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.
Repeated actions completed in the past can take either the simple past verb (I visited) or past participle (I have visited) and mean the same thing in American English.
I don't know about British English, but in America, the pronoun "some" takes a plural verb, so "doesn't" is not acceptable in that case.
"Some of my American friends agree that the simple past is acceptable, but some don't" is correct.
Does anyone know how to change the iphone SE settings from US English to UK English?
The difference being words like licence vs license etc
All the instructions online of how to do it don't make any changes at all. Still US English
Hello Lena_AU,
I'm not sure this is the best site for a question like this, but perhaps someone will be able to help you.
It sounds like you want to change the spell checking on your phone. In that case you may have to do it app by app, but I'm no expert. To change the general language setting it's Settings>General>Language & Region>Preferred Languages.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Americans use past perfect to show an event occurring over time. However, they will use either tense for an event occurring in the past.
"I have visited Paris two times" or "I visited Paris two times" are both correct and mean the same thing. That is true of every example that you have provided.
The difference between the two is subtle.
"I have walked this same route every day for a year" means I have walked the route and will probably continue to do this.
"I walked this same route every day for a year" means you walked the route in the past, but you are not now continuing to do this.
Dear Team,
Could you please help me with the following question? Is it grammatically correct to say 'I haven't any money'? And if it is, which of the grammar rules is applicable here?
Usually we need to use auxiliary verbs to form negatives - 'I don't have' or 'I haven't got'. But here 'not' is just added to 'have' - 'I haven't ...' Is it really possible to say it this way?
Some people say that it is purely British, while Americans would say 'I don't have any money'. Is it true?
Thank you so much for your great help!
Hi Ankorr,
Yes, it is correct in British English, but it is somewhat formal and old-fashioned in style. In this usage, "have" is a main verb, but it behaves a bit like an auxiliary verb.
Because of its formal and old-fashioned style, it is fairly uncommon in British English, apart from in some fixed expressions (e.g. "Have you no shame?"), and it is very uncommon in American English (as far as I know).
Hope that helps to understand it!
Jonathan
LearnEnglish team
Can you please explain whether we also need to stick to US/UK grammatical structures? Or we can mix them both? I know we cannot mix the spellings, but I am confused regarding the grammatical structures.
Hi AffanArif025,
I would say yes, it's better to stick to one particular variety of English than to mix them, if you are taking a course or studying English in some other formal context. I would recommend checking with your teacher if they have any particular requirements or preferences.
However, in informal contexts (e.g. travel, communicating with friends), mixing is not really a problem. People who speak one variety should be able to understand the other variety without too much difficulty.
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
I believe that Americans don't use the word "Police" .They use "Cops" instead
Hello Ali,Ateik,
Both words are used in the US. Cops is an informal term which is common in conversation, but for more official contexts police is used:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team