetshop	candy store
tap [water]	tap, faucet
tarmac(adam)	tar
tea [sometimes]	supper, dinner
tick	check [verb], checkmark [noun]
tiffin	lunch, luncheon
timber	lumber
tin	can
tomato sauce, ketchup	ketchup
torch [with a battery]	flashlight
trainers	sneakers
treacle	molasses
trousers	trousers, pants
underground (railway)	subway
vest	undershirt
waistcoat	vest
wallet	pocket-book
windscreen	windshield
wing	fender [of a car]
wood louse	pill bug
year, form [school]	grade
zed	zee

Musical notes

Most of the English-speaking world has crotchets, minims, semibreves and breves; American English calls these quarter notes, half notes, whole notes and double whole notes respectively.

Usage

• The expression 'I guess', meaning 'I think', common in American English, is not used in British English.
• In British, one goes 'to hospital' or 'to university'; in American, one goes 'to the hospital' or 'to the university'. However, one goes 'to college' in both.
• American English generally prefers the singular for collective nouns: 'the government is considering' where British has 'the government are...' Thus, while 'the United States is topping the medals table', 'England are losing another Test Match'.
• Toss and flip: in British English, one tosses a coin, but in American, it is usually flipped.
• In British, an ass (rarely used nowadays) is a donkey or a fool; in American it is used instead of 'arse'.
• In British, mad means crazy; in American angry.
• In British, to wash up, or to do the washing up, is to do the dishes; in American however it is to wash oneself, where British English would say to wash one's face or have a wash.
• What Americans call public schools are in Britain 'state schools', because 'public school' is the British term for a non-profit-making independent school, of which Eton is the most famous example.
• 'Uptown' and 'downtown' are not widely used outside America. In British English, the former is rendered variously as 'in the suburbs' or 'on the outskirts', 'suburban' or 'residential', whichever is most appropriate. 'Down town' (two words) means to or in the city or town centre.
• American English usually omits the 'and' in numerals: 'two thousand eight', where BrE has 'two thousand and eight'.
• British English has 'UK' and 'US', American English 'U.S.' and 'U.K.'
• A frying-pan can also be called a fry-pan or a skillet in American English.
• In British, 'sport' is used as an uncountable noun where Americans talk of 'sports'.
• In British, the 'first floor' is the first floor up, that is, above the ground floor, which is at street level. In American 'ground floor' may occasionally be used that way, but is more often figurative ('I got in on the ground floor', that is, at the beginning); it is the first floor that is at street level.
• British English introduces a motion by tabling it; American postpones discussion by tabling it (that is, shelving it).
• In British, 'bacteria' are plural (of 'bacterium'); in American, 'bacterias'...
• Anymore' can be one word in American, and mean 'nowadays', even with a positive verb, in some varieties of AmE.

The date

There are no hard and fast rules, but Americans tend to put the month before the day, so where Britons will more often say 'the thirtieth of July', an American might prefer 'July the thirtieth' or even simply 'July thirtieth', which one would hardly ever hear from a Briton. And so in writing, British English tends toward '30 July 2009' where American English usually has 'July 30, 2009', with an important comma.

Spelling

There are a number of spelling differences, some systemic (most notably in suffixes), and others in individual words.

Suffixes

The most striking differences between the spelling of American English and British English are in these suffixes. (The accents, which are not used in English, show stress and pronunciation: see English spellings for a table and English phonemes for a comparison with the International Phonetic Alphabet.)

