american vs. british english

hi, i grew up in canada but work here requires that i use british english. hope some of you can help me.


what are the key differences in grammar?


is it easy to shift from american to british style of writing?


are there any british style guides available (like the Associated Press in the US)?

Yes, there are a lot of differences I think.

Yes, many differences. Propostions for example. In English we use them where they have been dropped in AE.


E: I helped Joe to fix his car.

AE: I helped Joe fix his car.


E: Please write to me when you have a chance.

AE: Write me when you have a chance.


E: I will try to get back to you soon.

AE: I will try and get back to you soon.


Others:


E: [bing] You have mail.

AE: [bing] You’ve got mail. (In AE, ‘have got/have gotten’ is common, not so in correct English grammar.)



Punctuation examples:


E: He speaks English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

AE: He speaks English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. (In England, this is called the ‘Oxford comma’ as used by Oxford University Press or ‘serial comma’ which is only uses in English for clarification: I like the old movies of Charlie Chapin, Harold Lloyd, and Laurel and Hardy.)


The semi colon in English punctuation is used to join two parts of a sentence, either to connect or contrast: I have nothing more to add; the matter is now closed.


In American English, a colon would be used.


The semi colon is also before words such as nevertheless, however, moreover which are then followed by a comma: He was a great speaker; however, his speeches could be long.


The colon in English is used to introduce material that explains or illustrates a previous statement, or to introduce a list.


He had lost everything in his wallet: credit cards, driver’s licence and a photo of his wife.


In English, we use hyphens between words to show that the words form a compound and have a single meaning. These may be noun/adjective + present participle (long-lasting, money-saving), noun + past participle (disease-ridden), adjective + noun (high-frequency), where the first element ends with the same vowel as the same element (re-establish, co-operate).


We also use hyphens for adjectives before a noun: a well-known person.




In English, we use enquiry for ‘request for information’ and inquiry for a formal investigation.


In English, we use ‘can’ to denote capability or capacity and ‘may’ to denote permission or opportunity. Both can be used to denote what is probable or habitual.


In English, we retain the difference in the usage of ‘bring’ and ‘take’. Use ‘bring’ when the act of carrying or escorting is directed toward the speaker or to a place normally identified with the speaker. Use ‘take’ when the act of carrying is moving away from the speaker. Easy way to remember it is: If you BRING me a present, I’ll TAKE you out for a drink.


In English, we also keep the distinction between ‘fewer’ and ‘less’ – unless, of course, you will be working for the HK government which cannot grasp this difference. Use ‘fewer’ when referring to a number of items or persons; this will be countable. And use ‘less’ when referring to a single amount or uncountable quantity.


There was less space [single amount] in the bedroom than I remember and fewer windows [a countable number].



If you are going to write letters, put Dear Sir (etc.) with Yours faithfully and Dear Mr Brown with Yours sincerely.


The English style for dates is to go from small to large (opposite to the Chinese way): 23 June 1999, 23/6/99.



There are many, many others examples. For spelling, I suggest the Oxford Colour Spelling Dictionary which gives the spelling only of words and gives both English and American spellings.


For grammar/style, you should look at Fowlers, Hart’s (now out of print), The Economist, Oxford Style, and The Financial Times. Select one which suits you best.

"Personally, one of my pet hates is Americanised spelling, more for a traditional origin stand point, as the language should be left intact.


American English is phonetically driven as opposed to purist Oxford concise."


Nope, the reality is much more complicated than that. In fact, so-called American spelling is actually closer to 'traditional' English use than British English in many respects.


For instance, take the missing/added 'u' in colo(u)r, harbo(u)r, etc.

Read anything by Shakespeare: No 'u' to be found.

OED also has both spellings (with and without 'u'), so technically either one is correct (and acceptable at, say, Oxford and Cambridge).

Claire. I'm so impressed. How do you know all that? What are you doing (for) the rest of my life?

...if you grew up in Canada, shouldn't your spelling be more British than American?

