Clear and Concise Writing: Self-confidence and not software-dependence

1

UK and US English

"Comments before and after a NATO meeting in Brussels signalled a hardening of western determination to back Ukraine, as many denounce the Russian attacks on civilian targets as war crimes. (Euronews Russian missiles strike Ukraine & nuclear tensions escalate" By Stefan Grobe, 14/10/2022).

"Elon Musk signaled he wants to settle with Twitter. Is the drama really over? Many legal experts had predicted that Musk’s efforts to wriggle out of the deal would end in legal defeat." By Benjamin Powers, 04/10/2022 https://www.grid.news/story/technology / 2022/10/04/elon-musk-signaled-he-wants-to-settle-with-twitter-is-the-drama-really-over/).

Depending on the spellchecker, software, or website you use, words that are correct might be identified as incorrect.

One of the questions my students often ask is: Which is better: British or American English? Most of them write in UK English but use many US words when they speak. My response is, They are both English, but you should use them consistently in written communication. If you know whether your reader is American or British, use the right kind accordingly. Australians tend to use both, especially when speaking; for instance, they talk about soccer (as in the US) and not football (UK) but go on holiday (as in the UK and not vacation as in the US). In writing, however, they and those from other Commonwealth countries (those with historical or cultural ties with the UK) use British English. Hence, the rule is to be consistent throughout your correspondence or document.

British English is the form used in the United Kingdom (Scotland, England, North Ireland and Wales), the Republic of Ireland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and other Commonwealth countries. American English is used in the United States of America (and its former colonies, such as The Philippines), Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Russia, and in Eastern Europe.

The differences are:

Spelling

UK - ce, ise, ogue, ou, re and yse

defence, criticise, monologue, labour, centre and analyse

US - er, ize, og, o, se and yze

defense, criticize, monolog, labor, center and analyze

Vocabulary

Phrase used in contracts that requires a party to take all reasonable courses -

Best endeavours (UK)

Best efforts (US)

Yearly meeting of association’s /company’s/ organisation’s members -

Annual General Meeting (AGM) (UK)

Annual Stockholders Meeting (US)

Association of employees and workers -

Trade Union (UK)

Labor Union (US)

A room or several rooms that form a single place of residence -

Flat (UK)

Apartment (US)

Refined petroleum for combustion engines -

Petrol (UK)

Gasoline or gas (US)

Front of a car -

Bonnet (UK)

Hood (US)

Back of a car –

Boot (UK)

Trunk (US)

Other differences:

UK                            US

autumn                   fall

bill                            check

chemist                   pharmacy/drugstore

chips                        French fries

fizzing drinks      soda

lorry                        truck

trousers                  pants

post a letter           mail a letter

shop                        store

sweets                    candies

take away             take out

There are also British words, e.g. advert and barrister, unfamiliar to the Americans. Likewise, there are US words that are not used in the UK, such as AC (air conditioning) and stool (waste matter after food has been digested/ excrement/feces – US, faeces - UK).

Collective nouns

Collective nouns have more than one item or person. In UK English, these are considered plural; whereas, in US English, they take a singular form.

Band - a group of musicians:

UK – My favourite band are playing this weekend.

US – My favorite band is playing this weekend.

Staff - a group of employees:

UK – Our staff are organised.

US – Our staff is organized.

Team - a group of players:

UK – Their national football team are awesome.

US – Their national soccer team is awesome.

Past Tense of Verbs

Verbs which end in t in the UK are commonly spelled with ed in US English (spelt/spelled respectively). However, American and British English speakers commonly use the past tense and past participle of irregular verbs dreamt/dreamed and spoilt/spoiled.

The past participle form of the verb ‘get’ is ‘gotten and got’ in the US, but it’s only ‘got’ in UK English. The table below summarises the similarities and differences between them.