British	-	American	-
-ence	defénce	-ense	defénse
	lîcence noun		lîcense
	offénce		offénse
-l + l + suffix	dîalling	-l + suffix	dîaling
	trávelled		tráveled
	màrvellous		màrvelous
-l	fulfíl	-ll	fulfíll
	enrôl		enrôll
	instål		inståll
	instíl		instíll
-ógue	cátalogue	-óg	cátalog
	dîalogue		dîalog
-our	clámour	-or	clámor
	còlour		còlor
	fâvour		fâvor
	flâvour		flâvor
	hàrbour		hàrbor
	hónour		hónor
	lâbour		lâbor
	ráncour		ráncor
	(Many words, however, have -or in both: dóctor, asséssor, sqùalor.)
-p + suffix	kídnápping	-pp + suffix	kídnáping
	wörshípped		wörshíped
-re	céntre	-er	cénter
	mêtre length		mêter all
	manoeûvre		maneûver (also minus the o)
	ôchre (ch as /k/)		ôcher (ch as /k/)
	scéptre		scépter
	thêatre		thêater
	(But in both: mêter machine; eûchre *yûker)
-tt + suffix	carburétted	-t + suffix	carburéted

-ise and -ize

Spellings with -ise are common in British English, but -ize has been for centuries the standard spelling of Oxford University Press (in contrast to Cambridge UP which uses either form at the option of the author) and there is some evidence to suggest that the -ise variant predominated in the UK only after 1945; thus, a spelling such as rêalize is not a good example of an 'American' spelling. The typical 'British' spelling reflects the French spelling from which these words were borrowed, though many originally came from Greek -ιζειν (-izein, with a zeta) via Latin. Some words, such as ádvertise, can supposedly only be spelt with -s- regardless of which side of the Atlantic they are used; however, spellings such as ádvertize are readily found nowadays.

ae and oe become e

In Latin and Greek words where British has ae or oe, American English usually has a solitary e: aesthétic is esthétic and foêtus fêtus.

Other spellings

Other individual spelling variations are:

British	American
ádze	ádz
alumínium (-yəm)	alûminum
ánalyse	ánalyze
áxe	áx
behôve	behoôve
chéque money	chéck all meanings
chéquered	chéckered
connéxion, connéction	connéction only (cf. compléxion in both)
côsy	côzy
defénce	defénse, dêfense (the latter pronunciation is for sport only, but always the different spelling)
diaéresis (both *dî-érisis)	diéresis
dràught cold, net, liquids, game, horse	dráft all meanings
ër	üh
fíllet	fílet
furŏrê	fûrŏr
grèy	grây
jeŵellery	jeŵelry
júdgement, júdgment	júdgment only
kílomêtre	kilómeter
largésse only	largésse, largéss *larzhéss
môuld	môld
moustàche	mústáche
múm mother	móm
ómelette	ómelet
páralyse	páralyze
paêdo-	pédo-
plòugh	plòw
práctíse verb (British English noun is práctíce)	práctíce: American English uses only práctíce, reflecting the pronunciation (not -îze/-îse).
prôgramme arts	prógram
pyjàmas	pajàmas
refléxion, refléction	refléction only (cf. compléxion in both)
roûble	rûble
scéptical	sképtical
skílful	skíllful
súlphur, súlphate, súlphide	súlfur, súlfate, súlfide
tŷre car	tîre car, tired
wílful	wíllful

Also: dôve is an American alternative to dîved as past tense of dîve, with the same spelling as the bird dòve; matinée (pronounced mátinèe) can have a written é accent in British English but no accent in American English.

The spelling dísc is preferred in Britain, except for computer disks, which are often spelt thus, while American prefers dísk, mainly confining the -c spelling to musical recordings. [1]

Initial capital letters

Champâgne *shám-pâin and Cointreau *quàn-trô have initial capitals in American English, as they are proprietary names; in British they both normally begin with a lower-case letter.

Pronunciation

The pronunciations discussed here are standard British (also called Received Pronunciation), which is associated with London and the Home Counties, and General American, heard in much of the United States and Canada.

Postvocalic r

Most strikingly, ‘postvocalic’ r, that is to say r after a vowel and in the same syllable, is silent in British English (thus merely marking the tense vowel, e.g. càrd, *càd, versus cád) but is pronounced in American English, in words like fàrm, càrve, cürve, swërve, fïrst, nŏrth, cŏrd, bïrth, ëarth. For some speakers of both, it is heard finally before a vowel in the next word: Mŷ càr ísn't réady (*rízzent) and even an invisible 'r' can be heard: relâtions betwêen Chîna(r)and Rússia; this however is less common in British English than it used to be.

