Differences Between European English And American English

Posted by Allan on 20:28


The reason for varied differences between the European English and American is attributed to Noah Webster who had brought Webster’s Dictionary. English language was first introduced to the Americans by the British a long back in 1607 and this language spread to other parts of America as well as on global within a short time. Noah Webster brought wholesome changes in the American dictionary and language by advocating a strict spelling reform which made the words appear slightly different from its European English counterparts.
There is wide range of difference between the American and British English on different scales and terms. One good example can be related to the consideration of ‘singular’ and ‘plural’ noun in similar circumstances. An American English speaker happens to consider group of people as a singular noun. Therefore they would say “The audience was rising to their feet”. But British English considers audience as plural noun and says “The audiences were rising to their feet”.

Extreme Differences In Vocabulary
There is huge difference between the vocabulary shared by American and British native speakers which can easily be seen in the use of writing and speaking. The difference doesn’t mean that the word used as synonym or antonym or for regular is wrong in any context. It simply translates that people from these different continent speaks and thinks about same thing with different names which kind of act as synonym in reality. For example Amercan native speakers term football as ‘soccer’ while British counterpart adheres to ‘football’ word usage for defining that sport.
The List of Vocabulary Based Differences Are As Follows:
British
American
Bin
Trash Can
Bin Liner
Trash Bag
Biscuit
Cookie
Bonnet
Hood
Boot
Trunk
Braces
Suspenders
Called
Named
Chemist
Pharmacist
Cooker
Stove
Dear
Expensive
Estate Agent
Realtor
Fag
Cigarette
Football
Soccer
Garden
Yard
Hire
Rent
Holiday
Vacation
Marks
Grades
Nappies
Diapers
Mobile Phone
Cell Phone
Pavement
Sidewalk, Footpath
Petrol
Gasoline, Gas
Post
Mail
Rob
Steal
Roster
Schedule
Solicitor
Lawyer, Attorney
Spanner
Wrench
Tap
Faucet
Taste
Flavour
Toilet
Restroom, Bathroom
Torch
Flashlight
Windscreen
Windshield
Trolley
Cart

Spelling Differences Between British And American English
It is widely known that the both the kinds of English phonetically different from each other on a lesser level but there are also widespread spelling differences. The spelling differences also leads to the pronounciation differences to a great extent.
Some of the differently spelled words are as follows:
British English
American English
Aeroplane
Airplane
Aluminium
Aluminum
Checque
Check
Gramme
Gram
Jewellery
Jewelry
Kerb
Curb
Learnt
Learned
Manoeuvre
Maneuver
Mould
Mold
Moustache
Mustache
Skeptical
Sceptical
Storey
Story
Sulpher
Sulfer
Pyjamas
Pajamas
Routeing
Routing
Tyre
Tire

There s also an obvious differences in the use suffixes of words throughout the English and American English. Suffixes used in English language such as –ise in words like supervise, minimize etc. are written with –ize suffixes in American English though the meaning remains the same. Some other examples are:
English
American
Example
-ise
-ize
Minimise, Minimize
-our
-or
Behaviour, Behavior
-re
-er
Centre, Center
-ce
-se
Defence, defense

Another difference which can be seen is how some words are spelled with “ae” in the English vocabulary but in American is substituted with a simple ‘e’. Some of the words like Anaesthesia, Archaelogy, Encyclopaepedia and paedophile are written as anesthesia, archeology, encyclopedia and pedophile.

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