Difference between British and American English

Checkpoints

1.

Some words that are pronounced different:

	British	American
Dance	da-ns	dæns
Rather	'ra-dø'r	'ræthe'r
Awful	åhfol	åfoul
Car	ka-h	ka'r
Pillar	pilla-h	pille'r

2.

The five main spelling differences from British to American:

1. Some words that end in -ter in AE end in -tre in BE

Example: theater, theatre

2. Some words that end in -og in AE end in -ogue in BE

Example: monolog, monologue and catalog, catalogue

3. Some words that end in -or in AE end in -our in BE

Example: color, colour

4. Verbs that end in -ize/yze in AE end in -ise/yse in BE

Example: analyze, analyse

5. In BE, the -l at the end of a word is doubled when a new ending is added. In AE the -l is only doubled if the stress is originally in the second syllable

Example: rebel-rebelled is similar in both AE and BE, but travel-traveler in AE will in BE be travel-traveller

Language work

BE: I am knackered and I must go to the loo.

AE: I am tired and have to go to the toilet.

BE: Are there any WCs close by?

AE: Are there any bathrooms near?

BE: Must I queue up behind that bloke?

AE: Do I have to stand in line behind that guy?

BE: Is there a chemist anywhere close?

AE: Is there pharmacy nearby?

BE: I am peckish.

AE: I am starting to get hungry

BE: At the zebra crossing the lollipop lady directed us to take a diversion, but my lorry was out of petrol and it was impossible.

AE: At the zebra crossing the crossing guard directed us to take a detour, but my truck was out of gas and it was impossible

My own language work c:

Translate these sentences from BE to AE.

On the pavement outside of the shop there were loads of from sweets wrappers.

The lift up to my flat is broken.

The underground shop sells crisps and biscuits in the fall.