In American English an r between two vowels can have an effect on the first vowel: márry can sound to British ears like Mãry; the e in véry can sound like a stressed schwa.

British English has -ór- before a vowel but American English always has -ŏr-: British English órifice, órigin, fóreign, American English ŏrifice, ŏrigin, fŏreign. So móral can in American English sound to British ears like *mŏrrl.

British English úr is American English ür: British English coúrage, cúrrency American English coürage, cürrency, and British English òr is similarly altered: British English wòrry, American wörry.

à versus á

British English à is very often in American English a long á: cán’t, lást, fást, hálf, ráther, láther. But not in fàther, Coloràdo, Chicàgo (Sh-), pajàmas (British English pyjàmas) nor before r: fàrm, stàrve nor before -lm: càlm, pàlm, bàlm. And in some place names where British English has á, à is preferred by many Americans: one hears Milàn, Vietnàm, Ugànda, Srì Lànka and Ànkara, where BrE has Milán, etc.

-ary, ory and -ony

The suffix -ary has a silent a in traditional British English, but in American English it sounds like an é: díctionãry, vocábulãry (*dícshənéry, vəcábyəléry). Indeed, featuring as it does in so much in pop music, the American English sound has become increasingly common in British English. (A similar example is Rôsemary, pronounced with a schwa a in BrE, but as if two words, Rôse Mãry, in American.) This is also the sound of both varieties in the equivalent adverbs: necessãrily (*néssəssérily).

Similarly in British English labóratory American English láboratŏry one o is stressed, rendering the other redundant: British English *labóratry, American English *lábratŏry. Similarly American cátegŏry, perémptŏry, stâtionéry and mónastéry; and also céremôny, álimôny and ácrimôny where British English has silence or schwa for o or e.

However, both varieties have a schwa or no sound for the a when the preceding syllable is the stressed one: suppleméntary (*súpləméntəry), compliméntary (*compləméntəry), but there is a difference where there is an o: AmE perémptŏry, BrE *perémptəry.

Differing e sound

British lêver is American léver; also in inflected forms: lêverage/léverage.

Similarly, económic, evolûtion, ecológical, equiláteral, methane and pederasty have é- in American, ê- in British.

Short o

The [ɒ] (ó) vowel in British English hót does not exist for the vast majority of American English speakers, as it developed following the establishment of colonies in the New World (Australians do use it, since Australia was colonised later). American English may employ a variety of vowels in this position, depending on the phonological context and the speaker's regional background - [ɔ], [ɑ] or others in roughly the same area of the mouth, low and towards the back. They also make distinctions through the use of r, which for British English speakers are homophonous: cŏurt and cåught both use [ɔː], whereas American English speakers pronounce the r in the former: [kɔɹt] and [kɔt], for example. So also, American hót sounds like British heàrt, American póssible like British pàssable.

Short u and its o grapheme

The [ʌ] (ú) vowel in British English hút does not exist in American English: a stressed schwa is used instead, as it is also when the spelling is o, as in òther.

wh-

In words beginning wh- (apart from who, which is pronounced *hoô in both varieties) the h is ignored in British English but sounded before the w in American English, so that whén and whístle are pronounced *hwén and *hwíssle.

-ile

The suffix -île in British English is usually schwa in American English so that vólatîle is pronounced *vólatle, stérîle *stérral, frágîle *frájle and míssîle projectile *míssle, exactly like míssal prayers.

-duce

The suffix -dûce, as in redûce, indûce, prodûce verb and próduce noun is -dyoôss or -joôss in British English but can also be -doôss in American English.

