American English vs British English - Difference and Comparison

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	American English	British English
What is it?:	American English is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America.	British English is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom.
Pronunciation differences:	Some words pronounced differently in the languages are Methane, Interpol	Some words pronounced differently in the languages are Methane, Interpol
Spelling differences:	flavor, honor, analyze etc.	flavour, honour, analyse etc.
Title differences:	Mr. , Mrs.	Mr, Mrs
Different meanings:	ace, amber etc.	ace, amber etc.

1 About
2 History
3 Use of tenses
4 Vocabulary
5 Spelling
6 Preposition
7 Verb usage
8 Pronunciation
9 Time telling
10 Punctuation
11 References

[edit] About

American English is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America.
British English is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom.

[edit] History

The English language was introduced to the Americans through British colonization in the early 17th century and it spread to many parts of the world because of the stength of the British empire. Over the years, English spoken in the United States and in Britain started diverging from each other in various aspects. This led to two dialects in the form of the American English and the British English.

Differences between the two include pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling, punctuation, idioms, formatting of dates and numbers.

[edit] Use of tenses

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example: I've misplaced my pen. Can you help me find it? In American English the following is also possible:
I misplaced my pen. Can you help me find it?

In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.

British English: I've just had food. Have you finished your homework yet?

American English: I just had food OR I've just had food.
I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.

[edit] Vocabulary

While some words may mean something in British English, the same word might be something else in American english and vice versa. Athlete in British english:one who participates in track and field events Athlete in American English: one who participates in sport in general

Rubber in British English: tool to erase pencil markings. Rubber in American English: condom.

There are also some words like AC, Airplane, bro, catsup, cell phone etc. which are common in American english and not used very often in British English. Some words widely used in British english and seldom in American english are advert, anti clockwise, barrister, cat's eye.

[edit] Spelling

There are many words that are spelt differently in both forms of English. Some examples are:

American British

color colour

fulfill fulfil

center centre

analyze analyse

aging ageing

[edit] Preposition

There are also a few differences in the use of prepositions in both languages. For example: While Britishers would play in a team, Americans would play on a team. Another example can be: While Britishers would go out at the weekend, Americans would go out on the weekend.

[edit] Verb usage

The two languages may also use a base verb in different manners. For example: For the verb ' to dream ', Americans would say dreamed while Britishers would say dreamt in past tense. For ' to forecast ' , Americans would say forecast while Britishers would say forecasted in simple past tense.

[edit] Pronunciation

Some words that are pronounced differently in both languages are controversy, leisure, schedule etc. There are also some words like Ax(Axe in British) and Defence(Defense in British) which have the pronunciation but different spellings in both languages.

[edit] Time telling

Both languages have a different structure of telling the time. While the Britishers would say quarter past 10 to say the time 10:15, the Americans would say quarter after or even a quarter past ten.

Thirty minutes after the hour is commonly called half past in both languages. Americans always write digital times with a colon, thus 6:00, whereas Britons often use a point, 6.00.