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Grammatical Differences related to verbs between British English and American English Demonstrated with excerpts of articles from authentic news sources.

1. Introduction
English is our time’s global language and the world’s most important lingua franca (Crystal
2003). To illustrate, 85 percent of international organisations and world institutions, such as
the United Nations and the World Health Organization, use English as their working
language. Moreover, the use of English is widespread in the financial sector as more and more
countries are open to global flows of finance and are dependent on the US, economically and
technologically. In addition, key financial institutions, such as the World Bank, have adopted
English as an official language. Moreover, a great proportion of science is published in
English. In fact, the majority of scientific journals, as well as books are published in English.
Indeed, over 60 countries publish titles in English and many of the publications are exported
all over the world (Graddol 1997:8-9).
In Sweden, it is mandatory for all pupils to study English at the compulsory
school (Skolverket 1994a and b), many companies use English as their official language
(Sveriges radio 2009). More and more courses at university are taught in English, and
research is mainly published in English (Brock-Utne 2007:379).
Nevertheless, there are many varieties of English. The different varieties can be
discussed with reference to three circles coined by Kachru in 1985 (cited in Svartvik 1998:16-
17; Graddol 1997:10):
 The Inner Circle – This circle includes the countries where English is the
first, and often only, language (L1). Countries such as the United States,
the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand belong
to this circle.
 The Outer Circle – This circle comprises the territories where English is a
second language (L2); for instance, many regions in Africa, Asia and the
West Indies. In other words, regions that used to be members of the British
Empire. Speakers in this circle might use a local variety of English, but
can also be fluent in international varieties. In these regions, English is
often required for further educations and government jobs.
 The Expanding Circle – This circle includes all regions where English is
spoken as a foreign language (EFL); for example, Austria, Finland,
Germany, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden
(Svartvik 1998:16-17; Graddol 1997:10).
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This division of English is useful for understanding how English is used worldwide.
However, it has its inherent disadvantages; for example, it puts the native speaking countries
in the centre and thus makes these varieties the source of models of correctness. As a
consequence, the classic division is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. In future, the
L2 and EFL speakers will presumably outnumber the L1 speakers. Furthermore, there is an
ongoing shift (figure 1) in the status of English in many parts of the world. That is, many L2
speakers are adopting English as the language of the home and the number of EFL speakers is
expanding as the use of English in international communication is increasing (Graddol
1997:10-11). In fact, many second-language users are more fluent in some aspects of langue
than quite a few of the L1 speakers and numerous EFL speakers know and use English better
than L1 and L2 speakers. The shift towards second language competence is particularly true
as regards EFL speakers in countries like Sweden (McArthur 2003:57-58).
Figure 1: Showing the three circles of English as overlapping makes it easier to see how the “centre of gravity”
will shift towards L2 speakers (from White 1997) .
1.1 Aim
The purpose of this bachelor’s thesis is to examine to what extent Swedes that have studied
English in Swedish upper secondary school2 are able to differentiate between grammatical
features of the two prevailing standard varieties of English, that is British and American
English. Moreover, it will be investigated whether the students are aware of the differences
and are able to keep to one of the varieties, a prerequisite of writing correct texts in English.
2 Gymnasiet.
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2. Background
2.1 Early History of the English Language
The English language is one of the Germanic languages and belongs to the Indo-European
family of languages. The original Indo-European tribe probably lived north of the Black Sea
around 3000 BCE and eventually emigrated east to Persia and India, north to Russia and the
Baltic countries, and west to Greece, Italy, Western Europe and the British Isles (King
2006:17-29). The Romans brought Latin to Britain in c. 55 BC. Prior to that, two branches of
Celtic were spoken in the territory, that is Gaelic and Welsh (Graddol 1997:7).
2.1.1 Early Old English (c. 450-c.850)
The English language developed after the Germanic conquest of England (c. 449 AD), when
the Romans left Britain (ibid:7). This marked the beginning of an Anglo-Saxon civilization in
which Early Old English, a fusion of Germanic invader-languages, was spoken (Momma,
2008b:part V, section 1). Notwithstanding, Latin was still important because it was the
language of the Church and many Latin words were introduced into Early Old English during
this period. Furthermore, the first texts written in English appeared (Graddol 1997:7).
However, Early Old English had little in common with the English of today grammatically, as
it was very inflected and conjugated (Momma, 2008b:part V, section 1).
2.1.2 Later Old English (c.850-1100)
During this period, the language in Britain was subject to influences from other languages,
particularly the Scandinavian languages that were brought to Britain by the Vikings (King
2006:17-29). Moreover, King Alfred had many Latin text translated into English during this