-age

In three words from French with the suffix -age, where British English has an anglicised version, American English prefers to keep the French model, so á in the first syllable cedes its stress to the suffix (this is not to be confused with the cockney pronunciation of, for example, gárage as *garridge):

British	American
bárràge (-àzh)	barràge (*bəràzh)
gáràge (-àzh)	garàge (*gəràzh)
mássàge (-àzh)	massàge (*məssàzh)

-t- and -d- between vowels

In American English -t- and -d- between vowels, of which the first vowel is stressed, are voiced and sound like -d-, though actually the sound is a [ɾ] (a 'tap' or 'flap', i.e. a very rapid contact just behind the top front teeth): lâter *lâ[ɾ]er, bútter *bú[ɾ]er, líttle *lí[ɾ]le, shoôting *shoô[ɾ]ing; British English speakers keep these as -t- or -d-. In American English twénty, the -t- blends with the -n- and disappears altogether. The 'flap' often appears as the Scottish English pronunciation of /r/. British English speakers often partially or completely 'glottalise' -t- where American English speakers produce a flap. This glottal stop [ʔ] is common in London English, for example: *bú[ʔ]er for bútter. It also often replaces /t/ at the end of a syllable: *ca[ʔ] for cát. The glottal stop, which is formed by the vocal cords briefly coming together to restrict airflow, is not a phoneme of English and so speakers will usually identify it as a variant of -t-.

-euse

This ending has two pronunciations in American English: in words such as American English 'masseûse, the final e can also be sounded: chanteûsê. British English has only the French-style massëuse, rhyming with the masculine plural form massëurs.

-ative

When preceded by an unstressed syllable, this ending has a secondary stress on the â in American, which is schwa in British, so American authŏritâtive is British authóritative, with a schwa, -tət-, and likewise British méditative is American méditâtive.

-rsion

Words with this ending, such as vërsion and excürsion, have the 'sh' sound in British and the 'zh' sound in American.

Other pronunciations

This table lists further examples of pronunciation differences. See the spelling section above for a table of items, such as kílomêtre/kilómeter, that are also spelt differently. The equals sign, =, means that the following word has the same pronunciation.

