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Unit 17
British and American English
1. Morphology
In American English, a number of
irregular verbs have become regularised,
while remaining irregular in British
English:
a) In many instances, it is only the voicing
of the past tense morpheme -(e)d which
has been changed to regularise the verb:
Present
burn
dwell
learn
smell
spell
spill
spoil
British English
Past or
Past Participle
burnt
dwelt
learnt
smelt
spelt
spilt
spoilt
American English
Past or
Past Participle
burned
dwelled
learned
smelled
spelled
spilled
spoiled
b) In some irregular British English
verbs, there is a vowel change from /i/
in the present to /e/ in the past
participle forms. The American
English forms retain
the present tense vowel
in the following cases,
as well as voicing the
ending.
Present
dream
kneel
lean
leap
British English
Past or
Past Participle
dreamt /dremt/
knelt /nelt/
leant/lent/
leapt/lept/
American English
Past or
Past Participle
dreamed/drimd/
kneeled/ni:ld/
leaned/li:nd/
leaped/li:pt/
c) The past participle " gotten " is not used
in British English. In American English, it
was formerly restricted to being used in
the sense of " obtain" or " acquire":
I've gotten a new car since I last saw
you.
Now , however, " gotten" can be used in
all meanings except for
"have" in
American English:
We have gotten home late again.
They have gotten me into
trouble again.
We had already gotten off
the train when it was hit.
I have got plenty to eat.
I have got the idea now.
( understand )
2. Derivational
Two verb-forming affixes which are
somewhat more productive In
American English than British English
are:
-ify: citify, humidify, uglify
-ize: burglarize, decimalize,
hospitalize, rubberize, slenderize
b) Another way of forming new words
is by simply changing a word’s
grammatical class. Again, there is
more of a tendency to form new words
in this way in
American English
than in British
English,e.g:
Noun
Verb
an author
to author
a host
to host
a room
to room
( I room at the house. )
a sky rocket
pressure
to sky-rocket
to pressure
(B.E. to
pressurize)
3. Auxiliaries
a) must
The negative of epistemic " must" is "
can't" in Southern British
English ( In the north-west of England, "
mustn't" is used rather Ethan "can't" ):
He must be in ---his TV is on.
He can't be in---his car is gone.
In American English, the most common
negative of epistemic " must " is " must not ".
Note that, unlike north-west British English, In
American English this can’t be contracted to "
mustn’t " without changing the meaning of the
auxiliary to " not be allowed ":
He must not be in---his car is gone.
( epistemic )
You mustn't be in when we arrive.
( not allowed )
However, " mustn't" can
epistemic in the past perfect:
be
He mustn't have been in.
( Even in such cases, the
uncontracted form is preferred in
American English.)
b) used to:
In
questioning
or
negating
sentences with the modal " used to ",
British English can treat " used to "
either as an auxiliary, in which case it
inverts in questions and receives
negation, or as a lexical verb
requiring
"
do"
for
these
constructions:
He used to go there. ( auxiliary )
Used he to go there? ( lexical verb )
Did he use to go there ? ( auxiliary )
He didn't use to go there. ( lexical verb )
In American English, "used to " is
treated only as a lexical verb in these
constructions, and this is also becoming
increasingly the case in British English.
Context
Do-substitution
Deletion
British only
both American
and British.
Did he pass his exam?
Yes, he did do.
Yes, he did.
Have you cleaned the room?
Yes, I have done.
Yes, I have.
I haven't read this yet.
But I will do.
But I will.
I haven't bought one.
But I may do.
But I may
Couldn't you do that later?
Yes, we could do.
Yes, we could.
4. Verb Phrases
1) In British English, the copular
verbs " seem, act, look and sound " can
be followed directly by an indefinite
noun phrase. In American English,
these verbs must be followed first by
the preposition " like "; " seem " can
also be followed by the infinitive " to
be ":
British
It seemed a long time.
He seems an intelligent
man.
American/British
It seemed like a long
time.
He seems to be an
intelligent man.
John acted a real fool.
John acted like a real
fool.
British
American/British
That sounds a bad
idea.
That sounds like a bad
idea.
That house looks a
nice one.
That house looks like a
nice one.
