1.

0 INTRODUCTION
English is spoken today on all five continents as a result of colonial expansion in the last
four centuries or so. The colonial era is now definitely over but its consequences are only too
clearly to be seen in the presence of English as an official and often native language in many of
the former colonies along with more or less strongly diverging varieties which arose in particular
socio-political conditions, so-called pidgins which in some cases later developed into creoles.
Another legacy of colonialism is where English fulfils the function of a lingua franca. Many
countries, like Nigeria, use English as a lingua franca (a general means of communication)
since there are many different and mutually unintelligible languages and a need for a supraregional means of communication.
English has also come to play a central role as an international language. There are a
number of reasons for this, of which the economic status of the United States is certainly one of
the most important nowadays. Internal reasons for the success of English in the international
arena can also be given: a little bit of English goes a long way as the grammar is largely analytic
in type so that it is suitable for those groups who do not wish to expend great effort on learning a
foreign language.
Present-day geographical distribution English is spoken on all five continents. With
regard to numbers of speakers it is only exceeded by Chinese (in its various forms) and
Spanish. But in terms of geographical spread it stands at the top of the league. The distribution
is a direct consequence of English colonial policy, starting in Ireland in the late 12th century and
continuing well into the 19th century, reaching its peak at the end of the reign of Queen Victoria
and embodied in the saying the sun never sets on the British Empire. For the present overview
the varieties of English in the modern world are divided into four geographical groups as follows.

British Isles
England
Wales
Ireland
Africa
West Africa
East Africa
South Africa

America
United States (with African American
English)
Canada
The Caribbean
Asia, Pacific
South- and South-East Asia
Australia and New Zealand
The Pacific islands

In this report, the content will be emphasized on similarities and differences between
British English and American English. Two nations divided by a common language was how
George Bernard Shaw described Britain and the USA. Culturally, the two countries are further
apart than we might be tempted to think.

2.0 SIMILARITIES
The two languages are very similar, so much that it is very easy to understand between
the two countries. The languages do not need translation due to writing in what is called
standard English. Standard English is the written English format used in all three countries
making it very versatile and easy to understand. There only a handful of similarities between
American English and British English. There are actually more difference than there are
similarities.
3.0 DIFFERENCES
But there are differences between American English and British English in term of :
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)

Vocabulary,
Pronunciation and Dialects,
Spelling and
Grammar.

Here are some of the instances for each of the aspect stated above.
(i)

Vocabulary

There are plenty of examples of words that are different in the US English and British
English and it can be interesting how these differences came to exist in the first place. Some
words became necessary long after the USA gained independence and no longer looked to
London for guidance. Varities of vocabulary exist in many terms such as in automotive
vocabulary, sports and many more.

For example in automotive vocabulary :

Meanwhile, in sports vocabulary :

British English
boot
bonnet
pavement
petrol
car park

American English

British English

football

American football

soccer

football

hockey

ice hockey

field hockey

hockey

movies

films/pictures

movie theater

cinema

There are dozens of other words which vary for the same reason. There are another group of
words that vary in the two countries for historical reasons. The American word fall predates the
British autumn, which only became the favoured British English word after the American civil
war, when French was highly fashionable. The USA kept the older word. The same is true with
candy (sweets in Britain) and faucet (tap in Britain). Meanwhile some older English words like
fortnight, meaning two weeks, have fallen out of use in the USA, but are still in common use in
Britain and the Commonwealth countries.

(ii)

Pronunciation and Dialects

Educated people from almost anywhere in the English-speaking world can talk to each other
without serious difficulty. American English is much more homogenous than British English,
meaning it is often harder to tell where in the USA someone is from just by hearing their accent.
Linguists have identified somewhere between 6 and 25 American dialects, although the major
divisions are between Northern, Midland and Southern dialects, which are roughly grouped
together.

American history is a history of migration, both from overseas and within the country, so accents
constantly mixed as people moved around the country. A couple of things make American
pronunciation distinct from British, notably that most varieties of American English are rhotic,
meaning that the r sound is nearly always pronounced anywhere in a word, which it isnt in most
British dialects. So the word butter, for example, ends with an r sound in most US varieties, with
an uh sound in most British varieties (although not in Scotland, Ireland or the south-west of
England).

There is greater variety of dialects in Great Britain because the language developed over a
millennium and a half, from a mix of languages spoken by various settlers from elsewhere in
Europe. Families stayed in the same place for generations. This meant that the language
developed differently from town to town. Liverpool and Manchester, for example, have highly
distinct accents despite being less than 60km apart.
(iii)

Spelling

Noah Webster, compiler of the first major dictionary of American English in the early 19th
century, made a number of "simplifications" in the spelling. These are now standard in the U.S.,
but generally not used elsewhere. British English doubles the final consonant in some words
when adding an ending, for example in "traveller". American English usually spells it "traveler".
British English changes a "C" to an "S" to distinguish a noun from a verb. To give a better view,
here is the instance,James Bond has a "licence" to kill, and was "licensed" after qualifying as a
spy. The American form always uses the "S".

American usage drops the "U" in "-our" endings :

British

color

colour

harbor

harbour

On top of that, words borrowed from French keep the French "-re" ending in British English, but
get changed to the more phonetic "-er" in American English :
American

British

center

centre

theater

theatre

liter

litre

In British English, a "metre" is a unit of length while a "meter" is a measuring instrument. In

British

dreamed

dreamt

spelled

spelt

burned

burnt

learned

learnt

dove

dived

The man chiefly responsible for these differences was Noah Webster for he wanted to simplify
English spelling and saw the political benefits of a new country having its own language. It is
useful to learn both British and American English forms, but a good recommendation is to aim
for consistency in your spelling.
(iv)

Grammar
i.
Tense

In British English, the present perfect tense is used a lot more than in American English.
Present perfect tense is used to describe a past event that has present consequences, but in
American English, the simple past tense is normally used. For example:

American English

British English

Robert feels sick, he ate too much

Robert feels sick, he has eaten too much

I have to leave now

I have got to leave now

I already saw that movie

I have already seen that movie

You missed Sarah. She just left

You've missed Sarah. She's just left

ii.

verbs

Some verbs that are regular in British English are irregular in American English.
American English

British English

She wetted her hair before washing it

She wet her hair before washing it

All the shoes fitted in to the shelves

All the shoes fit in to the shelves

With verbs of perception such as senses are used independently in American English
whereas British English speakers will use 'can' or 'could'.
American English

British English

I smelled the flowers

I could smell the flowers

I heard the birds outside

I could hear the birds outside

I see the beach

I can see the beach

In British English, many past simple verbs can end in 'ed' or in 't', but in American
English the ending of 'ed' is normally preferred.
American English

British English

She learned to play the piano

She learnt to play the piano

He always dreamed of being a footballer

iii.

He always dreamt of being a footballer

Collective Nouns

When referring to groups of people, collective nouns are treated differently in American
and British English.
American English

British English

The audience is very quiet

The audience are very quiet

The government is making a decision

The government are making a decision

Metallica is playing in London tonight.

Metallica are playing in London tonight.

Our team is here to help.

Our team are here to help.

The British people tend to treat collective nouns as plural whereas Americans treat them
as singular which is technically correct.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Although these differences have been pointed out it is important to understand that not
all American native speakers of English use these differences. It is also important to realise that
one type of English is not better than another. They are both valid. It is important however to be
aware of these differences.

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