UK US

Infinitive Past       Past             Past      Past

                    Simple Participle Simple Participle

bust bust bust busted busted

dive dived dived dived/dove dived

lean leaned/leant leaned/leant leaned

plead pleaded/pled pleaded/pled

prove proved proved proved/proven

saw sawedsawn sawed sawn/sawed

smell smelled/smelt smelled/smell

spill spilled/spilt spilled/spilt

stink stank stunk stank/stunk stunk

Use of present perfect tense and past tense

Speakers of British English use the present perfect tense (have or has + past participle) in sentences where the past action is significant to the present situation or the action is more important than the time of action, as well as when the sentences contain the words 'already,' 'just' and 'yet'.

I have responded to the email from Angie Loft.

She has already read that book. (We should not give it to her as a birthday present).

Give us time to relax. We have just arrived.

Speakers of American English are likely to use simple past in these situations.

I responded to the email from Angie Loft.

She already read that book.

We just arrived.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs, such as should, shall, must and need, help form a grammatical function. A British person is likely to use shall as an alternative to will (future form), but an American speaker will say should. The former uses need/needn’t while the latter employs does/do.

UK - Shall we close the window? (Shall is used only with the pronouns I and we)

US - Should we close the window? (Americans never use shall with the pronouns I and we)

UK - He needn’t go to church with me if he doesn't want to.

US - He does not have to go to church with me if he doesn’t want to. (They do not need to go to church).

In British English, when replying to questions, do is used instead of a verb.

Are they going home soon?

They might do.

Whereas the American speakers omit the do.

They might.

Use and non-use of prepositions

In British English, at is used with time expressions and when talking about universities and similar institutions.

I will be there at seven in the morning.

We usually get together at Easter.

They had a party at the weekend.

I studied sociology at university.

In American English, on is used when talking about the weekend and in with universities and other institutions.

They had a party on the weekend.

I studied sociology in high school and university.

In British English, to and from are used with the adjective different.

He is so different from any other men I have met.

He is so different to other men I have met.

The Americans, however, use from and than with different.

He is different from any other men I have met.

He is different than other men I have met.

(Also, it is common to hear different to because of people confusing it with similar to).

In British English, to is used after the verb write, which is not the case in American English.

I will write to you as soon I have the timetable. (UK)

I will write you as soon as I have the timetable. (US)

Use of have and take

British speakers often use have as a delexicalised verb (a verb that is irrelevant in itself but necessary when an object noun describes an action).

I want to have a shower.

My son is having a bath.

She thinks they will have a holiday soon.

The Americans use take instead of have.

I want to take a shower.

My son is taking a bath.

She thinks they will take a vacation soon.

Dates

The UK, Europe and other countries use the day-month-year format without commas.

I left Australia on 5 April 2022. (05/04/22)

The US use the month-day-year format with a comma between the day and year.

I left Australia on April 5, 2022. (04/05/22)

When there is of, use an ordinal number, which can also be spelt out.

I left Australia on the 5th of April 2022.

I left Australia on the fifth of April 2022.

A fictitious scenario

Your family business in Germany produces parts for a robotics company. You have decided to outsource to Asia, so you have written to several factories in the Philippines you are aiming to visit with this main statement Further to our telephone conversation, I am confirming my visit on 04/03/22. You meant March 4, 2022.

On March 4, you arrived, to the surprise of one factory whose secretary had failed to check the difference in writing dates. They expected you on April 3. In the USA and Asia, the month is before the day.

A True Story

On 27 April 2019, I attended the Carañgan family reunion in La Castellaña, Philippines. My Australian family brought 224 packets of TimTam, a famous Aussie sweet, as giveaways to all participants. One ungrateful recipient posted a photo focusing on 04-10-2019 without any explanation, giving the impression that the biscuits’ use-by date had expired (04/10/19 = April 10 US/Filipino English) when the use-by date was October 4 (UK/Australian English).

Upon reading my comment on Facebook, she apologised to my Aussie family and me.

2

Writing Tips

On 19/01/23, I asked the intelligence artificial (AI) ChatGPT, How do you write an effective correspondence? It instantly answered: Effective correspondence includes a clear and concise message, a professional tone, and proper formatting. It is important to address the recipient properly and use a salutation and closing. It is also important to proofread the correspondence for spelling and grammar errors. Additionally, including a call to action or next steps can help ensure a timely response or follow-up (https://chat.openai.com/chat).