period (Graddol 1997:7).
2.1.3 Middle English (c. 1100-1450)
The Norman Conquest (1066) brought French to Britain. As a result, French became the
official language in the country and had a considerable impact on English spelling and
vocabulary (ibid:7). The French dominance lasted approximately 400 years (Momma
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2008a:Part V, Section 2). Middle English was simpler and more equal to modern English in
its grammatical features as many inflections were lost. (King 2006:17-29). In fact,
grammatical functions were now expressed with word order (Graddol 1997:7)
2.1.4 Early Modern English (c. 1450-1750)
This period comprises the Renaissance, the Elizabethan and Shakespearean era. During this
period, the European nation states took their modern form and the role of the Church and
Latin started to decline. Moreover, scientists, like Isaac Newton, started to write about their
discoveries in English rather than in Latin (ibid:7). In Early Modern English, all Indo-
Germanic/Germanic complex morphology was gone. In addition, it was a diverse language
and many regional varieties existed. There was not yet any defined standard language, so the
usage varied greatly even among the upper class. Indeed, it was this diverse English that the
British explorers brought to countries such as India, Australia, Hong Kong and America
(Nevalainen 2008:part V, section 3). Furthermore, it was during this period that the teaching
of English as a foreign language began, first in France and Holland (Graddol 1997:7).
2.2 British English
By 1750, English had become a “national” language in Britain. It was during this era that the
first attempts to standardise the language were made. For instance, the first dictionaries and
grammars were published (Johnson’s Dictionary 1755, the Oxford English Dictionary 1858-
1928).
Britain had a considerable imperial power and therefore English was an important
language. Furthermore, the industrial revolution, and the patent of the telegraph that made
English the principal wire language, further augmented the importance of it. In addition, the
colonialism made English the language of education in many countries globally. However,
later the decolonisation diminished the importance of the British variety internationally
(Paraphrased from Graddol 1997:7-8). British English is the basis for the Englishes spoken in
England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore,
and South Africa (Finegan 2004:366).
Today, about 56 million people speak English in Britain (Meredith 2000).
British English has a standardized spelling, a standard grammar that is broadly accepted for
writing, and a standard vocabulary that most people understand. The standard pronunciation
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RP, or Received Pronunciation, is used primarily for comparative purposes in research and, to
a certain extent, in teaching. In fact, only a small minority of the British population speaks RP
in everyday life. On the other hand, there are a number of accents in Britain; the traditional
English dialect areas are Lower North, Western Central, Eastern Central, Eastern, Western
and South (ibid). In addition, there are varieties of Scottish and Welsh Englishes (Svartvik
1999:179-200).
2.3 American English
American English is a result of the expansion of the British Empire, just like other varieties
such as the Englishes spoken in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. However, due to
socio-political developments, American English is considered one of two reference varieties,
together with British English (Schneider 2006:58-59).
The English language was brought to North America in the 17th century. The
language used in the territory was a mixture of the different varieties used by the settlers from
various regions in Britain (ibid:58-59). However, by the time of the end of the American
Civil War in 1865, language norms independent of those in Great Britain had been established
and American English was born (Wolfram 2008:part V, section 5). The American
lexicographer, Noah Webster (1758-1843), contributed to the establishment of American
English when he proposed a reform of the American spelling system to give written American
English a distinguishable appearance (Nationalencyklopedin 2000). Graddol (1997) cites
Webster (1789):
The question now occurs; ought the American to
retain these faults[,] which produce innumerable
inconveniences in the acquisition of use of the
language, or ought they at once to reform these
abuses, and introduce order and regularity into the
orthography of the American tongue? … a capital
advantage of this reform … would be, that it would
make a difference between the English orthography
and the American … a national language is a band of
national union … Let us seize the present moment,
and establish a national language as well as a
national government (Graddol 1997:63).
3 A secondary reference is used as the original work is difficult to access.
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Since the Second World War (or World War II as the Americans call it), the USA has been
the most potent country internationally. Consequently, American English is the variety that
has predominated globally over the last forty years (McArthur 2003:55-56; Anchimbe
2006:4)). American English is the basis for the Englishes spoken in the USA and in Canada
(Finegan 2004:366).
Today, American English is spoken by about 221 million people (Meredith 2000).
Traditionally, the American dialects are divided into three main regions, namely North,
Midland and South, with several sub-regions (Schneider 2006:60). In fact, there are fewer
differences between the American dialects than the British ones. Moreover, there are fewer
accents and dialects in the USA than in Britain and non-native speakers of English sometimes
find them easier to understand (Modiano 1996b:210). In addition to the geographical dialects,
