What’s the Difference Between British & American English?

American and British English might sound the same, but there are actually some major differences between the two. From the use of past simple tense and present perfect tense and the word “got” over “gotten” to “have” and “take” and the accent, there are several ways in which American English is different from British English, therefore proving that they’re not one in the same language in many instances. While we can’t discuss every single difference, here are some of the major players when it comes to the differences between American and British English.

Past & present

Past and present examples of American and British English also vary, albeit not dramatically, but there are some subtle grammatical differences. Americans, for instance, tend to use a past simple tense when describing something that has only recently occurred, whereas a British English speaker would be more likely to use the present perfect tense. 

Let me explain. Do you see the difference between the British English phrase; “he has already had lunch” and the American English phrase; “he already had lunch”? British English speakers will use the past perfect tense by adding in the word “has”, whereas an American speaker has dropped that altogether. 

The same can also be said for “have you done your homework yet?”, which is a British English phrase and “did you do your homework yet?”, which is an American English phrase.  The differences there are less subtle, but the point still stands when it comes to the past and present grammatical and vocabulary uses. It’s a perfect example of where American speakers will use past simple tense and where British English speakers will use present perfect tense.

Got & gotten

When it comes to British English, the past participle of the word “get” is “got”. In American English, the past participle of the word “get” is “gotten”, whereas the latter word doesn’t exist in British English vocabulary. As such, British English will adopt the word “got” in place of “gotten”, which is favoured by American English speakers. 

For example, a Brit would say “you could have got hurt” rather than the American English alternative which is; “you could have gotten hurt”. But the word “gotten” in American English is only used in the past tense and not in the present or future tense. 

So an American speaker wouldn’t say “have you gotten any money you can lend me?”, they would just say “have you got any money you can lend me?” as this is present tense and not used as a past participle.

Verbs & collective nouns

When it comes to verbs and collective nouns, American and British English use them differently, but the same point is still made. In British English, for example, a singular or plural verb can be used with a noun that refers solely to a group of things, including people, otherwise known as a collective noun. A plural verb is used when we think of a group as individuals or a singular verb when we refer to a group as a single unit. 

For example, we could refer to a group in one of two ways: “my family is visiting” or “my family are visiting”, it works in both instances. However, in American English, the group of things or people would be thought of as one single entity, therefore making the same statement in the following way: “my family is visiting”, and not saying “my family are visiting”. This is known as a singular noun rather than a collective noun and the word “is” is used as such.

Have & take

The most common use of “have” and “take” are used in reference to showers, oddly. For example, a Brit would say “I’m going to have a shower”, whereas an American would say “I’m going to take a shower”. The difference here is that for British English, “have” and “take” are verbs and they’re often used in conjunction with nouns, such as “bath” and “shower”, as discussed. In American English, on the other hand, “take” is used in this way, but “have” isn’t and that’s where the main differences lie with regards to this example.

Shall

This might sound odd, but the way in which the British and the American people use the word “shall” varies greatly. Take a Brit, they could use it in the following context: “It’s hot in here, shall I open the window?”, which essentially asks whether or not the window can be opened. An American, on the other hand, will ask the same question, but in a different manner. Instead of saying “shall I open the window”, they will instead say “can I open the window?”.

Delving deeper into the world “shall”, it seems that the British like to use it more, in instances such as “shall we meet in the cafe at 5?” or “ shall we try that again?”. Whereas an American would get the same point across by saying “do you want to meet in the cafe at 5?” or “how about we try that again?”. The differences are small, but the removal of the word “shall” neither adds or takes anything away from the point of conversation, it’s more the preference of British English and less the preference of American English. 

Accent

When an accent is involved, it’s quite straightforward to distinguish between American and British English. However, there’s quite a difference in dialect and accent between the countries themselves. For example, the Texan accent and the New York accent are worlds apart. The same thing goes for an accent that you might hear in London and an accent in Liverpool. 

This then makes us delve even further into the world of linguistics. However, we won’t be touching on that today as we’re just focusing on American and British English differences. When it comes to an American accent, there are letters that are pronounced that wouldn’t be heard in an English accent, such as the word “tube”. Where an American would literally pronounce it “t-ube”, a Brit would say “chew-b”. 

However, even the letter “r” can be pronounced differently depending on which side of the pond you come from. Take the word “Saturday”, for instance. An American would pronounce it “Sat-urr-day” whereas a Brit would say “Sat-u-day” – notice the removal of the “r” sound for the latter? There are major differences between both accents, but if we want to discuss them all, you’ll be here for quite some time. 

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