Two countries divided by a common language

Shaw
The United States and the United Kingdom
By Lidiya Kazantseva

colonization.
x
The first English settlement was established in Jamestown, Virginia in

1607.

The language also spread to other parts of the world as a result of British trade and colonization. By 1921 the former British Empire controlled a population of 470 to 570 million people (a ¼ of the world’s population).

changed into two versions we refer to as American English

and Standard British English.
Differences include: pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, idioms, and formatting of dates.

is different:
05/01/2014: British English – DD/MM/YYYY
01/05/2014: American English – MM/DD/YYYY

The

way UK and USA speakers say dates is also different:
5th of January 2014 – British English
January 5th, 2014 – American English

/ Path / Grass
The /o/ sound is pronounced with lips

rounded only in British English.
Example: Not / Lot / Hot / Top
Unaccented syllables are very slightly pronounced in British English.
Example: literature.
Ts are less pronounced in American English.
Example: Meter / Twenty
The double T turns into a D sound in American English.
Example: Kettle / Battle / Bottle / Little

feature stress differences.
American first-syllable; British last-syllable:
Mustache

Mustache
Cigarette Cigarette

the L in
British English when a suffix is added.
The

letter can double in American as well – but ONLY IF the stress is on the second syllable
of the base word.

or plural verb forms, depending on whether the emphasis is

on the body or the members within it.
i.e.“A committee was appointed.”
“ The committee were able
to agree.”

morphology
American -- "-ed"
British -- "-t"
i.e. learned/learnt, dreamed/dreamt
British English rarely use “gotten;” instead, “got”
is much more common.
Past participles often vary:
i.e. saw – American: sawed; British: sawn

tenses
British English employs the present perfect to talk about a recent event {i.e. “I’ve already eaten,” “I’ve just arrived home.”}

auxiliaries
British English often uses “shall” and “shan’t”
American English uses “will” and “won’t”

words but intend very different meaning with them:

questions!