there are a few distinct sociolects in the USA (Trudgill 2000:23); for instance, African-
American English and Chicano English (Finegan 2004:385-389).
2.4 Euro-English
In recent years, many researchers have focused on the use of English as a lingua franca in
mainland Europe and the variety Euro-English has been coined (Modiano 2006:223).
Euro-English is a Mid-Atlantic variety, that is, a variety that is not overtly
American nor British (Modiano 1996b:209). In other words, it is a neutral form without any
geographical association (ibid:211). Mid-Atlantic usage of English encompasses a
pronunciation that has no strong traces of distinct regional varieties. In other words, it
encompasses a pronunciation with traces of Standard American, unmarked Received
Pronunciation and the speaker’s own mother tongue. Furthermore, it involves the usage of a
vocabulary that most speakers of English in the world understand. Presently, this normally
entails using American lexical items, as the USA’s global power (cf. 2.3) and the American
film and music industries have introduced the American vocabulary to a wider global
audience (ibid:213). However, all American vocabulary does not conform to the requirements
of Mid-Atlantic English. For example, slang, technological jargon and off-colour language,
vocabulary that is often used in the film and music industries, is not used in Euro-English as it
can be misunderstood (Modiano 1996b:213).
The usage of a Mid-Atlantic variety makes it possible to avoid signalling the
political or cultural label that might be associated with British and American English
(ibid:210). Moreover, the non-native speakers do not have to try to join the native speaker
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community. In other words, the inability to achieve a near-native proficiency does not have to
be seen as a sign of inadequate training and education (Modiano 2003:36). In fact, most
speakers of English on mainland Europe principally use English in contact with other nonnative
speakers of English, rather than with native speakers. In this scenario, to mimic a
native variety of English has little purpose. Euro-English would make it possible for these
speakers to express their own cultural and social identities when speaking English. (ibid:36).
Euro-English is an endonormative lingua franca, that is, it derives its norms
from its own usage rather than from the native English of the UK or the USA (Jenkins et al.
2001:15). The norms derived from the speakers’ usage signify that expressions initially only
understood by people who know the language of origin eventually become accepted among
English speakers and undergo nativization. Finally, they are given communicative legitimacy
and become part of the language used (Jenkins 2001:14). Swedish grammatical examples that
could become part of Euro-English are literal translations of Swedish structures. For instance,
Swedish uses the expression “we were” when referring to the number of people present at an
event in cases when Standard English would utilise “there were”. Thus, a Swede would say:
“We were five people at the party”, instead of “There were five people at the party”. Even
though a native speaker of English could perceive this usage as odd, it is nonetheless
understandable for most of them (ibid:14). Another example is the answer to the question
“Where are you from? “. Many Swedes would reply. “I am coming from Sweden”, that is use
the progressive form where Standard English uses past simple. Again, even though this could
sound strange to a native speaker, it seems to be perfectly understandable among non-native
speakers and hence could become part of Euro-English (Modiano 2003:39).
However, there are many forms of English in mainland Europe (Modiano
2003:35) and, to establish a European second-language variety of English, an effort to study
the language used would have to be made (Modiano 2006:238). Barara Seidholfer from the
University of Vienna explains:
If “Euro-English” is indeed an emerging variety as a
European lingua franca, then it should be possible to
describe it systematically, and eventually also to
provide a codification which would allow it to be
captured in dictionaries and grammars and to be
taught, with appropriate teaching materials to support
this teaching” (Jenkins et al 2001:14).
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For this purpose, the Vienna-Oxford ELF Corpus has been established and studies are
currently conducted. According to the initial observations, Euro-English has a tendency to
eliminate some of the grammatical elements of Standard English:
 The “third person –s” is normally eliminated, that is the same present
tense verb form is used for all verbs.
 The article is sometimes eliminated (“our countries have signed
agreement about this”).
 The relative pronouns “who” and “which” are used interchangeably (“the
picture who…”; “a person which…”).
 Gerund is sometimes eliminated and the verb stem used instead (“I look
forward to see you tomorrow”).
 “Isn’t it” is sometimes used as a universal tag question (“You’re very
busy today, isn’t it?”).
These features do not normally cause any misunderstandings among native speakers of
English. However, lexical features and idiomatic expressions tend to be more problematic
(Jenkins et al 2001:16).
2.5 English in Swedish Schools
In Sweden, English language is a mandatory subject at both the Swedish nine year
compulsory school (Skolverket 1994a) as well as at the non-compulsory upper secondary
school (gymnastiet) (Skolverket 1994b). In fact, English is the only foreign language that has
ever been compulsory for all Swedish school children. It became obligatory around 1950,
which means that most people that are now 60-65 years of age or younger have studied
English at school (Mobärg 1998:249).
For many years, British English was the norm and the only variety taught at
Swedish schools.

