By Ryan Sitzman Last updated: September 22, 2023

The 45 Most Important Differences Between American and British English

My students often ask me about the differences between American and British English.

Every language variety and every dialect can seem a bit unfamiliar, so it all depends on your perspective.

In this article, I’ll help you get started with the differences between the two!

Contents

• Pronunciation Differences Between American and British English
• • 1. The letter “r” at the end of a word
  • 2. The letter “r” in the middle of a word
  • 3. The letter “t” as a double consonant
  • 4. The letter “t” after the letter “n”
  • 5. The letter “a” in general
• Grammar Differences Between American and British English
• • 6. have — have got — got
  • 7. got — gotten
  • 8. Past tense verbs ending in “-t” and “-ed” 
  • 9. Spelling of “-our” vs “-or”
  • 10. Spelling of “-ise” vs “-ize” 
  • 11. Single vs double consonants
  • 12. Prepositions
• Vocabulary Differences Between American and British English
• And One More Thing...

Pronunciation Differences Between American and British English

Even native speakers don’t understand other dialects of English 100%, especially when it comes to slang words. 

Still, there are some general differences between the two accents, and it’s good to know them.

Remember, these are just general differences.

There are many differences between accents in the United States, and there are even more differences between various British accents.

1. The letter “r” at the end of a word

This is one of the first differences people notice between different dialects of English.

If there is a letter “r” at the end of a word, it’s usually pronounced in American English. In most dialects of British English, it’s not pronounced.

Some examples are words like “computer,” “clever” and “brother.” 

Note that most dialects will generally pronounce r’s at the beginning of a word, like in “red” or my name, “Ryan.”

2. The letter “r” in the middle of a word

The r’s in the middle of a word are usually noticeably softer and harder to hear in British English as well. In American English, they’re a bit clearer.

Some examples include “large,” “work,” “park” and “turn.” 

Note that the “r” sound in the middle of some words will always be pronounced, no matter the dialect! This is the case in words like “barrier“ or “parent.”

3. The letter “t” as a double consonant

Another common characteristic of American English is to make different sounds, usually with the letter “t” or two t’s, sound more like a “d.”

In British English, this is less common, and the t’s are usually more clearly pronounced.

In American English, “bitter” sounds basically the same as “bidder,” which is a completely different word. For more examples, listen to the differences in “litter,” “better” and “butter.”

4. The letter “t” after the letter “n”

Another time when American English speakers don’t pronounce t’s is when the “t” follows the letter “n.” A typical example is the word “international.”

If a British person said that, you would probably hear the first “t.” But many Americans would eliminate and it would sound more like “innernational.”

Notice that this is also most common in casual speech. If Americans are speaking formally or trying to speak as clearly as possible, then they might pronounce the t’s clearly, like in the case of “international.”

5. The letter “a” in general

Many vowels also sound different, but the most common difference that people notice is with the letter “a” in some words.

There is a phonetic sound [æ] that’s basically an “a” and an “e” combined into one letter. This sound is very common in American English, but not in British English.

So a word like “dance,” “after” or “mathematics” will sound very different in British and American English. It’s hard to describe the difference, though, so you should listen to them to hear the difference for yourself.

Grammar Differences Between American and British English

In general, there aren’t many grammar differences between British English and American English.

In fact, if English isn’t your native language, there’s a good possibility that you won’t even notice the differences. Instead, you’ll probably notice the pronunciation and vocabulary differences much more.

Still, there are some differences, so if you’re an advanced English speaker, you’ve maybe noticed some of them in this section.

For today, I just want to focus on a few things that my students recognize most frequently. 

6. have — have got — got

In general British English conversation, they use the verb phrase “have got,” but American English simply uses “have.”

This makes the question formats differ, as well.

There’s also a strong tendency in American English to say “I got” to mean “I have.” Generally this is not considered correct grammar.

This probably comes from quickly saying “I’ve got,” and not clearly pronouncing the “‘ve” part. So it becomes “I got,” like in the phrase “I got a car.” 

For an American English speaker, this could mean that I have a car right now, or that I got (bought) a car sometime in the past.

7. got — gotten

Most past tense verbs are the same in British and American English, but there are a few exceptions (also see the next section). The most common exception is the past participle of the verb “to get.”

In American English, the past participle of “to get” is usually “gotten,” but in British English, it’s “got.”

So let’s imagine that your coworker Tony called you earlier in the day. Now imagine your boss asks you, “Hey, has Tony called you yet today?” This is how the two responses would look:

Note that there is usually the same difference with the verb “to forget.” In American English, it would be forget-forgot-forgotten, but in British, it would be forget-forgot-forgot.

8. Past tense verbs ending in “-t” and “-ed” 

For regular verbs, you form the simple past and past participle forms by adding an “-ed” to the end of the word. Some common examples are:

This is generally true in both American and British English, but there are some regular verbs in British English that form the past tenses by adding “-t” instead of “-ed.” For example:

Note that in British English, there are usually two options. For example, you could say “burnt” or “burned” in British English, but “burnt” is more common.

In American English, you only use the “-ed” past tense form for these verbs.

9. Spelling of “-our” vs “-or”

These words are generally pronounced exactly the same. You’ll only notice these differences if you’re reading or writing English.

A few words are spelled “-our” in British English. In American English, there’s no “u.” 

10. Spelling of “-ise” vs “-ize” 

Other places the spelling is different is with words like “organise” that are usually spelled with an “-ise” in British English.

In American English, they would be “organize” with a “-ize” instead.

11. Single vs double consonants

Some words in British English have two consonants in a row, but the same words in American English only have one consonant. 

This is often the case with the letter “l.” In British English, often two are used, while in American English there is only one.

12. Prepositions

As a quick reminder, a preposition is a word that shows the relationship between two nouns. Prepositions can be words like “at,” “in,” “under,” “on,” etc.

Prepositions can be different in British and American English. There are many more examples, but a few common ones that are usually true include:

Vocabulary Differences Between American and British English

Vocabulary is the area that causes perhaps the most confusion in communication between native speakers.

I want to focus on the 33 most common ones I’ve noticed in my personal experience as an English teacher and English speaker.

If you’re learning American English but are planning a visit to Great Britain (or vice-versa), then these are some of the differences you’re most likely to notice. 

So there you go! I hope that you learned something or that you thought something was interesting. Happy speaking and happy travels!

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And One More Thing...

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