Overview
This lecture explains the main differences between standard British English and American English in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, and grammar.
Vocabulary Differences
- US: “garbage” or “trash”; UK: “rubbish” (both literal and figurative).
- US: “vacation”; UK: “holiday(s)”.
- US: “apartment”; UK: “flat”.
- US: “first floor” (at street level); UK: “ground floor”.
- US: “elevator”; UK: “lift”.
- US: “TV”; UK: “telly”.
- US: “sidewalk”; UK: “pavement”.
- US: “subway”; UK: “underground”.
- US: “pants” (outerwear); UK: “trousers” (outerwear), “pants” means underpants.
- UK: “knickers” (women’s underpants); US: “panties”.
- UK: “pants” as an adjective means “crappy” or “bad”; US: “sucks”.
Pronunciation Differences (Accent)
- American English is rhotic (pronounces “r” clearly); British English (RP) is non-rhotic (drops “r” unless followed by a vowel).
- British English sometimes adds an “intrusive r” between words ending and starting with vowels (e.g., “saw a” sounds like “saw-r-a”).
- US “t” between vowels often sounds like a tap /ɾ/ (e.g., “butter”); UK keeps a hard /t/ sound.
- US “o” is often unrounded /ɑ/; UK “o” is rounded /ɒ/ (e.g., US “hot” /hɑt/, UK “hot” /hɒt/).
- US “know” /noʊ/; UK “know” /nəʊ/.
- UK “a” as /ɑː/ becomes /æ/ in US (UK “half” /hɑːf/, US “half” /hæf/).
- Some words with “a” + “rr” in US use /e/ (US “marry” /ˈmɛɹi/; UK “marry” /ˈmæɹɪ/).
Spelling Differences
- UK “~re” vs. US “~er”: centre/center, theatre/theater.
- UK “~nce” vs. US “~nse”: licence/license, defence/defense.
- UK “ou” vs. US “o”: colour/color, favour/favor.
- UK “~ise” vs. US “~ize”: organise/organize, analyse/analyze.
- UK doubles “l” when adding suffixes; US does not: travelled/traveled, cancelled/canceled.
Grammar Differences
- UK uses “shall” for the future and advice more often than US.
- Prepositions differ: US “on the weekend”; UK “at the weekend”.
- Past tense forms: US “learned/dreamed”; UK “learnt/dreamt”.
- US “dove” (past of dive); UK “dived”.
- Past participle: US get/got/gotten; UK get/got/got.
- Vocabulary in context: US “lawyer”; UK “solicitor” (consultant), “barrister” (court).
- US “going for a beer with friends”; UK “going for a pint with mates”.
Key Terms & Definitions
- Rhotic — Pronounces “r” sounds clearly in all positions in a word.
- Non-rhotic — “r” sounds are dropped unless followed by a vowel.
- Intrusive r — Adding an “r” sound between words when the first ends in a vowel and the next begins with one.
- Received Pronunciation (RP) — Standard British English accent.
- General American — Standard US English accent.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Contribute additional differences between British and American English as comments.
- Review key vocabulary and pronunciation examples for reference.