How Are British English and American English Different?
Looking for precise and professional language translation? Look no further! I specialize in accurately translating English to Haitian Creole, French, and Spanish.
Trust me to deliver exceptional results that capture the essence of your message. Contact me today for flawless language translations.
This video is all about the differences between UK English and US English. The differences are not that great, to be honest. Native speakers of either British or American English generally have little trouble understanding each other's speech, especially standard formal speech. But there are minor moments of confusion, and learners of English as a second language might have some trouble with one variety if they have mostly studied the other. Don't worry, though, because British English and American English are both English, and the differences aren't major.
There are some differences in accent. There are numerous accents in both the USA and the UK, but we can generalize by focusing on too standard/formal accents: General American English in the USA, and Received Pronunciation in the UK. One difference is that British English is r-less: they pronounce the word "car" with no R sound at the end, and lengthen the vowel instead. Americans say a clear R sound at the end.
There are also differences in vocabulary. For example, in the UK they say "rubbish" while in the US they say "trash" or "garbage". There are also some little differences in spelling and grammar. All in all, British English and American English are two varieties of the same language and the differences are pretty easy to get used to.
Special thanks to Peter Ashton for his British audio samples and feedback!
🚩Check out Langfocus on Patreon:
Current Patreon members include:
Andres Resendez Borgia, Anjo Barnes, Auguste Fields, Behnam Esfahbod, Bennett Seacrist, Brandon Gonzalez, Brian Michalowski, David Anglin, Fiona de Visser, Georgina Toland, Guillermo Jimenez, Jacob Madsen, John Moffat, Matthew Etter, Michael Arbagi, Michael Cuomo, Paul Boychuk, Rosalind Resnick, Ruben Sanchez Jr, Sebastian Langshaw, ShadowCrossZero, Toki Pona, Victoria Goh, Vincent David, Yuko Sunda, [APG]RoboCop[CL], Adam Fitch, Adam Powell, Adam Vanderpluym, Alberto del Angel, Alex Hanselka, Ali Muhammed Alshehri, Andrew Woods, Angeline Biot, Ashley Dierolf, Atsushi Yoshida, Avital Levant, Brent Warner, Brian Begnoche, Bronwyn Salton, Bruce Schultz, Bruce Stark, Bruno Filippi, Carl saloga, Charis T'Rukh, Christian Langreiter, Christopher Lowell, Craig A Stewart, Dave Orum, David LeCount, Diane Young, divad, Dmitry Stillermann, Don Ross, Donald and Alexandra Wycoff, Donald Tilley, Edward Wilson, Erin Robinson Swink, fatimahl, Florian Breitwieser, Frank Sellers, Frédéric Fournier, Greg Gibson, Haiko Eitzen, Hannes Egli, Harry Kek, Henri Saussure, Ian Smith, James and Amanda Soderling, James Lillis, JC Edwards, Jeff Miller, Jens Aksel Takle, Jerry Janowitz, Jessica Morris, JESUS FERNANDO MIRANDA BARBOSA, JL Bumgarner, Justin Faist, Kenneth M Thomas, Kevin J. Baron, Klaw117, Kristopher Robinson, Leo Barudi, Lincoln Hutton, Lorraine Inez Lil, Mahmoud Hashemi, Marco Barcellos, Margaret Langendorf, Mark, Mark Grigoleit, Mark Kemp, Maurice Chou, Merrick Bobb, Michael Regal, Mikael Uttermalm, Mike Frysinger, Mohammed A. Abahussain, Nicholas Gentry, Nicole Tovar, Oleksandr Ivanov, Panot, Pauline Pavon, Peter Andersson, Peter Nikitin, Phoebe Churches, Pomax, Raymond Thomas, Rick Gerritzen, Rob Hoskins, Robert (Bob) Dobbin, Robert Sheehan, Roland Seuhs, Ronald Brady, Scott Fujan, Scott Russell, Sergei Tikhomirov, Sergio Pascalin, Sergios Tsakatikas, Sierra Rooney, Simon Blanchet, Sophia-Rose Marron, Spartak Kagramanyan, Steeven Lapointe, Stefan Reichenberger, Suzanne Jacobs, Sven Onnerstad, Theophagous, Thomas Mitchell, Tryggurhavn, veleum, William O Beeman, yasmine jaafar, Zhiyuan Shi, Zsolt Márta, Éric Martin, 耳血.
Video chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Differences between UK and US vocabulary
02:54 Differences between British and American accents
06:07 How are British spelling and American spelling different?
07:28 Grammatical differences between British English and American English
09:09 Examining some sentences
10:06 Final comments
11:01 The question of the day
Music: "Majikk" by Jingle Punks.
Outro music: "Rocka" by Text Me Records / Bobby Renz.
