Resumo - British vs American English PDF

Preview

Summary

Resumo exemplificado das diferenças entre o Inglês americano e o Inglês britânico gramaticalmente, foneticamente e no vocabulário....

Description

1. Introduction The paper will present information collected by an online search for the English subject. Will be discussed the differences between the American and British English, using also, the phonemes of the words used as example to demonstrate the difference in pronunciation.

4

2. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide the students the study of the differences between American and British English. The paper serves, beyond the study of these differences, to the student demonstrate his English skills acquired in classroom (or outside it), facilitating the teacher job of correcting it.

5

3. Development 3.1 . Grammar The most common differences in grammar between the American and British are on the used verbs, prepositions, adjectives and adverbs, tags, auxiliary verbs and on the collective nouns. Collective nouns: American English: The collective is used in singular. Ex.: The romp (otter’s collective) is swimming. British English: The collective can be used in both singular and plural. Ex.: The band (collective of gorilla) is/are swimming. Auxiliary verbs: The auxiliary verb shall is almost never used by Americans, “it looks very formal”. In addition, Brits uses to contract the “do not need”. American English: Ex.: Should I cut my hair? British English: Ex.: Shall I cut my hair? American English: Ex.: You do not need to cut all hair, just trim the ends. British English: Ex.: You needn’t cut all hair, just trim the ends. Adjectives and adverbs: Well and good: Brits usually uses well when Americans prefer good. -You look ill, are you fine? American English: Ex.: I am good. British English: Ex.: I am well. Likely: American English use likely as either an adjective or an adverb, British English use likely only as an adjective.

6

American English: Ex.: Some people will likely be bad. (Brits would not use likely here). American and British English: Ex.: Is McGregor likely to beat Mayweather? Tags: Question tags are used in both British and American English, but in British, it is more common. American English: Ex.: The bank wasn’t that man, was he? British English: Ex.: He is the man who robbed the bank, isn’t he? Verbs: When giving street directions, Brits use imperative when Americans use be going to or “gonna”. American English: Ex.: You’re gonna go one more block, then you will be going to turn right. British English: Ex.: Go one more block, then turn right. Prepositions: In time expressions, British English use at, when American use on. American English: Ex.: […] at Christmas. British English: Ex.: […] on Christmas.

7

3.2 . Vocabulary There are hundreds of words that are different in American English and British English, what become almost impossible to put all here. The most common differences are:  On the u on words like colour, which only appear on British English;  The r position, on words as center, when the British English use centre and the American, center;  The exchange of s (British) by z (American), by example: apologize.  The exchange of c (British) by s (American), by example: defence.  The folded letter, American English do not fold the letter in some cases, like traveled and travelled;  The exchange of y (British) by a or i, two examples are tyre (that become tire) and pyjamas (that become pajamas). Americans and Brits can be easily comprehend most of these differences, there is a table exemplifying some differences:

8

Furthermore, there are some differences in the past tense of some irregular verbs, Americans tend to use the –ed ending, Brits the –t ending. And in the participle form, Americans tend to use the –en ending. Check the table below to understand the differences.

9

3.3 . Pronounce The difference in pronounce between American English and British English occurs because British English tended to keep the spelling of word it absorbed from other languages (e.g. croissant or lingerie). American English adapted the spelling to the sound of words reflect its spelling. The most common differences are in:  The -ile ending (e.g. mobile);  Letter “A” (e.g. laugh);  The stronger letter “R” (e.g. hard, were);  The –ization ending (e.g. globalization);  The letter “T” in the middle of word, with the sound of a “fast letter D” in American English (e.g. water).

10

4. Conclusion: British English and American English have some differences and it is undeniable. However, as seen in this paper, these differences although it may difficult to some beginners in English (the language is growing up, so it is not a small number), can be understood with little difficulty. The only “true danger” may be some differences in vocabulary, the false friends (see some in bibliography article about them).

11

5. Bibliography: ROACH,

Peter.

Phonetics,

pages

64

and

65.

Available

at:

“TheLanguageFactory.co.uk”. 20 British false friends. Available at:

”SK.com.br”. Diferenças entre o inglês norte-americano e o britânico . Available at: “LearningEnglish.voanews.com”. Six differences between British and American English.

Available

at:

“Spreeder.com”. Important American and British spelling you should know . Available

at:

Cambridge University Press. British and American English. Available at:

Oxford

University

Press.

British

and

American

spelling.

Available

at:

“OneStopEnglish.com”. Differences in American and British English Grammar . Available

at:

“AMDEnglishAcademy”. 22 Words with British and American pronunciations that may Confuse you. Available at: 12...