7.2 Spelling Differences

The most significant spelling differences which can be detected in AE and BE can be classified as follows:

American –or versus British –our

AE

honor

color

flavor

neighbor

behaviorBE

honour

colour

flavour

neighbor

behaviourAE

labor

humor

honor

rumor

harborBE

labour

humour

honour

rumour

harbour

American –z versus British –s

AE

organize

realize

analyze

criticize

hydrolyzeBE

organise

realise

analyse

criticize

hydrolyseAE

organization

cozy

colonization

paralyzeBE

organisation

cosy

colonisation

paralyse

American –er versus British –re

AE

theater

center

fiberBE

theatre

centre

fibreAE

niter

specter

saberBE

nitre

spectre

sabre

American –l versus British –ll

AE

traveler

canceled

councilor

jewelryBE

traveller

cancelled

councillor

jewellryAE

woolen

fueled

counselorBE

wollen

fuelled

counsellor

American –ense versus British –ence

AE

defense

license

BE

defence

licence

AE

pretense

offenseBE

pretence

offence

The change of y into a, ia or i:

AE

tire

dike

baritoneBE

tyre

dyke

barytoneAE

cider

siphon

sirenBE

cyder

syphon

syren

The omission of unaccented foreign terminations

AE

catalog

program

prologBE

catalogue

programme

prologueAE

monolog

gram

toiletBE

monologue

gramme

toilette

Simplification of ae and oe

AE

esthetics

archeologyBE

aesthetics

archaeologyAE

encyclopedia

anesthesiaBE

encyclopaedia

anaesthesia

Miscellaneous spelling differences

AE

airplane

ax

draft

behoove

BE

aeroplane

axe

draught

behove

AE

check

plow

chili

snicker

BE

cheque

plough

chilli

snigger

7.3 Grammatical Differences

The grammatical systems of languages are more or less stable. Still, close contacts with some other languages often bring about certain simplifications of grammar, which is exactly the case with American English. In the morphological system there are a number of verbs usually treated as regular in American English and as irregular in British English, e.g.:

AE

learned

dreamed

smelledBE

learnt

dreamt

smeltAE

leaped

spelled

burnedBE

leapt

spelt

burnt

The following verbs have retained the archaic forms of the past participle in both AE and BE: proven, written, ridden, risen, driven, frozen, spoken, stolen, woven, broken, forgotten, bitten, hidden, eaten, chosen, given, shaken, taken, fallen, swollen, and others. Only AE retained –en in gotten.

While speaking about verb forms, it is necessary to mention the preference of the auxiliary verbs will and would in AE to shall and should in BE: I shan’t go. We shall not leave. I won’t go. We will not leave. The Americans sometimes use past simple where the British use the present perfect: I just wrote vs. I have just written.

Crystal mentions differences of word order in the noun phrases: Hudson River (AE) vs. River Thames (BE), a half hour (AE) vs. half an hour (BE). There is a difference in the use of articles as well: in the future (AE) vs. in future (BE), in the hospital (AE) vs. in hospital (BE), and others (p.311).

One of the most striking grammatical differences is the usage of prepositions. The British live in a street and American live on a street. The English would say, “The university was named after him,” or “He is nervous of doing something,” while the Americans would say, “The university was named for him,” or “He is nervous about doing something.” Here are some more examples:

AE

membership in

chat with

under the circumstances

a week from Tuesday

to protest war

on the streetBE

membership of

chat to

in the circumstances

a week on Tuesday

to protest against the war

in the streetAE

mad about

on the weekend

out the window

on the firing line

a new lease on lifeBE

mad on

at the weekend

out of the window

in the firing line

a new lease of life

There are also different prepositional constructions in British and American English:

AE

to check somethingBE

To check up on somethingAE

to visit with someoneBE

to call on someone

BE requires on before a day of the week or a specific date, but AE (especially colloquial) frequently does without it:

AE

The school year begins September 1^st.

Let’s do it Sunday.BE

The school year begins on September 1^st.

Let’s do it on Sunday.

Generally speaking, Americans tend to omit prepositions where the British carefully insert them:

AE

I work nights as a bartender.

Is Mary home?

BE

I work at nights as a barman.

Is Mary at home?

This tendency to simplify grammatical constructions can be illustrated by different forms of grammatical tenses and moods:

(BE) Have you (got) a pencil? (AE) Do you have a pencil?

In BE, Do you have…? means “Do you habitually have…?” while Have you (got)…? has the meaning “Do you own or possess it at this moment?”

–Have you (got) strawberries? --No, unfortunately not.

--Do you have them? --Yes, usually in the morning.

Subjunctive Mood

The construction They suggested that Brown be dropped from the team is chiefly American English, while They suggested that Brown should be dropped from the team is preferred by British English. AE uses infinitive with the particle to, while BE uses the construction should + infinitive:

AE

He said to go with him.BE

He said that I should go with him.

Past Participle seems to be much more popular in the U.S. than it is in England.

AE BE

he lay sprawled he lay sprawling

Many verbs become transitive in AE that are intransitive in BE, e.g.:

AE

to protest something

to battle somethingBE

to protest against something

to battle against something

The examples above are but a few grammatical differences between British and American English.

To sum up, there are significant differences between British and American English. Yet, they do not split these two variants into entirely different languages. Faster communication in the future is likely to override language changes in times to come, so that the current tendency for American and British English to converge is likely to continue. This does not mean that American and British English will ever become indistinguishable, but they are not likely to become mutually unintelligible, either. In the meantime, as Robert Burchfield, the editor of the Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, emphasizes, “American English is and will continue to be the major global form of English into the indefinite future” (1986).