英國英語和美國英語區(qū)別大總結(jié)

1、關(guān)于英國英語和美國英語的區(qū)別多有討論，今天我給大家來個(gè)簡單的總結(jié)吧。在總結(jié) 前有三句話說在前頭：1 .倒退三四百年世界上沒有所謂的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語，標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的英音和美音是上流社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)和文 化的產(chǎn)物。2 .英式英語和美式英語溝通不存在問題，所以學(xué)那種都可以。3 .英音和美音各有自己的特點(diǎn)，所以學(xué)那種都可以，不存在說美音的人聽不懂英音的 情況。今天就給大家看幾篇西方人對(duì)英美英語的區(qū)別的總結(jié)。第一篇是位教書有10年的英國教師的總結(jié)There are many well-known differences between British and American English, but these differ

2、ences won't cause you any serious problems if you come and work in Britain.First, there are a few noticeable GRAMMAR differences between British and American English: I'll talk about the two most important ones.First of all, when Americans make sentences using 'just', 'already

3、9; or 'yet' , they normally use the past simple tense, while in Britain, we use the present perfect.So an American, for example, might say:"I already had lunch.""She didn't arrive yet."And a British person would say:"I've already had lunch." - That's

4、 "I have already had lunch."Or. "She hasn't arrived yet."Also, in Britain we often use 'have got' or 'has got' when we talk about possession, while Americans generally just use 'have' or 'has'.So, for example, in American English we might say:&

5、quot;I have a new car."In British English it's more normal to say:"I've got a new car."The meaning's the same, there's just a small grammatical difference that you might notice.There are these and a few other very small differences, but to be honest, these differences

6、almost never make it difficult for us to understand each other.On the other hand, the differences in VOCABULARY between American English and British English are stronger than the grammatical differences, but again, these very rarely cause serious problems.A lot of the words which are different are i

7、nformal or slang words.For example, I think many Americans would be unfamiliar with the British slang word 'naff , which means 'un-cool' or 'poor-quality'.On the other hand, a Brit (a British person) might be very confused by a sentence like:"The caf e is kitty-corner to the

8、 pharmacy."This means that the caf e is diagonally opposite to the pharmacy, but we don't have the word 'kitty-corner' in British English.Another example would be telling the time.If we want to describe 2:45 in Britain, we might say: "Quarter to three", or 3:15 would be &q

9、uot;Quarter past three".On the other hand, in America, these might be:"Quarter of three" for 2:45, or "Quarter after three" for 3:15.It's another small difference, but it's one that's not going to cause serious problems - it's quite easy to get used to.There

10、are also some differences in SPELLING which I should mention.One example of this is the verb 'to practise':In British English, this is spelt with an 'S', so that's P-R-A-C-T-I-S-E.In American English, it's spelt with two 'C's, so in American English it's P-R-A-C-T

11、-I-C-E.And there are lots of other examples of slight difference of spelling, but about 99% of the time, British and American people can understand each other without any trouble at all. In Britain we watch lots of American films and TV programs, and we listen to lots of American music, so American

12、English is generally very familiar to us.This is probably not quite so true for an American coming to Britain. Americans, I think, don't watch quite so much British TV or British movies.I should also point out that regional English can be an important thing to think about. Not everyone in Britai

13、n talks like James Bond. There are some regional accents in Britain which you don't hear so often in the movies, and these might be a bit more difficult to get used to.However, I'd like to finish by saying that many, many Americans live and work in Britain, and they don't have any seriou

14、s language problems at all. So, Brittney, my advice to you is: don't worry about the language, you'll be fine!第二篇關(guān)于兩種拼寫牛津在線詞典給了詳細(xì)的說明British and American spellingThere are several areas in which British and American spelling are different. These are the main ones to be aware of.Words ending i

15、n -reBritish English words that end in -re often end in -er in American English:BritishUScentrecenterfibrefiberlitrelitertheatretheater or theatreWords ending in -ourBritish English words ending in -our usually end in -or in American English:BritishUScolourcolorflavourflavorhumourhumorlabourlabornei

