Differences between UK and US English
When you start learning English, soon you are confronted to a crucial situation: to choose between the accent of Her Majesty and the accent of Hollywood.
I learnt English in France, so I have always spoken the English of our dear neighbours of across the Channel. However, when I turned up in United State, Americans laugh when listening words like “trousers” or “lift” regardless of the accent.
Translators and interpreters usually have the same problem when a client ask for an English translation. We have to be very careful and always ask for which country is destined the translation.
Of course, there are a lot of varieties of the English language, but today we will focus on US English and UK English.
When the USA won the war against the Britannic empire and were declared independent in 1776, the English spoken in both sides of the Atlantic was very similar.
Nowadays main differences between those two varieties of English are:
The pronunciation
The spelling
The vocabulary
The grammar
The punctuation
1. Pronunciation
The rhotic accent:
British English is the one which has changed during the two last centuries. The first change was the pronunciation of the "r" after a vowel or at the end of a word. We call it « rhotic accent ».
British people tend to remove or soften the pronunciation of the "r" when it is after a vowel or at the end of a word when Americans pronounce it.
How was this pronunciation born?
At the end of the industrial revolution, a new upper class appeared and wanted to be distinguished from the popular class level. So then the non-rhotic pronunciation was born in the south of the country and especially in London. It was a sign of social distinction. Quickly, this prestige extended on almost all the country, especially by the influence of speech therapists and specialists, and suddenly pronunciation sessions became to be something more than "fashion". This was of such influence that this pronunciation standardized and became the Received Pronunciation spoken on the BBC for example.
However, the North of England, Scotland and Irland have conserved a rhotic pronunciation.
In the USA, the accent is also rhotic with the exception of New York and Boston. Both cities were very important ports, and even after the independence of the United States, they still were the main connection between the United Kingdom and the USA, that's why they stayed under the influence of Britain for one more century, adapting to the non-rhotic pronunciation of England.
Example: hard : /hard/ (US) /ha:d/ (UK)
Change of the stress accent
From the 11th century until the 15th, French language influenced the English lexical supplying a lot of terms in several fields.
However, the reception of the French vocabulary was not the same in both sides of the ocean.
So, Americans kept the French pronunciation that we can resume by having the stress accent on the last syllable. And on the contrary, British people stress the French words according to their own system of accentuation and emphasis at the second to last syllable.
Some examples:
First syllable stressed in UK English and last syllable stressed in US English: adult, brochure, buffet, café, frappé, garage, pâté, matinée, nonchalant.
2. Spelling
Until the end, of the 18th century, English words that had several spellings like "honor", "honour", "centre", "center" etc., were accepted on both sides of the Atlantic.
But one men is at the origin of this difference today: Noah Webster. This lexicographer was the first in reforming the English language of the US to free the Americans from the cultural influence of their old colonizers. He decided to write several grammar books and textbooks between 1783 and 1785 in which he fixed the spelling of many words. He chose a spelling he judged more phonetic – "s" instead of "c" like "defense" and not "defence"; "color" replaced "colour", etc.
This new spelling spread out quickly because Webster’s grammars and textbooks were used in the American schools to teach the language.
British people decided to stop using the new Webster’s spelling because they considered it to be "americanisms".
Today, the barrier between the different spellings tend towards reduction, al least in England. Some newspapers use more and more words considered as "americanisms" and prefer use the spelling "program" for example, instead of the "programme" of Her Majesty.
Summary of the spelling differences.
-our (UK) and -or (US). Ex: colour vs color
-re (UK) and -er (US). Ex: centre vs center
-ce (UK) and -se (US). Ex: defence vs defense
-ogue (UK) and -og (US). Ex: dialogue vs dialog
-ise or -ize (UK) and -ize (US) Ex: realise vs realize
Stress accent on the last -l of a word: -ll (UK) and -l (US) Ex: traveler vs traveller
More words here: http://www.tysto.com/uk-us-spelling-list.html
3.Vocabulary
Below, a list of terms that change:
4. Grammar
Simple past / Present perfect :
Americans tend to use more the simple past in a sentence when the British prefer the present perfect (have/has+past participe). Two cases in particular:
-In a sentence where the past action still has consequences on the present:
A: Jenny feels ill. She ate too much. (US)
B: Jenny feels ill. She's eaten too much. (UK)
-In a sentence using "yet", "already" and "just".
A: Are they going to the show tonight?
B: No. They already saw it. (US)
A: Are they going to the show tonight?
B: No. They have already seen it. (UK)
Irregular verbs
Some irregular verbs change from one country to the other:
In England, you can also use the regular form, however, British usually use the irregular form.
5. Punctuation
Abbreviation of the title:
UK: Mr, Mrs, and Ms
US: Mr., Mrs. and Ms.
Dates:
British drop the apostrophe ex: 1990s when American still conserve it: 1990's.
However, we have to stand out that the English form from the United Kingdom is more and more present in the United States.
Quotes:
In the USA, everything is into the quotes: from the capital letter to the period, while in England, they do not include the period.
Example:
“I’ve finished my homework,” said Mark. (US)
“I’ve finished my homework”, said Mark. (UK)
