VARIETIES OF ENGLISH

Labels in the dictionary give information about different varieties of English:

US          American English

AUS        Australian and New Zealand English

UK         British English

As well as British English there are these additional varieties:

Northern English              Scottish English             Irish English

Differences in words

Differences between varieties of English are clearly marked in the dictionary. For example, this entry shows that duvet is British English and that American English has a different word.

duvet UK /_du_.ve/ US /–_–/ noun [C] (UK ALSO continental quilt, US comforter) a large soft flat bag filled with feathers or artificial material used on a bed

Grammar differences

The grammars of American and British English are basically quite similar, but here are some important ways in which American English differs from British English:

The past forms of some verbs

In American English some irregular verbs can have a form of the past simple or past participle that is not used in British English.

He dived / (US also) dove into the pool.

Jake has got / (US usually) gotten really fat.

The past simple

In many situations where British English uses the present perfect form of the verb, American English uses the past simple:

UK                                                        US

I think I’ve lost my camera.                   I think I lost my camera.

Thanks, but I’ve already eaten.             Thanks, but I already ate.

Different prepositions

UK                                                        US

The shop is open from Monday              The shop is open Monday through Saturday.

to Saturday.                                          

It’s a quarter past seven.                      It’s a quarter after seven.

Differences in spelling

In American English,words tend to be spelt more simply or more like the way they are pronounced. Compare the following British and American spellings:

UK                    US                                 UK                                US

equalled           equaled                        litre                              liter

plough              plow                             honour                          honor

Australian English usually follows British spellings, although there are some American spellings that are also acceptable.