16、ghbourneighborWords ending in -ize or -iseVerbs in British English that can be spelled with either -ize or -ise at the end are always spelled with -ize at the end in American English:BritishUSapologize or apologiseapologizeorganize or organiseorganizerecognize or recogniserecognizeWords ending in -y

17、seVerbs in British English that end in -yse are always spelled -yze in American English:BritishUSanalyseanalyzebreathalysebreathalyzeparalyseparalyzeWords ending in a vowel plus lIn British spelling, verbs ending in a vowel plus l double the l when adding endings that begin with a vowel. In American

18、 English, the l is not doubled:BritishUStraveltraveltravelledtraveledtravellingtravelingtravellertravelerfuelfuelfuelledfueledfuellingfuelingWords spelled with double vowelsBritish English words that are spelled with the double vowels ae or oe are just spelled with an e in American English:BritishUS

19、leukaemialeukemiamanoeuvremaneuveroestrogenestrogenpaediatricpediatricNote that in American English, certain terms, such as archaeology, keep the ae spelling as standard, although the spelling with just the e (i.e. archeology) is usually acceptable as well.Nouns ending with -enceSome nouns that end

20、with -ence in British English are spelled -ense in American English:BritishUSdefencedefenselicencelicenseoffenceoffensepretencepretenseNouns ending with -ogueUSSome nouns that end with -ogue in British English end with either -og or -ogue in American English:Britishanalogueanalog or analoguecatalogu

21、ecatalog or cataloguedialoguedialog or dialogueThe distinctions here are not hard and fast. The spelling analogue is acceptable but not very common in American English; catalog has become the US norm, but catalogue is not uncommon; dialogue is still preferred over dialog.Aside from spelling differen

22、ces, many items and practices have different names in British and American English. To explore further, see British and American terms .第三篇這位老師給了更詳細(xì)的一個(gè)說明IntroductionSpeakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of British Eng

23、lish. In spoken American English it is very common to use the simple past tense as an alternative in situations where the present perfect would usually have been used in British English. The two situations where this is especially likely are:(i) In sentences which talk about an action in the past th

24、at has an effect in the present:American English / British English? Jenny feels ill. She ate too much.? Jenny feels ill. She's eaten too much.? I can't find my keys. Did you see them anywhere? I can't find my keys. Have you seen them anywhere?(ii) In sentences which contain the words alr

25、eady, just or yet:American English / British English? A: Are they going to the show tonight? B: No. They already saw it.A: Are they going to the show tonight? B: No. They've already seen it.? A: Is Samantha here? B: No, she just left.?A: Is Samantha here?B: No, she's just left.? A: Can I bor

26、row your book? B: No, I didn't read it yet.? A: Can I borrow your book? B: No, I haven't read it yet.1. Verb agreement with collective nounsIn British English collective nouns, (i.e. nouns referring to particular groups of people or things), (e.g. staff , government, class, team) can be foll

27、owed by a singular or plural verb depending on whether the group is thought of as one idea, or as many individuals, e.g.:My team is winning.The other team are all sitting down.In American English collective nouns are always followed by a singular verb, so an American would usually say:Which team is

28、losing?whereas in British English both plural and singular forms of the verb are possible, as in:Which team is/are losing?2. Use of delexical verbs have and takeIn British English, the verb have frequently functions as what is technically referred to as a delexical verb, i.e. it is used in contexts

29、where it has very little meaning in itself but occurs with an object noun which describes an action, e.g.:I'd like to have a bath.Have is frequently used in this way with nouns referring to common activities such as washing or resting, e.g.:She's having a little nap.I'll just have a quic

30、k shower before we go out.In American English, the verb take, rather than have, is used in these contexts, e.g.:Joe's taking a shower.I'd like to take a bath.Let's take a short vacation.Why don't you take a rest now?3. Use of auxiliaries and modalsIn British English, the auxiliary do

31、 is often used as a substitute for a verb when replying to a question, e.g.:? A: Are you coming with us? B: I might do.In American English, do is not used in this way, e.g.:?A: Are you coming with us?B: I might.In British English needn't is often used instead of don't need to, e.g.:They need

