You know summer is over when you hear “autumn is coming” and “it’s brass monkey weather.” Or at least, you do if you’re British. An American might say “fall’s on its way” or “I’m freezing my tail off.” Either way, both speakers may scratch their heads over the other’s way of speaking.
The differences between British and American English have fascinated people for years. While the two dialects are easy to understand for speakers on both sides of the Atlantic, they have distinctive differences in vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and usage. Let’s take a closer look.
British English originated from Old English, called Englisċ, with the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in the 5th century. It developed further with influence from Latin, Norse, and Norman French. Modern English emerged around the 16th century and brought with it a standardization of grammar and spelling.
When British settlers brought English to America in the 17th century, it began to evolve separately due to cultural and environmental changes. Later, Americans pushing westward on the frontier in the 19th century often coined new words when needed, and the 20% of settlers who spoke a language other than English also influenced its early development.
One of the most noticeable differences between British and American English is their vocabulary. While “autumn” and “fall” are used in both variants, British English speakers prefer “autumn” — from the Latin “autumnus” — while Americans favor “fall,” derived from the 16th century British expression “fall of the leaf.”
Did you know that many words we categorize as typically American were originally British? “Soccer” and “sidewalk,” for example, were once common in British English but became outdated, while remaining in use in America.
In some cases, words that are commonly used in one variant may be unfamiliar or have different meanings in the other. For example:
British English spelling was inconsistent before the invention of the printing press, as evidenced by Middle English classics like Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” published in the late 14th century.
British spelling became standardized after Samuel Johnson published “A Dictionary of the English Language” in 1775. In response, Americans created their own standard with Noah Webster’s “An American Dictionary of the English Language” in 1828. Webster aimed to simplify English spelling and reflect pronunciation more closely, likely influenced by the United States’ newfound independence from Great Britain.
While the basic rules of English grammar remain consistent across both variants, there are subtle differences. British English speakers often use the present perfect tense to describe recent actions with present relevance, while American English speakers commonly use the simple past tense.
An example would be:
Prepositions and collective nouns also often differ slightly between the two dialects. A British speaker may say “at the weekend” while an American says “on the weekend.” In British English, “the team are winning,” while in American English, “the team is winning.”
British and American speakers are easily distinguishable by their pronunciation and enunciation. The most noticeable difference is the use of the letter “r”. Many British accents, especially Received Pronunciation (RP), do not pronounce the “r” at the end of words before consonants (e.g., “car” sounds like “cah”). Most American English accents are rhotic, pronouncing all instances of “r”.
Regional accents can vary, however, and some regions of England (such as Cornwall) use rhotic pronunciation, while some U.S. dialects like the Boston accent drop the “r” sound.
Confused yet? These differences extend to vowels, as well. American English speakers tend to emphasize vowels, while British speakers use different vowel sounds and enunciate the entire word more distinctly. For instance, in British English, “bath” is pronounced with a broad “a” (like in “ah”), while in American English, it has a short, elongated “a” sound.
Idioms reflect cultural differences and historical contexts, so it’s unsurprising that British and American English differ here as well. Some idioms like “break the ice,” which originated from ships breaking through frozen waters, are used in both variants. But most idioms have evolved to incorporate local culture and experiences.
For example:
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