British	American
accòmplice	accómplice
accòmplish	accómplish
addréss	áddress
ádult	adúlt
advërtísement	ádvertîsement (cf. ádvertise in both)
aesthétic (ís-)	aesthétic, esthétic (és-)
Ál-Qàêda (-Kŷda, or stress on ê)	Ál-Qâeda
ámateur (eur as schwa: *ámətə)	ámateur also; or various more phonetic variants, typically ámateûr (*ámatyûer)
ámbergrìs	ámbergrís
amén (à-)	amén (â-)
amênity	amênity or aménity
ántì-	ántî-
ápparâtus	apparátus
áristocrat	arístocrat
ásthma (*ássma)	*ázma
àunt	áunt uncle (= ánt insect)
authóritative	authŏritâtive
ávalànche (-lànsh)	ávalánche
Baghdád	Bághdad
báton	batón
Bërnard	Bernàrd (though not always)
bêta	bèta
Bïrmíngham (-íngəm)	Bïrmínghám (-íng-hám)
bòrough (*búrə)	bòrôugh town (= búrrow ground)
càdre (-der)	càdrè
cándidate (-ət)	cándidâte
capíllary (kəp-)	cápillãry
Caribbêan (*Cárri-bêən)	Caríbbêan (-bêən)
Cécil (*Séssle)	Cêcil (*Sêazle)
cérebral	cerêbral
chágrín (sh-)	chagrìn (*shəgrêen)
chámois (*shámwà)	chámois (*shámmy)
charàde (sh-)	charâde (sh-)
cigarétte	cígarette
clìchè	clichè (where the American is closer to the French; the French accent may be written: cliché)
cómplex	compléx (adjective: noun is as British)
cómbatant	combátant
cómrâde	cómráde
córrugate	cörrugate
coyôtê	*kŷôat
dâta	dáta
Dâvíes (= Dâvis)	Dâvìês (-êez)
débris (*débrêe or dâybrêe)	*dəbrêe; the French accent may be written: débris
dépôt (*dêpo)	*déppo
derby (à)	dërby
detérrence, -nt	detërrence, -nt
dôcîle	dócile (*dóssle)
dýnasty	dŷnasty
Edinburgh (-brə)	(-bórô)
eîther	êither
entreprenëur	entrepreneûr (both ón-)
êra	éra (= British English érror)
erâse (-z)	erâse (-s)
ërr	érr (= American English ãir)
évidently	evidéntly
explêtive	éxpletive
fâkír	*fəkír
fålcon	fálcon
fígure (*fígə)	can be *fígyùr
fíllet rhymes with bíllet, t pronounced	*filây (after French)
gàla	gâla
génuíne	génuîne
gêyser water (= gêezer man)	geŷser
grimâce	grímace
hárass	haráss
hegémony (híg-)	hégemôny (héj-)
hërb	*ërb
hygiênic	hygiénic
húrricane (a as schwa: -kən)	hürricâne
ídyll idyllic	îdyll = îdle lazy = îdol god
improvisâtion (o as schwa, -əvî-)	improvisâtion (-óví-)
inquîry = enquîry	ínquiry = enquiry (*ínkwəry)
îron (*îən)	*îrən or *îərn
jágûar (*jágyûə)	jáguàr (*jágwàr)
Kósovo	Kôsovo
labóratory	láboratŏry
Lébanon (-ən)	Lébanón
léisure	lêisure
lieuténant (léft-)	(lût-)
massëuse (based on French)	masseûse
Maurice (= Mórris)	Maurìce (*Mərêece, French-style)
mãyor town (= mãre horse)	mâyor
médicine (*médsən)	*médísən
mêthane	méthane
moôg	*môag *môgue (can be capital M in both)
Móscôw	can be Móscòw
múltì-	múltî-
Mùslim	Múslim
nåusea (-zìə)	(-shə)
neîther	nêither
nónchalant (ch as sh)	*nonshalàn
óccult	occúlt
offénce	óffense (sport only, but always)
páprika	paprìka
partisán (-zán)	pàrtisan (-zən)
pâtent	pátent
pátronize, -ise	pâtronize, -ise
penchant (*pànshàn)	pénchant
përfume	perfûme
prêdecessor	prédecessor
prémier government	premìêr (= premìêre)
prémiére performance	premìêre (= premìêr)
prívacy	prîvacy (but prîvate in both)
prôcess	prócess
prôgress noun	prógress noun: progréss verb in both
Pûerto Rìco (Pŏr-)	Puérto Rìco (Pwãir-)
qùadruplet (second u as schwa)	quadrûplet (similarly with quínt- etc.)
râbid	rábid
récŏrd noun (rhyming with cŏrd)	récord (o as schwa: -kərd)
renâissànce	rénaissànce
resëarch	rêsëarch
resŏurce	rêsource
réspîte	réspíte
rodèo	rôdêo
roûte journey (= roôt plant)	ròute (= ròut victory)
sálon	salón
sándwich (-ídge)	(-ích)
scenàrio	scenãrio, scenário
schédule (shé-)	(ské-)
simultâneous (sí-)	(sî-)
spínach (-ídge)	(-ích)
stâtus	státus
stràta	strâta (= British English strâighter)
stràtum	strâtum
thòrough (*thúrə)	thòrôugh
tomàto	tomâto (cf. potâto in both, ‘potàto’ being an invention of Cole Porter)
tŏurnament	toürnament
tŏurniquet (-nikây)	toürniquet (-nikít)
ván Gógh (*Góff = Góugh)	ván Gôgh (= gô come)
vàse (*vàhz)	vâse (*vâce, rhyming with báse, or *vâze, rhyming with hâze)
vërmouth	vermoûth
vërsion (-sh-)	vërsion (-zh-)
vítamin	vîtamin
wåltz (-lss)	wåltz as spelt
yógurt	yôgurt

See also

• British English
• American English
• English language
• Commonwealth English
• English spellings