John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints
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American English to British English Dictionary - Spelling And Grammar
Spelling
Many words have different spelling in American English and British English. In general American English uses simpler and more obvious spelling, for example "color" instead of "colour", and "center" instead of "centre".
American English often uses a "z" where British English uses an "s", for example "organization" instead of "organisation".
Because I am British, this web site uses British spelling except in place names.
The following web sites list some general rules for the differences in spelling between American English and British English, together in some cases with examples:
The following web sites have interesting comments on Canadian English:
My grateful thanks to Alex Weller of Victoria, British Columbia, who told me about all these web sites.
Grammar
As with spelling, there are many differences in grammar between American English and British English. The situation is further confused by the differences in grammar between formal English and slang in each country.
Kevin Vigor sent me this note:
At least in the American West, adverbs are almost completely unused; the adjectival form is used instead ("He runs quick!"). This usage is so common that it does not in fact indicate that the user is a complete moron. And bear in mind that in American English any noun can be verbed.
Wikipedia has an article on the differences between US and British English which includes a detailed section on grammatical differences. (External link verified Feb-06)
Punctuation Marks
Differences in the names and usage of punctuation marks are included in the Punctuation Marks, Signs, Digits and Numbers section of the dictionary.
Some Other Differences
In American English dates are written in the format mm/dd/yy, for example the date 1/2/02 means the second of January 2002. In British English dates are written in the format dd/mm/yy and 1/2/02 means the first of February 2002. I'm not sure which format is used in Canada. To avoid ambiguity I suggest you use a format such as 1-Feb-02 or 2-Jan-02.
In American English the name of the visiting team is quoted first in sporting fixtures, whereas in British English the home team is quoted first. Also, I'm told that in American English the word "fixture" to refer to any pre-arranged sporting match between two teams isn't generally understood.
Numbers
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
American English to British English Dictionary
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As with all the other pages on this personal web site, all the information on this page is solely the opinion of the author, who has no connection whatsoever with any of the companies and organisations mentioned other than as an actual or potential customer.
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Most recently modified 27-Feb-06