2) " like ”
British/American
We'd like you to
do this now.
American
We'd like for you
to do this now.
3) The verb " want " can be followed
directly by the adverbs " in " and "out" in
American English. In British English, "
want " must be followed first by an
infinitive:
British
American
I wanted to come in.
I wanted to be let in.
I wanted in.
The dog wants to go
out.
The dog wants out.
Also " want " can be used in the
sense of " need " in British English
with an inanimate subject:
The house wants painting.
This is not possible in American
English.
4) The verb " decide " can be used as a
causative verb in British English:
Non-Causative:
He decided to go because of that.
Causative:
That decided him to go.
In American English, " decide " can't be
used as a causative; instead, a
periphrastic phrase must be used, such
as:
That made him decide to go.
“Buy” and “sell”in American
English mean respectively “accept”
and “cause sb. to accept”:
He would not buy that idea.
He is trying to sell us on linguistics.
Doubt作为动词用在肯定句中后面
通常接whether或if，而在否定句
中则接that,这是英国英语的用法。
在 美 国 一 般 用 t h a t .
I doubt that...
Aim后面跟at是英国用法，如：
He aimed at becoming a scientist.
而在美国则用aim to，如：
He aimed to become a doctor.
Raise一词在英国17、18世纪可作
“grow”, “breed”, “rear”解释，后
在英国此用法被淘汰，而在美国
此词仍然保持原来三种意义，如：
In England, one grow farm or
garden products, breed animals, and
rears children. In America, one
raises them all.
Mainstream: Originally it means a
prevailing current or direction of
action or influence.
Now in American English, it
means “to put the students of
mixed ability in one class.”
Some educators warn that
markedly handicapped children
can profit more from segregated
or individual education than from
being mainstreamed into
classrooms with other youngsters.
Loan:
These are the books loaned to
children for home use.
(American English)
Swing: to follow the fashion; to be
lively and up-to-date.
This magazine has got to swing, like
other magazines swing…
(American English)
Stag: Originally, it meant “ a social
gathering of men only” in American
English, for example:
a stag dinner,
a stag dance
a stag party
Now, “stag” can be used as a verb,
meaning “to attend a mixed party
unaccompanied by a girl.”
to stag it.
5) There are a few verbs in British
English and American English which
differ in the prepositions or prepositional
adverbs they collocate with:
British
American
to battle with/against
to battle
to check up on
to check out
to fill in
to fill out
to meet
to meet with
to prevent sth.
to prevent from
becoming
to protest at/against/over to protest
to stop someone doing
to stop from
to visit
to visit with
美国英语倾向于在有些动词后面加
上副词或介词，以短语动词代替单
根动词，如：
American
British
drown out
drown
sound out
sound
lose out
lose
rest up
rest
American
British
miss out on
miss
pay off
pay
try out
try
start up
start
American
consult with
British
consult
visit with
visit
meet with
meet
He missed out on a chance to take
the exam.
It will pay off to revisit with the city.
Alfred sounded out（试探……以了
解其意图；探听某人口气） his
boss about a day off from his job.
Noun Phrases
Count versus Mass Nouns
a) "lettuce " has characteristics of both a
count and mass noun in British English,
but it is only a mass noun in many
varieties of American English.
British
American (mass only)
Mass:
I like lettuce.
I like lettuce.
Count:
a lettuce
two lettuces
a head of lettuce
two heads of lettuce
b) "sport " is a count noun in both
varieties but it can also be used as an
abstract mass noun in British English:
Count:
Football is a sport I like. (British )
Football is a sport I like. (American)
Mass:
John is good at sport. (British)
John is good at sports. (American)
Articles
a) When referring to events in the
past, British English does not
require the definite article before
the phrase " next day ". This
construction is more usual in
written British English:
British:
Next day, the rains began.
I saw him next day.
American/British:
The next day, the rains began.
I saw him the next day.
b) British English does not use the definite
article in the phrase " in future " in the
meaning " from now on ", while American
does:
British: In future, I'd like you to pay more
attention to detail.
