To What Extent Is There A Difference Among English Spoken By British People And Americans?

English is a language that has a variety of dialects; particularly, there are three different major English segments. The English language is known in these three segments: English (American), English (Australian), and English (British or UK). The three segments have differences in the way they are written and spoken. This article will compare American English versus British English.

Comparing American and British (UK) English

The two languages are very similar, so much that it is very easy to understand between the two countries. The languages do not need translation due to writing in what is called standard English. Standard English is the written English format used in all three countries making it very versatile and easy to understand. There only a handful of similarities between American English and British English. There are actually more difference than there are similarities.

British English is a very formal form of the English language. The UK practices formal speaking and dictation while the United States of America uses slang and informal English. Our spelling of the same words even differ from each other. In the United States of America we spell words like color and favorite while the UK spells these same words colour and favourite. The formal, or British, version of the word has a u for dictation and pronunciation purposes. America likes to simplify the spelling of some of the traditionally spelled words.

Other ways the languages vary have to do with the meaning of words. Some words do not have the same meanings. Football in the United States of America is a very common sport where teams throw a football to each other trying to score a touchdown. Football in the UK is very different; the word “football” refers to what we call soccer. One controversial difference between UK English and American English is the word “fag”. In America, this is a highly offensive slang word while in the UK the word is very common and refers to a cigarette.

American English and British English have some similarities but are very different forms of the English language. The UK speaks a very formal version of the English language and the American version of the language is very informal. The dialects of the two versions of the language are also very different. British English annunciates while American English does not.