32、n't come to school today.They don't need to come to school today.In American English needn't is very unusual and the usual form is don't need to, i.e.:They don't need to come to school today.In British English, shall is sometimes used as an alternative to will to talk about the f

33、uture, e.g.:I shall/will be there later.In American English, shall is unusual and will is normally used.In British English shall I / we is often used to ask for advice or an opinion, e.g.:Shall we ask him to come with us?In American English should is often used instead of shall, i.e.:Should we ask h

34、im to come with us?4. Use of prepositionsIn British English, at is used with many time expressions, e.g.:at Christmas/five 'o' clockat the weekendIn American English, on is always used when talking about the weekend, not at, e.g.:Will they still be there on the weekend?She'll be coming h

35、ome on weekends.In British English, at is often used when talking about universities or other institutions, e.g.:She studied chemistry at university.In American English, in is often used, e.g.:She studied French in high school.In British English, to and from are used with the adjective different, e.

36、g.:This place is different from/to anything I've seen before.In American English from and than are used with different, e.g.:This place is different from/than anything I've seen before.In British English to is always used after the verb write, e.g.:I promised to write to her every day.In Ame

37、rican English, to can be omitted after write, i.e.:I promised to write her every day.5. Past tense formsBelow is a table showing verbs which have different simple past and past participle forms in American and British English. Note that the irregular past forms burnt, dreamt and spoilt are possible

38、in American English, but less common than the forms ending in -ed.InfinitiveSimple past (Br)Simple past (Am)Past participle (Br)Past participle (Am)burnburned/burned/burned/burned/InfinitiveSimple past (Br)Simple past (Am)Past participle (Br)Past participle (Am)burntburntburntburntbustbustbustedbust

39、busteddivediveddove/ diveddiveddiveddreamdreamed/ dreamtdreamed/ dreamtdreamed/ dreamtdreamed/ dreamtgetgotgotgotgottenleanleaned/ leantleanedleaned/ leantleanedlearnlearned/ learntlearnedlearned/ learntlearnedpleadpleadedpleaded/ pledpleadedpleaded/ pledproveprovedprovedprovedproved/ provensawsawed

40、sawedsawnsawn/sawedsmellsmelled/ smeltsmelledsmelled/ smeltsmelledspillspilled/ spiltspilledspilled/ spiltspilled13InfinitiveSimple past (Br)Simple past (Am)Past participle (Br)Past participle (Am)spoilspoiled/spoiled/spoiled/spoiled/spoiltspoiltspoiltspoiltstinkstankstank/ stunkstunkstunkwakewokewo

41、ke/wakedwokenwokenNote that have got is possible in American English, but is used with the meaning 'have', gotten is the usual past participle of get, e.g.2British 2You've got two brothersYou've got two brothers(=you have two brothers)You've gotten taller this yearYou've got

42、taller this year6. Implications for teachingThe two major varieties of EnglishThe two varieties of English most widely found in print and taught around the world are British and American - it is therefore important for teachers to be aware of the major differences between the two. And while lexical

43、differences are the easiest ones to notice, a knowledge of grammatical and phonological differences can be useful not only for teachers to be aware of, but also to be able to deal with should they come up in class.Which is better?An important point to make is that different doesn' t mean wrong.

44、Comments such asa American English is inferior to British English” , or a American English is better than BritiEnglish “ have no solid basis other than the speaker' s opinion. The truth is that no languageor regional variety of language is inherently better or worse than another. They are justdi

45、fferent. Students will often have very firm beliefs on which English they think isbetter/easier to understand/clearer etc. While it may be true for that particular individual,there is no evidence to suggest that one variety is easier to learn or understand than the other.Materials and varietiesIf yo

46、u are an American English speaker teaching with a British coursebook or vice versa, what do you say when the book is different from your English? The answer here is to point out the difference. The differences are not so numerous as to overload the students and often can be easily dealt with. For example, if you are an American English speaker using a lesson that has just include