For people in the UK, do any of you say “go to the pictures” meaning “go to the movies”? I remember hearing that once a long time ago. It might have been Scottish English or a dialect in northern England.
Langfocus I have a friend which is british,he doesnt say that tho
I have heard that said, but usually we would just talk about going to the cinema. Pictures is a bit old fashioned to my ears.
my grandmother says it alot, its more of a generation thing
“go to the pictures” is pretty standard in Scotland.
I say “go to the pictures”; I’m in the north of England, Yorkshire specifically. Actually, I more often than not say “off to ‘ pictures” where the ‘the’ isn’t even said.
As a person from the south, hearing that Americans don’t use the word “reckon” made me spit out my sweet tea and knock over my banjo.
Well.. it’s a regional dialect.
Lol!
Yeah, most of us don’t.
As someone born and raised in Alabama, it triggers me when people say you all instead of yall
reckon is actually american origin
As a non native English speaker, there seems to be lot of mixing of UK English and US English in the English used by me.
yeah me too.. and also, as non native english speaker, sometimes i think twice before write/ typing some word in english ( Color/Colour, Organise/Organize, Favor/Favour etc)
Sometimes I use US English and UK English in the same sentence. I wondered for a while: why do I get weird looks from Britons or Americans? Then a British lad pointed it out: it is bloody confusing for them.
@soundingsea I prefer -ize
@IGLA i have been in same situation many times.
Probably Canadian English we used a lot of both
Hi everyone! If you enjoy videos like this check out Langfocus on Patreon ( https://patreon.com/langfocus ) and consider becoming a member. On top of supporting the creation of Langfocus videos, members of the different tiers receive various benefits. Have a look!
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍❤❤❤
So because of those differences there are so called regular and irregular verbs in English.
pasa algo parecido con el idioma español en diferentes países xD // something similar happens with the spanish language in different countries xD
Could you do a video on the New England “Downeast accent? A person with a Downeast accent will say “Ca” for “Car” and “arnt” for “aunt”.
Paul! When will you make a video about Canadian English?
I once saw a Brit call another Brit a “silly sausage” in an online forum and nearly died laughing. I cannot for the life of me imagine an American calling someone that.
A Briton.
Lmao
@Johnsy’s Channel LOL THAT’S TOO FUNNY! I thought living in Wales was hilarious sometimes but damn, that’s another level of brilliance with some interesting form of English. Well, I know what to expect if I ever visit Scotland now.
It sounds weird to me in Australia too, but it’s very British. A lot of their insults are kinda ‘cute’ to us.
As a New Zealander, we spell and pronounce our words British, but in everyday use spoken words, we use a mix of both American and English. Either way, we have no problem understanding each other. This is likely because of the influence of both in movies and media. As a New Zealander, we can easily determine the difference between both, based on spelling, or spoken, but it doesn’t really matter because we are our own country.
As a Brit, I feel like I should point out that you do not pronounce words ‘British.’
Love it if you did an entire video on the transatlantic or Mid-Atlantic accent for old Hollywood and radio. Because to my knowledge and understanding of it there was a combination between the American and British spoken English to make that (hence the name) ambiguous transatlantic voice
American cable channels (especially preschool ones) have branches worldwide
I always find these comparison videos between the two fascinating, mostly because, as a Canadian, we use a weird sort of mix of the two.
English-speaking Canadians mostly got their accents from the Americans loyal to Britain who got “cleansed” from the U.S. during their war of Independence. Yet the accents of Canadians living in Windsor, Ontario, is very different from the “Great Lakes” American accent found across the river in Detroit! Another factoid,
chris, Hello. It is because (as a different Y.T. video channel points out:) Most Canadians live within a hundred miles of the U.S. Canada Border. TV signals and especially radio signals do not know about “Borders” drawn on a map. We watch several TV shows filmed in Canada, and lots of folks north of the Border listen to U.S.A. based radio stations.
Canada is vast, but very few humans live in the far north areas.
When I drove the Alcan highway back in 2012, I was tired of sleeping in my pick-up truck (Started my journey at Valdez, Alaska) so I got a motel room in Dawson Creek, B.C., Can. (where the Alcan Hwy started in WW2). Except for “liters” being on the gasoline pumps, I did not notice any real differences between the Canadian-speak at the Border check-in stop place near the Alaska border, to the U.S.A. Border Agent at the Montana border check-in.
