6 Key Difference between British and American English Explained

What’s the difference between British and American English?

For many non-native speakers, English seems to be a universal language spoken the same way everywhere. But this is not quite true. In particular, the English spoken in America and the English spoken in Britain are very different. So, what are the differences between British and American English?

1. Vocabulary

The biggest linguistic difference is probably in the vocabulary. Hundreds of everyday words are different. For example, British people call the front of a car a ‘bonnet’, while Americans refer to it as the ‘ hood’. People in New York live in apartments, while people in London live in a flat. Americans go on ‘vacation’, British people go on ‘holidays’ or just ‘hols’.

2. Nouns

Above all, these two forms of English also bring differences in the grammatical area. For example, you will notice differences if you look at nouns that refer to a group of people.

For example:

• In American English, group nouns are in the singular. Staff refers to a group of employees, band refers to a group of musicians, and team refers to a group of athletes.
• In contrast, in British English, these nouns are used in both the singular and the plural. That is why you will hear both the team are playing tonight and the team is playing tonight.

3. Auxiliary Verbs

Another phenomenon that makes some difference is the use of auxiliary verbs. They help to form a grammatical function.

For example, if you look closely at the auxiliary verb shall, you will see that shall is used to express the future. For example, When British people announce I shall go home now, Americans know what is meant by shall, but they would not express it that way. Shall is very formal in America, so Americans would probably say I will go home now.

When Americans want to say that something is not obligatory, they use the auxiliary verb do in conjunction with not followed by need: You don’t need to come to work today. On the other hand, British people simply omit the auxiliary verb and the not and prefer: You needn’t come to work today.

4. Past Tenses

There are also some differences in the past tenses between American and British English. The American past tense of learning is learned – the British, on the other hand, use not only learned but also learnt. The same applies to dreamed and dreamt, burned and burnt or leaned and learnt.

5. Confirmation questions (or Question Tags)

A confirmation question turns a statement into a question. For example:

The whole situation is unfortunate, isn’t it? Or you don’t like her, do you?

Americans also use confirmation questions, but much less often than British people. The last part consists of a pronoun and an appropriate form of the verb to be, have or do. Confirmation questions encourage people to answer and agree with you.

6. Spelling

The difference in spelling is probably one of the biggest differences between British and American English. Although it may not be noticeable when speaking or listening, there can be some confusion when writing.

Many words in British have the letter u after the o. For example, you might come across colour or honour. The ‘u’ is dropped in America, and American English is usually simplified.

Another common difference is that Americans use the letter ‘z’, while British people use an ‘s’, for example, in the verb organise. Words like theatre or metre are spelt theatre and meter in America.

Also, in the UK you will often find a double ‘l’, such as in ‘travelled’, which Americans find unnecessary, and write ‘travelled’ instead. Other small differences include ‘grey’ and ‘gray’ or ‘kerb’ and ‘curb’.

How important are the differences between British and American English?

In the end, however, British and American English still have more in common than differences; it is simply often exaggerated. If you know one version, you will have no problems with the other. Except for a few regional dialects, most British and Americans have no problem communicating with each other. They watch each other’s TV series, listen to the same songs and read the same books.

On the other hand, there’s also Australian English, which has its own unique vocabulary. Discover the varieties of Australian English here.

Practise your Listening Skills in Real Life! Book a Study Trip with BELS English Language Schools in Malta and Gozo.

Do you struggle to improve your English on your own? Is it difficult to practice speaking English in your home country? Sometimes, there’s a limit to how much you can learn independently and in your country. To see different results, you need to take a different approach. The best way to improve your English is by immersing yourself in the language in an English-speaking country.

That’s where BELS can help. We provide a completely immersive experience with courses, accommodations, and activities in our international student community. Our English courses in Malta and Gozo are designed to help people like you stop feeling stuck and start speaking English.

So, if you want to start acting on improving your English, write to us at [email protected].