Comparison Essay 2

American English

vs. British English

English is considered the most widely used language in the world, and American English and British English are two typical versions of English. Because the former originates from the latter, there are a lot of similarities between them. For most non-native speakers, it is really hard to tell their differences because they sound almost the same. Aside from phonology, morphology and syntax of these two languages are also similar. For instance, “We are students” is a sentence that not only has equal pronunciation but also uses identical words and grammar in two versions of English. Although American English and British English have much in common, they have significant differences in three aspects.

First, the pronunciation of these two languages is one of the major differences. In terms of the pronunciation of the letter “r,” American English has a clear sound of it, while British English tends not to pronounce this sound if it is at the end of a word or syllable. For example, the word “smarter” is pronounced /smɑrtər/ in American English with a clear “r” sound, but /smɑːtə/ in British English with a sound like “uh.” Another common difference is the pronunciation of “t.” Generally, the letter “t” is pronounced clearly in British English. However, in American English, “t” sounds more like a fast “d.” This is much more noticeable with words that have double “t,” such as “bitter.” It sounds almost the same as the word “bidder” in American English. Overall, these two languages have slight but obvious differences in pronunciation.

Second, the spelling of words is also different. There are a large number of spelling differences between these two languages, most of which are familiar to people. In American English, the letter “u” is dropped in some words to make the spelling correspond to the pronunciation, such as “color” and “labor,” which are different from “colour” and “labour” in British English. Also, American English swaps the letter “r” and “e” around, so the words “centre” and “theatre” in British English become “center” and “theater.” Besides, American English tends to end words with -ize rather than -ise in British English. For example, “organize” and “recognize” are used in American English, whereas “organise” and “recognise” are used in British English. Although these words are same, they are spelled differently in these two languages.

Third, these two languages follow different rules in grammar. In American English, collective nouns are considered singular and are followed by singular verbs. On the other hand, collective nouns can be either singular or plural in British English, but the plural form is more commonly used. For instance, Americans said that “The band is playing,” which emphasizes the whole group. In British, people said “The band are playing,” emphasizing the individual members of the group. Another difference lies in the use of verb tense. When describing something that has occurred not long ago, Americans tend to use the past simple, and they might say that “I ate dinner already.” But in British English, they are more likely to use the present perfect. For example, British people would say, “I have eaten dinner already.”

In conclusion, American English and British English have three distinctions. First, people can easily tell the differences in the pronunciation of words in these two languages. When it comes to the spelling, there are plentiful differences, too. Moreover, in terms of grammar, different rules are used in these two languages. Even though American English and British English have several differences, people from the USA and the UK can still understand those differences and communicate with each other successfully. It is quite interesting that people learn the differences of two languages and know how to distinguish them. Overall, both versions of English have their distinguishing features and should be respected all along.

References

Leo. (2018). Australian English vs. American English vs. British

English. Retrieved from https://blog.e2language.com/australian-

english-vs-american-english-vs-british-english/

Hammond, A. (2012). British English vs. American English. Retrieved

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Sitzman, R. (N/A). From “A” to “Zed”: The Differences Between

American and British English. Retrieved from

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/differences-between-

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Brock, A. (2017). Six Differences Between British and American