Tuesday, 10 April 2007

Ask About English Q41: 'American English'

Hi,

I´d like to make some progress in "American English".

Are you acquainted about it (are you able to provide any information or particular examples) or do you know any webpages focused on it?

Thanks

Roman


Hi Roman,

In the future I will be doing an article about the differences between American and British English. As I am British I am no expert in American English, although I have a few American friends.

The differences between the two can be put into the following 4 categories:

pronunciation:
e.g. the merger of the sounds [ɑ] and [ɒ] so that in USA father and bother rhyme.

vocabulary:
e.g. sidewalk, fall, truck (US); pavement, autumn, lorry (UK)

spelling:

e.g., color, favor, organize (US); colour, favour, organise (UK)

grammar:

e.g. I already ate, on the weekend (US); I've already eaten, at the weekend (UK)



I hope the following links will be of use.

Am-Brit/Brit-Am dictionary
Information about American English (Wikipedia)
Authentic American Pronunciation (with audio)
Comparison of British and American English

Matt

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