American and British grammar are likely found to differ due to their historical and cultural and linguistic factors.
GRAMMAR DIFFERENCES
1.VERB TENSES:
British English uses the present perfect tense more often than American English.
S.No | BRITISH ENGLISH | AMERICAN ENGLISH |
1. | I have eaten already. | I ate already. |
2. | She has just come. | She just came. |
British English uses the past perfect tense more frequently than American English
S.No | BRITISH ENGLISH | AMERICAN ENGLISH |
1. | I had seen this movie. | I saw this movie. |
2. | I had been working there for months | I worked there for months |
2. COLLECTIVE NOUNS:
British English more likely tends to use plural verbs after collective nouns whereas American English uses singular verbs after a collective noun.
S.No | BRITISH ENGLISH | AMERICAN ENGLISH |
1. | The team are winning the match. | The team is winning the match. |
2. | The family are visiting today. | The family is visiting today. |
3.VOICE:
British English uses passive voice more frequently than American English.
S.No | BRITISH ENGLISH | AMERICAN ENGLISH |
1. | The speech was given by John | John gave the speech |
2. | The book was written by him | He wrote the book |
4.SPELLINGS:
S.No | BRITISH ENGLISH | AMERICAN ENGLISH |
1.-our vs -or | Colour | Color |
Honour | Honor | |
Neighbour | Neighbor | |
2.-re vs -er | Centre | Center |
Litre | Liter | |
Metre | Meter | |
3.-ce vs -se | Defence | Defense |
Licence | License | |
Offence | Offense |
5.THAT/WHICH:
British English uses 'which' for respective clauses while American English uses 'that.'
6.VOCABULARY:
A wide range of difference is seen between British English and American English when it comes to vocabularies.
S.No | BRITISH ENGLISH | AMERICAN ENGLISH |
1. | Lift | Elevator |
2. | Chips | French Fried |
3. | Cookies | Biscuits |
4. | Petrol | Gasoline |
5. | Boot | Truck |
6. | Tyre | Tire |
7. | Jumper | Sweater |
8. | Flat | Apartment |
9. | Sweets | Candy |
10. | Windscreen | Windshield |
FAQ's
Differences in verb tense, collective nouns, spelling, vocabulary and word order.
Yes, though sharing many words, BrE(British English) and AmE(American English) have distinct vocabularies.
BrE(British English) prefers ‘shall’ while AmE(American English) prefers ‘will’.
Yes, especially with adverbs and auxiliary verbs.
BrE(British English) uses adverbs between verbs while AmE(American English) uses them after verbs.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRITISH AND AMERICAN GRAMMAR