{"id":71668,"date":"2019-08-19T06:28:07","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T06:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/?p=71668"},"modified":"2019-08-19T07:26:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T07:26:50","slug":"american-and-british-english-differences-in-grammar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/american-and-british-english-differences-in-grammar\/","title":{"rendered":"American And British English | Differences In Grammar"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
These two varieties of English are very similar that most American and British speakers can understand each other without great difficulty. There are, however, a few differences of grammar, vocabulary and spelling. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between American English (AE) and British English (BE).<\/p>\n

Differences in Grammar<\/h2>\n

Use of the Present Perfect<\/h5>\n

The British use the present perfect\u00a0to talk about a past action which has an effect on the present moment. In American English both simple past <\/b>and present perfect <\/b>are possible in such situations.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • I have lost <\/b>my pen. Can you lend me yours? (BE)<\/li>\n
  • I lost <\/b>my pen. OR I have lost my pen. (AE)<\/li>\n
  • He has gone <\/b>home. (BE)<\/li>\n
  • He went<\/b> home. OR He has gone home. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Other differences include the use of already, just\u00a0<\/b>and yet<\/b>. The British use the present perfect with these adverbs of indefinite time. In American English simple past and present perfect are both possible.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • He has just gone home. (BE)<\/li>\n
    • He just went home. OR He has just gone home. (AE)<\/li>\n
    • I have already seen this movie. (BE)<\/li>\n
    • I have already seen this movie. OR I already saw this movie. (AE)<\/li>\n
    • She hasn’t come yet. (BE)<\/li>\n
    • She hasn’t come yet. OR She didn’t come yet. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      Possession<\/h5>\n

      The British normally use have got<\/b> to show possession. In American English\u00a0\u00a0have<\/b>\u00a0(in the structure do you have<\/i>) and have got\u00a0<\/b>are both possible.<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Have you got a car? (BE)<\/li>\n
      • Do you have a car? OR Have you got a car? (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        Use of the verb Get<\/h5>\n

        In British English the past participle of\u00a0\u00a0get\u00a0<\/b>is got<\/b>. In American English the past participle of get<\/b> is gotten<\/b>, except when have got<\/b> means have.<\/p>\n

          \n
        • He has got a prize. (BE)<\/li>\n
        • He has gotten a prize. (AE)<\/li>\n
        • I have got two sisters. (BE)<\/li>\n
        • I have got two sisters. (=I have two sisters.)(AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          Will\/Shall<\/h5>\n

          In British English it is fairly common to use shall <\/b>with the first person to talk about the future. Americans rarely use shall.<\/p>\n

            \n
          • I shall\/will never forget this favour. (BE)<\/li>\n
          • I will never forget this favour. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            In offers the British use shall<\/b>. Americans use should<\/b>.<\/p>\n

              \n
            • Shall I help you with the homework? (BE)<\/li>\n
            • Should I help you with the homework? (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              Need<\/h5>\n

              In British English needn’t\u00a0<\/b>and don’t need to <\/b>are both possible. Americans normally use don’t need to<\/b>.<\/p>\n

                \n
              • You needn’t reserve seats. OR You don’t need to reserve seats. (BE)<\/li>\n
              • You don’t need to reserve seats. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                \n
                \n

                Use of the Subjunctive<\/h2>\n

                In American English it is particularly common to use subjunctive after words like essential, vital, important, suggest, insist, demand, recommend, ask, advice etc. (Subjunctive is a special kind of present tense which has no -s in the third person singular. It is commonly used in that clauses\u00a0<\/b>after words which express the idea that something is important or desirable.) In British English the subjunctive is formal and unusual. British people normally use should + Infinitive <\/b>or ordinary present and past tenses.<\/p>\n

                  \n
                • It is essential that every child get<\/b> an opportunity to learn. (AE)<\/li>\n
                • It is essential that every child gets <\/b>an opportunity to learn. (BE)<\/li>\n
                • It is important that he be <\/b>told. (AE)<\/li>\n
                • It is important that he should be<\/b> told. (BE)<\/li>\n
                • She suggested that I see <\/b>a doctor. (AE)<\/li>\n
                • She suggested that I should see <\/b>a doctor. (BE)<\/li>\n
                • She insisted that I go <\/b>with her. (AE)<\/li>\n
                • She insisted that I should go <\/b>with her. (BE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                  Collective Nouns<\/h2>\n

                  Collective nouns like jury, team, family, government etc., can take both singular and plural verbs in British English. In American English they normally take a singular verb.<\/p>\n

                    \n
                  • The committee meets\/meet tomorrow. (BE)<\/li>\n
                  • The committee meets tomorrow. (AE)<\/li>\n
                  • The team is\/are going to lose. (BE)<\/li>\n
                  • The team is going to lose. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                    Auxiliary verb + do<\/h2>\n

                    In British English it is common to use do <\/b>as a substitute verb after an auxiliary verb. Americans do not normally use do <\/b>after an auxiliary verb.<\/p>\n

                      \n
                    • May I have a look at your papers? You may (do) (BE)<\/li>\n
                    • You may. (AE)<\/li>\n
                    • You were supposed to have finished your homework before you went to bed.<\/li>\n
                    • I have (done). (BE)<\/li>\n
                    • I have. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                      As if\/ like<\/h2>\n

                      In American English it is common to use like<\/b> instead of\u00a0 as if \/ as though<\/b>. This is not correct in British English.<\/p>\n

                        \n
                      • He talks as if he knew everything. (BE)<\/li>\n
                      • He talks like\/as if he knew everything. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                        In American English it is also common to use were<\/b> instead of was <\/b>in unreal comparisons.<\/p>\n

                          \n
                        • He talks as if he was rich. (BE)<\/li>\n
                        • He talks as if he were rich. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                          The indefinite pronoun One<\/h2>\n

                          Americans normally use he\/she, him\/her, his\/her to refer back to one.\u00a0In British English one <\/b>is used throughout the sentence.<\/p>\n

                            \n
                          • One must love one’s country. (BE)<\/li>\n
                          • One must love his\/her country. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                            Mid position adverbs<\/h2>\n

                            In American English mid position adverbs are placed before auxiliary verbs and other verbs. In British English they are placed after auxiliary verbs and before other verbs.<\/p>\n

                              \n
                            • He has probably arrived now. (BE)<\/li>\n
                            • He probably has arrived now. (AE)<\/li>\n
                            • I am seldom late for work. (BE)<\/li>\n
                            • I seldom am late for work. (AE)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                              These two varieties of English are very similar that most American and British speakers can understand each other without great difficulty. There are, however, a few differences of grammar, vocabulary and spelling. The following...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[736],"tags":[748,747,749],"class_list":["post-71668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-writing","tag-american-and-british-english-differences","tag-difference-between-american-and-british-english","tag-grammar-differences-between-american-and-british-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71668"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71671,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71668\/revisions\/71671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perfectyourenglish.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}