British and American Vocabulary Words List

People who are not a professional writer or a full-time editor then you might be wondering as to what is different between American English and British English. Some people still are not aware of the fact that there are to or more types of English. Well, the dialect is not entirely different but it has slight variations that are enough to show the difference.

When you are learning English, it would become very difficult to make a clear distinction between US English and UK English. As you can see that there is a wide variety of accents that is spoken in both the US and the UK. You can notice the difference between the accents of a person from New York and the other one from Texas. They both are from America but they have a slightly different accent. The same is true for accents that are used by the people living or residing in London, Manchester or Glasgow.

List of American and British Vocabulary Words

There is a slight difference in vocabulary used by Americans and Britishers they either use a different word or a similar looking word with different spelling and pronunciation.

Following is a tabular list of words Americans and Britishers use in their English communication and writing.

American English	British English
color	colour
behavior	behaviour
theater	theatre
meter	metre
organize	organise
traveled	travelled

Following is a list of American words with their British counterparts, you’ll notice that we quite often confused these words, right?.

American English	British English
apartment	flat
college	university
theater	theatre
vacation	holiday
chips	crisps
(french) fries	chips
the movies	the cinema
soda / pop / coke / soft drink	soft drink / fizzy drink
sneakers / tennis shoes	trainers
sweater	jumper
mailbox	postbox
band-aid	plaster
drugstore	chemist’s
soccer	football
cookie	biscuit

Now, as we have known the difference between the vocabulary used by American as well as British English, we can move ahead to check the way grammar can affect the accent of Americans or Britishers.

American Grammar vs British Grammar Differences

1. The Way Prepositions are Used

The difference you would be checking below is some of the general rules that are applicable in the English. It is quite amazing to know that the American Speech was influenced by Britain through pop culture.

American English	British English
I’m going to a party on the weekend.	I’m going to a party at the weekend.
What are you doing on Christmas?	What are you doing at Christmas?
Monday through Friday.	Monday to Friday.
It’s different from/than the others.	It’s different from/to the others.

2, The Difference In Use of Regular And Irregular Verb

The differences that you would find here are quite subtle and can be easily overlooked while you are talking or having a conversation. But you need to be careful while you are working on content. There are many verbs that are irregular and in the preterite in Britain. Now, these nouns are made regular in American English format. As English is the second largest spoken language on the planet then it would get really confusing while you are trying to learn the basics of it. This difference should not be an obstacle when you are communicating with other people on the opposite side.

3. Difference In the Use of Collective nouns: Singular or Plural?

You might be aware of the fact that in British English collective nouns are considered as both singular and plural. But more often it tends to be plural as they are emphasizing more on it. Let’s see the examples given below to understand it in a better way.

American English	British English
The government is doing everything it can during this crisis.	The government are doing everything they can during this crisis.
My team is winning.	My team are winning.

Conclusion:

So by now, you might have understood why there is a difference in the accents and grammar of American English and Britsh English. The main point is both of them are accepted as the formal way of using English while speaking or having a conversation but while writing the same thing you would have to be very careful.