{[ Oops, just remembered one difference: Stopped at a grocery store in one of the oil towns along the Alcan Hwy. to get “road food” ( always cheaper than eating at a restaurant / Diner/ Fast foods place ). Soda pop with caps, bottled water, crackers, cheese-in-a can with nozzle, cupcakes and maybe some jerky and potato chips. { One hand on the steering wheel at all times 😉}. ,,,, there be four-legged critters in the area! }
I walked over to the Bakery section, then the cookies and crackers section but NO “Nabisco” brand “Saltines” crackers. So, I asked to teenagers who were stocking the shelves that day where the “Saltines” where at. They did not know what I was talking about. { They did have Coca-cola on the shelves so I knew I was still on earth.} So, I walked around the store again, and Viola!, on the canned soup aisle they had soda crackers. They were not labeled “Nabisco” and “Saltines”: but the box was the same color and size with a picture of the crackers. Most groceries in the States ( that I have shopped at) usually put the cracker, cookies and “snacks” on the same aisle, not on the Soup aisle. ]}
Turned on the TV expecting to catch some Canadian News broadcasted from Ottawa or Toronto. Nope. The TV news shown in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Can. was from a TV station in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.. 🤔 Very odd. Would have thought a station from Edmonton, Alberta, or Calgary would be on the air in Dawson.
yup, we use “colour” and “favour” but also “realize” and “apologize”
Eh Canadian English is basically just American English in phonology, I don’t notice any differences and I constantly have to see Canadians saying they’re Canadian and not American as everyone assumes they are lmao. The only time it’s noticeable is the minority of rural Canadians that have the “thick” accent.
@AspireGD It is easy to pick a Canadian. Get them to say “boat” or “out” or “about” or anything with the same vowel pair. The “oot” gives it away.
I enjoyed this very much, especially the section about the ‘intrusive r’. I have worked for two New Hampshire based companies and have several New England relatives. In that part of the US the ‘intrusive r’ is alive and well. I used of joke with my Yankee colleagues about their habit of dropping the ‘r’ off many words, saving them up to later carpet bomb unsuspecting words that had no use for them.
The intrusive r is also used in parts of the Midwest, particularly with older people, I am not sure I have heard anyone under the age of 70 use it though. The best example I can think of ” warsh” for wash.
😁
@chris marcione As a native midwesterner living in New England, I do not think that is an example of the intrusive “r”. And it is a characteristic of what is sometimes called a “midland” accent, not midwestern.
A grammatical difference between British English and American English that I’ve noticed is how they negate the verb “have.” In both versions of English, you normally negate verbs by putting “do not” or “does not” before the infinitive version of the verb, with the exceptions of “be,” “do,” “can,” and “must.” For those, you put “not” after the verb. In British English, you also negate “have” by putting “not” after the verb. In American English, you only put “not” after “have” if it’s used as an auxiliary verb. If it’s not an auxiliary verb, you put “do not” or “does not” before “have.” For example, both versions of English would say, “I have not been to Asia,” because “have” is an auxiliary verb in this case. However, British English would say, “I haven’t any money,” while American English would say, “I don’t have any money.”
Interesting anomaly:
In Australian English, which contains elements of US and UK English, we use both “Licence” and “License” – but whilst either spelling is acceptable, TECHNICALLY you’re supposed to use -se for a verb and -ce for a noun.
So the government will license me to drive, but they do so by giving me a licence. . .
I think this is correct in British English too.
Australians have the absolute best swear words!!
If they are pronounced the same, and essentially mean the same except for the part of speech, then why retain the spelling difference?
@tallicaaa Yeah I think so. “licensing” looks more correct than “licencing”
@Steve Brian “F***”
I’m an American who enjoys watching the show produced in the UK called “Escape to the Country.” I was aware of some of the differences between American and British English, but that show has opened a whole new world. Besides the house hunters speaking with a wide variety of accents, I’ve discovered more differences in vocabulary or figures of speech. For example, Brits use “garden” for what Americans call a generic yard (which could contain flower/vegetable/rock gardens as well as grass lawns, trees, bushes, hedges, etc.) Also, I still laugh when a smiling house hunter calls a room or setting as “homely” instead of “homey.” Then a small den/living room/study is often called a “snug.” And I had to ask a Brit how the word “mooch” is used since a couple of house hunters said they wanted to go inside a residence for a “mooch.” In that context, it means to take a look or wander around, quite a different meaning than the American definition. And don’t get me going on how confusing it is to hear that they are going to climb the stairs to the first floor of a residence. Also, the word “property” seems to refer to the physical residence itself, and not the land with the residence and possible other “out buildings.” Sometimes in the US, “property” can be used just for a building, but it usually means either a vacant lot or the land and whatever else is on it. A subtle difference, yes, but another difference that could be confusing. Another difference I picked up, many house hunters in the UK don’t want open concept living spaces (kitchen/dining/family or living rooms all open to each other) and they don’t seem very concerned about the number of bathrooms or their locations. They seem content with one on the “first floor”, even in a two story house. (And many times, these homes have been updated, renovated, and expanded and bathrooms weren’t added!)
I’m from the UK what channel is Escape to the Country shown on?
@Matthew Kent I think its day time telly, same time as cash in the attic and them programs.