"OED also has both spellings (with and without 'u'), so technically either one is correct (and acceptable at, say, Oxford and Cambridge)."


Not in my day! LOL

Claire, you really seem to despise American English. Just curious, why?

Where did I say I "despise" AE? Just curious.

Hi elabrandon,I didn't sense that from Claire despises AE, just that she feels the British way is correct. In fact, in some cases, the AE was just one way Americans say things when rushed. When they are writing, they know it's better to use some of the ways she said were British.The first 3 examples were just a bit more formal, although I'm sure everyone would understand what is meant by the either one regardless of where they were from. The example of the You have mail, etc. is not necessarily known by everyone though and may just be laziness over the years and the punctuation I would argue is debatable as to which is correct, but we can differ there.Lambada, I'm amused. Are you needing English classes?

Sorry Claire, I have to differ with you on quite a few points.


"The semi colon in English punctuation is used to join two parts of a sentence, either to connect or contrast: I have nothing more to add; the matter is now closed.


In American English, a colon would be used."


In AE, we would NOT use a colon - we would also use a semi colon. A semi colon is used to separate two separate independent clauses, in lieu of a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or yet) or a period. Standard AE would NOT put a colon.


There are some limited cases we would use a colon. If we have an independent clause and we wish to explain or amplify something AFTER the independent clause, then the colon.


There are many different items needed for the party: chairs, tables, decorations, and a band.


If you are interested in more details on the AE use of the semi-colon and the colon, you can visit this website:


http://www.uwsp.edu/english/mbowman/101/Colon_and_semi-colon.htm


I also think that for most AE users, there is a spoken or less formal written version (dropping the preposition, missing hyphens and whatnot) but in true formal writing, there are more similarities between the two than differences. Before a noun, standard AE grammar rules say that we also hyphenate: a well-known professor. The same goes for disease-ridden county or money-saving coupons.


Standard written AE also dictates a difference between bring and take, although in speaking and in emails no one seems to remember this anymore. But in good writing, we still make the distinction.


Fewer vs. less is still a grammar point taught in schools as well as much vs. many.


To the original poster Kier, if you are very good in standard written American English, you will not have too many struggles. Watch the use of the present perfect "has/have eaten" and your spelling. Some of the collective noun and verb agreements are different, but I think that with a bit of practice you can quickly catch on. Good luck!


P.S. this is just a funny point that always sounds so weird to me.


E - I need to go to hospital.

AE - I need to go to the hospital.

"Not in my day! LOL"


Really? OED has had both spellings for as long as I can recall...

Thank you hkchoichoi, I could not have put it better myself. After reading Claire's post, I had similar thoughts, but didn't have enough energy to type all that.

e

hkchoichoi, good post.

After long tenure working & editing in a BE environment, my main peeve: passive voice! So lame, so boring, so devoid of flesh, blood, and accountability. "Mistakes were made" indeed! (This last, much borrowed by politicians everywhere, precisely because of the "...but not by me, of course" implication.)


There are many, many AE/BE differences beyond those cited. E.g., "different to" vs. "different from." BE is still redolent of other cultural influences: centre vs. center, programme vs. program, catalogue vs. catalog. AE has shed or pared down many of these. Language, after all, is dynamic and continually evolving.


(Serial commas, for example, will probably disappear from AE altogether in the present generation. Usage tends toward paring down.)

whew, there certainly is a lot to learn. thanks, guys!

luckypenny - interesting post about the passive voice because in AE, we consider the passive to be a big "no-no" in writing. AE standard writing tries to limit the passive voice as much as possible.

How about the difference in the meaning of certain nouns?


E: trousers

AE: pants


E: pants

AE: underwear


E: handbag

AE: purse


E: purse

AE: wallet


E: bottom/bum

AE: fanny


etc etc

Please explain what the passive voice means. thank you.

Passive: Mistakes were made.

Active: We made mistakes. (or He made mistakes. The President made mistakes.)


Passive: The ball was thrown by me.

Active: I threw the ball.


