The differences between American and British English Essay

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The English language spoken in the United States of America is what is referred to us as American English. The Americans born in this environment are considered the native speakers of this language.

On the other hand, the English language being spoken by the people living in the British Commonwealth countries is what is referred to us as British English. Although the English language may seem as just English to some people who are not native speakers, the American English differs considerably from the British variant in spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

The first instance of differences in American and British English occurs in spelling. This is well portrayed in the way different forms of stressed and unstressed syllables are written.

For instance, in British English, the stressed form of the word ‘travel’ has a double ‘l’ syllables and is thus written as ‘travelled’, while in American English, the word ‘travel’ has a single ‘l’ in its stressed form and is thus written as ‘traveled’ in the stressed form (Hargis 64).

Grammatically, American and British variants differ in several ways. The differences normally come out in many ways; however, one in which these differences are the most evident is in the way collective nouns are applied in a sentence.

Collective noun being the general name for a group of people or things is normally followed by a singular or plural form of a verb, depending on the way the group is conceptualized by an individual. In British English, the collective noun can agree either with plural form of the verb or with a singular one.

However, in American English, the collective noun is always followed by a verb in a singular form. For example, in American English, one can only say “which squad is loosing?” while in British English, one says “which squad is loosing?” or “which squad are loosing?” (Bragg 2).

Additionally, American and British variants differ in pronunciations to a certain extent. The way certain words are articulated in British dialect is not the same as they are articulated in American one. The way American English sounds is called general American pronunciation; such as that heard over the radio (Bragg 1).

The British equivalent pronunciation is termed as the Received Pronunciation, such as that heard over the radio. One point in which the British and American pronunciation differs is the way ‘r’ is pronounced in words.

In the general American pronunciation, the letter ‘r’ is always pronounced and termed as rhetoric, while in the British Received Pronunciation, the letter ‘r’ is always silent and termed as ‘non-rhetoric’. Thus, in American English, the letter ‘r’ in the word ‘car’ will be loud and sound as ‘kar’, but in British English, the letter ‘r’ in the same word will be silent and thus pronounced as ‘kah’.

There is also a considerable lexical difference between American and British English. Some vocabulary use in the American context may differ in pronunciation, spelling and meaning. For instance, in the vocabulary used in transport industry, the use of some terminologies differs.

In the United Kingdom, the part of the road used by people is termed as a pavement, while in America; it is called a sidewalk (Blunt 59). Generally, there are some considerable differences in English spoken by Americans. These differences are associated with culture and environment that exist in Britain and the USA. However, despite the differences, English spoken by the two regions is generally understood by all.

Works Cited

Blunt, Jerry. Special English words with American equivalents. New York: Stage Dialects Dramatic Publishing Company, 1994. Print.

Bragg, Rebecca. “The grammatical differences between American & British English“. Ehow. 2012. Web.

Hargis, Summers. Rules Britannia: An insider’s guide to life in the United Kingdom. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006. Print.

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