I am from the UK and I can confirm that’s what we speak
I’m from Australia and I find folk on that show strange because it matters so much that the bedrooms are upstairs and if they are downstairs or the house is single storied they call it a bungalow and usually don’t like it’ Here the majority of houses are single storied and open plan. I guess going “up” to bed is very firmly entrenched in the minds of Brits. As an Australian I think being such a diverse immigrant country your language/accent depends on who brought you up. In my case it was my English born grandmother and therefore I use the British/Australian and really don’t like the American/Australian which is certainly creeping in. Many chlldren whose immigrant parents (Greek, Italian, Asian) are not native English speakers learn a lot of their language from television which in Australia, unfortunately, is moving from British influence to significantly American dominated.
And how do you do Southern Hemisphere typing ???
Something I’ve noticed as an English teacher is that the brits use the present perfect much more than we do in the US, where we would use simple past. There’s even a good example of this in the English Grammar in Use book, I think unit 7 & 8. Although the rest of the book can be pretty British, I really recommend it.
Being from the NYC area, I didn’t realize that pronouncing “marry” and “merry” (and “Mary”) the same was considered the norm for American English. I always thought the regions that merged the vowels were the “nonstandard” ones. Apparently, per the 2003 Harvard Dialect Study, 57% of Americans pronounce these three words the same and another 26% pronounce two of them the same. Only 17% (myself included) pronounce them all differently. What?!
Yeah, I grew up in NJ, without the “marry”/“merry”/“Mary” and “cot”/“caught” mergers, but weirdly, they’ve converged in my speech over time, without my realizing it. I had no idea that it was a thing, much less that I was doing it until I read an article somewhere about it. It’s basically a vowel shift happening in real time, with younger people tending to fully have the merger, and older people tending to completely or mostly retain the distinction.
@Idli Amin, the Last King of SambarI grew up in Jersey too and pronounce all three differently. I think people in the NE tend to pronounce at least two of them differently.
@Jeff Harden Yeah, that’s been my observation, too. What part of NJ are you from, if you don’t mind my asking? I grew up in Central Jersey (Middlesex County), but apparently I’ve never really had a Jersey accent—I’ve been told I sound like I’m from everywhere from Canada to Utah to Tennessee! 😆 (Might be partly because my parents are immigrants, rather than native speakers of American English.)
@Idli Amin, the Last King of Sambar I grew up in Union County, commuted to high school in West Orange and attended college in Boston. Most people would say I don’t have much of an accent but I do hear it a little bit when I say things like coffee and Newark. Cawfee and Nork. I do occasional voiceover work so not having a strong accent has come in handy in that respect.
Really interesting. It reminded me when I was teaching student nurses from the Philippines here in the UK. They grew up learning American English so all their assignments contained really unfamiliar spelling and expressions.
Interesting as a Scotsman how many similarities there are between Scottish standard English and General American English.
Agreed. I always hear the similarities.
I am russian and only now I realised how dominating American English is. We learn standart BE in schools but because of American movies, videogames, tv, youtube, companies etc. AE is much closer and understandable to us (although I personally think British accent sounds cooler)
As a Russian/Brit, currently in Russia (used to live in London) , yes! My friends in London sometimes don’t understand me over text.
Lol…
And thanks! I obviously have a British accent, so ye…
I’ve not left the US for longer than two weeks but I find the British accent to be much more entertaining than the standard USA dialect. That being said, I wouldn’t mind learning both Scottish and Irish.
Your point about the “intensive r” was very enlightening, since it held me understand the “intrusive n” in Yiddish pronunciation of Hebrew words. The Hebrew name Yaakov (Jacob) is pronounced Yankov in Yiddish, resulting in the common nickname Yanky. I’ve often wondered why the “n” was inserted for no reason, and seeing it happen in other languages makes it make a little more sense. I’ll have to think if it occurs in other words as well.
In French it happens all the time, it’s called ‘liason’.E.g. un enfant (a child); les enfants (the children). The latter is pronounced le-z-enfants.
I’m from Zimbabwe and grew up in South Africa and England. I know for a fact there are even massive differences between English from Devon and Cornwall (the Southwest in general) and Southeast English in general. Also I have heard gotten used in England. I would love you to go into detail about the errors Native English speakers make. The failure to conjugate the past participle in conditionals and perfect tenses is a big one as well as indefinite articles. One final note, in South Africa we use a mixture of both types of English and maybe that’s due to the Americanization of English due to Hollywood…food for thought.
As an RP speaker I find Glasgow and Newcastle accents the most difficult (I guess because the vowel shift from middle English happened less up there) but rarely have problems understanding native English speakers from US etc. However RP sometimes gets peoples back up as colonial and arrogant when there is a historical “chip on the shoulder”.