American: In the future, I'd like you to pay
more attention to detail.
both:
In the future, all houses will be
heated by solar energy.
c) half
British
half an hour
American
a half hour
or half an hour
half a dozen eggs
a half dozen
or half a dozen
half a pound of
carrots
a half pound
or half a pound
Prepositions
British
behind
out of
American
in back of
out
Differences in preposition used:
a) in phrases for duration of time,
British English uses " for" where
American English uses "for" or "in":
British/American
I haven't seen him for weeks.
I haven't seen him for ages.
American Only
I haven't seen him in weeks.
I haven't seen him in ages.
b) British speakers use the preposition "at"
for ' time when", with holiday seasons, as
in :
British
American
at the weekend
over the weekend
at Christmas
over Christmas
on the weekend
c) In expressing clock-time, British
English uses the prep. "to" and "past" the
hour while American English can also use
" of, till and after ":
British/American
twenty to three
five past eight
American Only
twenty of three
twenty till three
five after eight
Adverbs:
" immediately" and "directly" can function
in British English as subordinators. In
American English, they must modify a
subordinator, such as after:
British:
Immediately we went, it began to rain.
Go to his office directly you arrive.
American:
Immediately after we went, it began to rain.
go to his office directly after you arrive.
Vocabulary differences in meaning:
a) Same Word , Different Meanings:
Words
British
American
homely
down to earth; ugly ( of people )
domestic
nervy
nervous
bold, full of nerve,
cheeky
pants
underpants
trousers
pavement footpath, sidewalk
road surface
to tick off
to scold
to make angry
b) Same word, Additional meaning
in one variety. Often the additional
meaning is due to a metaphorical
extension of the common meaning:
Additional Meaning in American English:
Word
Meaning
Additional Meaning
in Common
in American English
bathroom room with bath room with toilet
or shower
only and sink
dumb
regular
mute
consistent;
habitual,
stupid
average(as in size)
normal
Additional Meaning in American English:
Word
Meaning
in Common
to ship
to transport
by ship
Additional Meaning
in American English
to transport by
ship,train, plane
or truck, etc.
c) Additional Meaning in British English:
word
Meaning
in Common
frontier a wild, open space
to mind
to heed, obey
Additional Meaning
in B.B.
border between
two countries
to look after
c) Additional Meaning in British English:
word
Meaning
in Common
smart
intelligent
Additional Meaning
in B.B.
surgery a medical operation
well-groomed
an office of
any doctor
d) Same Concept or Item, Different Word:
US English Only
emcee
faucet
muffler(on car)
rookie
sophomore
washcloth
Corresponds to B. B.
compere
tap
silencer
first year member
second year student
face flannel
British English Only
dynamo
hire purchase
American English
generator
installment buying
nought
zero
queue
line
treacle
molasses
spanner
monkey wrench
American
British
absorbent cotton cotton wool.
Alumnus
graduate
any place
anywhere.
Apartment
flat.
American
British
apartment house block of flats.
Attorney
barrister or solicitor.
Automobile
motorcar.
baby carriage
pram
baby stroller
push-chair.
Ballpoint
biro.
Ballyhoo
exaggerated publicity.
Bar
public house.
American
Barber
beauty parlour
Billboard
to blow one’s top
blue movie
Bluff
bobby pin
British
gentlemen's
hairdresser.
ladies' hairdresser.
hoarding.
to fly into a rage,
pornographic
or erotic film.
cliff
hair grip
American
British
broil
grill.
to bug someone
to annoy someone.
Bum
tramp, vagrant.
to bump off
to murder, assassinate.
Cab
taxi.
call collect
reverse charges.
American
can
Candy
to case a joint
British
tin.
sweets.
to spy out the land
before a robbery.
Cat
jazz musician or fan.
Checkers
draughts.
Closet
cupboard.
comfort station
public lavatory,
convenience.
American
British
commercial bank clearing bank.
con-man
confidence trickster.
Cookies
sweet biscuits,
small cakes.
Corn
maize, grain,
Crackers
biscuits (dry).
American
Crummy
Cuffs
custom-made,
custom tailored
dead end
dead-end street
Dessert
Detour
British
low-grade, poor
quality, dirty.
turn-ups.
made to measure.
cul-de-sac.
cul-de-sac.
sweet.
diversion.