Passive: The sandwich was eaten by a giant.

Active: A giant ate the sandwich.

Passive voice is used to bring a word from an object position in a sentence to the beginning to emphasize the point. A classic English sentence has a specific word order, Subject -Verb- Object.


We made mistakes.

/ / /

Subject Verb Object


In the above sentence the subject (We) actively makes mistakes (thus performing the action of the verb 'made') and is directly responsible for the result of that action ('mistakes'- which is the object of the sentence.)

Mistakes were made.

/ /

Object Verb Phrase


In the passive example, the word 'mistakes' is still an object, but you can see that there isn't a subject in this sentence. Therefore, you never learn who made those mistakes.

In short, you can use passive voice when you are trying to draw your audience's attention away from the 'doer' of the action described in a sentence. This way nobody can be blamed for their actions, since you never say who is responsible.

Is this making any sense? if you need more clarification, I will be happy to explain. If you just remember that politicians love to use passive voice, then you'll immediately recognize which sentence is passive; it's the one where nobody is responsible for their actions. The subject in those sentences remains ambiguous.


e

On ‘bring’ and ‘take’:


By Neale, from Situating Semantics, ed. by Michael O’Rourke and Corey Washington. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007


First, there are dialectal differences. For most speakers of British English, ‘bring’ and ‘take’ are perspectival in a way they are not for most speakers of American English. Consider (i) and (ii):

(i) Bring the receipts to the bank

(ii) Bring the luggage out to the car.


If I am the speaker, (i) and (ii) are both bad for me unless I am already at the bank or out by the car (or at least think I will be by the time, or very close to the time, the addressee arrives with the requested items). Bringing to is towards, taking to is away from, just as coming is towards and going is away from. Not so for many speakers of American English, for whom (i) and (ii) are fine even if they never intend to set foot near a bank or car again.


It also seems interchangeable in the written form:

USDA site about going camping:

If you are going somewhere that will not have running water, bring it with you.

Bring bottled or tap water for drinking.

What foods to bring?

Bring disposable wipes for handwashing


Ontario Ministry of Transportation:

. ..please bring it to any Driver and Vehicle Licence Issuing Office.



The “not in my day” comment was followed by LOL which means laughing out loud and was included to denote a joke. But it seems my British self-depreciating joke about my age went whoosh, didn’t it... BTW, when I was at one of the universities mentioned AE spelling and grammar were not acceptable. Nor are they now according to a couple of dons I know at one or other of the mentioned universities. And my two dictionaries also only had English spelling. So my comment, although meant to be humorous, was based in fact. The way things are in Britain this might change. Some ‘educators’ there believe that the English language is too difficult for native English speakers and should be dumbed down! Oh, and that’s not a joke!


And no, I don’t "despise" AE (where on earth did that motion come from or is the antonym of 'acceptable' now 'despicable'?) and I use it as and when required. I have come across people on both sides of the ‘pond’ who refuse to budge on their perceived “correct” version of the language. What’s the point of that?


I do despair of the use of bad English, wherever it is used. As Eric Blair said: "Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation..." It's a breath of fresh air to see phrases such as "begs the question" used correctly. But too often misuse becomes accepted use.


I keep both English (2) and AE (4) reference books on my desk to ensure correct usage depending on the audience. I made suggestions to the poster about which reference books might be useful but I see that no one else has yet to mention which books they keep on their desks or bookshelves to ensure they don’t make a faux pas. Will anyone else venture a suggestion to help the person out?

Well, I made it through Trinity (as a scholar, mind you - of 70s vintage, which might tell you something of my age) with traditional, proper spelling (no ‘u’s, but plenty of ‘z’s here :-)


To be fair, for one my first papers the supervisor balked at the spelling - upon which I demanded to know why the OED was not acceptable as a reference, since it did list the traditionally spelled versions of words back then (and still does, I presume). After some animated discussion (involving numerous references to and quotations from the works of The Bard), I was never challenged on my old-fashioned spelling again…

Thanks hkchoichoi. Good response.