Look at these sentences. Do you know which sentences are more typical of British English or American English?
Shall I open the door for you?
He's taking a shower.
France have won the World Cup.
I'm not hungry. I just ate.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
The main difference between British English and American English is in pronunciation. Some words are also different in each variety of English, and there are also a few differences in the way they use grammar. Here are five of the most common grammatical differences between British and American English.
1. Present perfect and past simple
In British English, people use the present perfect to speak about a past action that they consider relevant to the present.
The present perfect can be used in the same way in American English, but people often use the past simple when they consider the action finished. This is especially common with the adverbs already, just and yet.
| British English | American English |
|
He isn't hungry. He has already had lunch. |
He isn't hungry. He already had lunch. |
2. got and gotten
In British English, the past participle of the verb get is got.
In American English, people say gotten.
** Note that have got is commonly used in both British and American English to speak about possession or necessity. have gotten is not correct here.
| British English | American English |
|
You could have got hurt! BUT: |
You could have gotten hurt! BUT: |
3. Verb forms with collective nouns
In British English, a singular or plural verb can be used with a noun that refers to a group of people or things (a collective noun). We use a plural verb when we think of the group as individuals or a singular verb when we think of the group as a single unit.
In American English, a singular verb is used with collective nouns.
** Note that police is always followed by a plural verb.
| British English | American English |
|
My family is/are visiting from Pakistan. BUT: |
My family is visiting from Pakistan. BUT: |
4. have and take
In British English, the verbs have and take are commonly used with nouns like bath, shower, wash to speak about washing and with nouns like break, holiday, rest to speak about resting.
In American English, only the verb take (and not the verb have) is used this way.
| British English | American English |
|
I'm going to have/take a shower. |
I'm going to take a shower. |
5. shall
In British English, people often use Shall I ...? to offer to do something and/or Shall we ...? to make a suggestion.
It is very unusual for speakers of American English to use shall. They normally use an alternative like Should/Can I ...? or Do you want/Would you like ...? or How about ...? instead.
| British English | American English |
|
It's hot in here. Shall I open the window? |
It's hot in here. Can I open the window? |
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Hi! I searched a lot but just couldn't find. What does the phrase 'it was only then' means in the sentence 'It was only then that the truth came out.' ? Thanks in advance!
Hi Melis_06,
The phrase means "at that moment, and not before". The phrase emphasises how late (rather than early) the truth came out.
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Hi to all of You.
I finished That activite With 7/8, was Hard But I try.
I am begginner.
Greet All
Hope everyone doing well, I finished my test with 8 out of 8.Nice to be a part of this activity.
To me like as someone who is learning english and I am from Latinomerica, I can not see the diferences but I can recognize the acent of americans and british people. I think is the same when we speal spanish in America and Spain, de sound and the nouns are the main diference.
Thanks for your support
I am an American who writes training. We use "shall" all of the time for emphasis. Every question including shall is incorrect. We never a say "Can I get you a coffee." it is "some coffee," "a cup of coffee" or simply "coffee."?
This site contain inaccurate information. I was hoping to find words that are spelled differently, but there is no list.
Hello knlistman,
Regarding 'shall', I agree that our explanation should be more specific -- it should specify that Americans don't typically use 'shall' in the way the British people to offer to do something. That was the intention behind our explanation, but I can see how it might be confusing. I'll bring this up with the team.
Could you please tell us more about how you hear 'shall' being used for emphasis in American English? I also am American and although it's been some time since I lived there, I did live there for 35 years and visit every year. So I'd really be grateful if you could give some examples of what you mean.
Thanks for sharing your point about 'a coffee', and we will look into that. In any case, the point of that sentence was to identify the use of 'can' to make an offer instead of 'shall'.
We chose not to provide a list of words spelled differently since such lists are easy to find on the internet, whereas less information about different uses of grammar are available.
Thanks for your feedback.
All the best,
Kirk
LearnEnglish team
Hello Toufik
I'd say yes, I love American English because it's really nice .
Here are some examples about choosing the present perfect and the simple past tense:
1. [Context] I want to give advice to my friend on where she should visit
I visited/ have visited Paris two times. It is a beautiful city. I think you should visit it once in your life.
2. [Context] My friend planned to visit my country for a week. He has been staying in my country for three days now and I want to know which places he visited / has visited, so that I can recommend him other places to visit. Which question would be correct? I don't know which tense would be correct to use.
Where did you visit since you came here? // Where have you visited since you came here?
I visited X, Y, Z. / I have visited X, Y,Z.
3.[Context] I am tired of died roses, so I complain with my friend:
Every time I planted/'ve planted roses in the garden, they died/'ve died. I may try planting some geraniums instead.
Some US native people tell me that I can use the simple past in all of my examples, but some don't agree to use the simple past. This makes me confused. Could you please help me clarify this?
Hi LE12345,
I'm not an American English speaker, but I believe that the past simple would be commonly used and accepted in American English in all the examples you gave (while the present perfect would be preferred in British English). As the explanation above states: "The present perfect can be used [...] in American English, but people often use the past simple when they consider the action finished." You can see more information about this also on this Cambridge Dictionary page (see the "British and American English: verb tense forms" section), which explains: "The present perfect is less common in AmE than BrE. AmE speakers often use the past simple in situations where BrE speakers use the present perfect, especially with words such as already and yet".
As for why some people you asked didn't agree, I'm afraid I can't really explain that!
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team