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Differences between British and US English

Differences between British and US English. English Writing Workshop BIOFORSK, Ås 09 June 2009 Agro Lingua Karl Kerner - Måltrostvn 1A - 3142 Vestskogen - karl@agroling.no. What’s different?. Pronunciation Stress Grammar Vocabulary Spelling Weights & measures. BrE – AmE: Pronunciation.

francis-conley
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Differences between British and US English

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  1. Differences between British and US English English Writing Workshop BIOFORSK, Ås 09 June 2009 Agro LinguaKarl Kerner - Måltrostvn 1A - 3142 Vestskogen - karl@agroling.no

  2. What’s different? • Pronunciation • Stress • Grammar • Vocabulary • Spelling • Weights & measures

  3. BrE – AmE: Pronunciation Pronounce the following in Br & Am English • Hardly, sturdy (r – sound) • Grass, dance (a – sound) • Fertile, missile (ile – sound) Stress • Laboratory – laboratory • Aluminium – aluminum

  4. BrE – AmE: Grammar • Some (irregular) verb forms • ”The” – In hospital / In the hospital • Prepositions: at/in school, in/on a team, fill in/out a form, etc... Usually, this is not the main thing to worry about!

  5. BrE – AmE: Vocabulary • Autumn – fall • Boot – trunk (car) • Dustbin – garbage can • Flat – appartment • Maize – corn • Petrol – gas • And many more – see online lists, e.g. ”American and british vocabulary”

  6. BrE – AmE: Spelling British American • -our/-or: colour - color • -re/-er: centre - center • -ce/-se: defence - defense • -ise/-ize: organise - organize • -yse/-yze: analyse - analyze • -ogue/-og: catalogue - catalog

  7. BrE – AmE: More Spelling British American • -mme/-m: programme – program • hyphens: non-profit – nonprofit • -ll-/-l-: levelling – leveling • dropped e: ageing–aging; likeable-likable • oe(ae)/e: caesium – cesium • And more, of course!

  8. Who could say it better? We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language. —Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost

  9. Conclusions • Check with journal style guidelines • Be consistent!!! • Use spellchecker • Dictionaries: Either BrE (eg Oxford) or AmE (eg Webster’s). Be aware of what you are using! • Focus mainly on communicating clearly  • Don’t worry too much, ”Majority English” is taking over anyway...

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