Scribd
Upload
104 views4 pages

English Varieties: British Vs American: Vocabulary

The document summarizes some of the key differences between British and American English, including differences in vocabulary, spelling, and word endings. For vocabulary, it provides examples of words that have different meanings between the two versions such as angry/mad, autumn/fall, and boot/trunk. For spelling, it notes that British English often includes extra letters like "u" that American English omits and differences in verb endings like "-ise" vs. "-ize". The document provides exercises to test the reader on matching British and American terms and spelling words in both styles.

Uploaded by

Ili Farhana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
104 views4 pages

English Varieties: British Vs American: Vocabulary

The document summarizes some of the key differences between British and American English, including differences in vocabulary, spelling, and word endings. For vocabulary, it provides examples of words that have different meanings between the two versions such as angry/mad, autumn/fall, and boot/trunk. For spelling, it notes that British English often includes extra letters like "u" that American English omits and differences in verb endings like "-ise" vs. "-ize". The document provides exercises to test the reader on matching British and American terms and spelling words in both styles.

Uploaded by

Ili Farhana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

English varieties: British vs American

British people and American people can always understand each other – but there are a few
notable differences between British English and American English.

Vocabulary
There are a lot of examples of different words being used in British and American English. Here
are a few of the commonest.
British American
 angry mad
autumn fall
boot (of a car) trunk
chemist’s drug store
cupboard closet
flat apartment
lift elevator
nappy diaper
pavement sidewalk
petrol gas/gasoline
rubbish trash
tap faucet
trousers pants

Spelling
Here are some of the main differences in the spellings.
British English words ending in ‘our’ usually end in ‘or’ in American English:

British American
colour color
flavour flavor
humour humor
labour labor
neighbour neighbor
Verbs in British English that can be spelled with either ‘ize’ or ‘ise’ at the end are always spelled
with ‘ize’ at the end in American English:

British American
apologize or apologise Apologize
organize or organise Organize
recognize or recognise Recognize

Verbs in British English that end in ‘yse’ are always spelled ‘yze’ in American English:

British American
analyse analyze

breathalyse breathalyze
paralyse paralyze

In British spelling ‘L’ is doubled in verbs ending in a vowel plus ‘L’. In American English, the
‘L’ is not doubled:

British American
traveller traveler
fuelled fueled
fulfil fulfill

British English words that are spelled with the double vowels ae or oe tend to be just spelled with
an e in American English:

British American
leukaemia leukemia
manoeuvre maneuver
oestrogen estrogen
paediatric pediatric
Some nouns that end with ‘ence’ in British English are spelled ‘ense in American English:’

British American
defence defense
licence license
offence offense
pretence pretense

Some nouns that end with ‘ogue’ in British English end with either ‘og’ or ‘ogue in American
English:

British American
analogue analog or analogue
catalogue catalog or catalogue
dialogue dialog or dialogue

Exercises:
1. Can you match these common British English words with their American equivalent?

British English American English


1. Estate Car Gas
2. Biscuit Subway
3. Ground floor Candy
4. Petrol Station wagon
5. Pavement First floor
6. Sweets Cookie
7. Tap Sidewalk
8. Underground Faucet
2. Can you spell each of the following words in British and American spelling?

British American
 defense
pretense
traveller
metre
catalyse
color
characterize
behaviour
fulfill
enrol
ageing
defence
fiber

You might also like