Differences in American and British English grammar – article

By Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield

An article by Kerry Maxwell and Lindsay Clandfield on recognizing grammatical differences between American and British English.

Introduction

Speakers of American English generally use the present perfect tense (have/has + past participle) far less than speakers of British English. 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:

1. In sentences which talk about an action in the past that has an effect in the present:

American English (AmE) / British English (BrE)

• Jenny feels ill. She ate too much. (AmE)
• Jenny feels ill. She’s eaten too much. (BrE)
• I can’t find my keys. Did you see them anywhere? (AmE)
• I can’t find my keys. Have you seen them anywhere? (BrE)

2. In sentences which contain the words already, justor yet:

American English / British English

• A: Are they going to the show tonight?
• B: No. They already saw it. (AmE)
• A: Are they going to the show tonight?
• B: No. They’ve already seen it. (BrE)
• A: Is Samantha here?
• B: No, she just left. (AmE)
• A: Is Samantha here?
• B: No, she’s just left. (BrE)
• A: Can I borrow your book?
• B: No, I didn’t read it yet. (AmE)
• A: Can I borrow your book?
• B: No, I haven’t read it yet. (BrE)

Verb agreement with collective nouns

In British English, collective nouns, (i.e. nouns referring to particular groups of people or things), (e.g. staff, government, class, team) can be followed 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 losing?

whereas in British English both plural and singular forms of the verb are possible, as in:

Which team is/are losing?

Use of delexical verbs have and take

In British English, the verb have frequently functions as what is technically referred to as a delexical verb, i.e. it is used in contexts 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 quick 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?

Use of auxiliaries and modals

In British English, the auxiliary do 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 needn’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, e.g.

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 future, 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, e.g.

Should we ask him to come with us?

Use of prepositions

In British English, at is used with many time expressions, e.g.

at Christmas/five ‘o’ clock

at the weekend

In 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 home 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.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 American English, to can be omitted after write, i.e.

I promised to write her every day.

Past tense forms

Below 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 in American English, but less common than the forms ending in -ed.

Infinitive	Simple past (Br)	Simple past (Am)	Past participle (Br)	Past participle (Am)
burn	burned/ burnt	burned/ burnt	burned/ burnt	burned/ burnt
bust	bust	busted	bust	busted
dive	dived	dove/ dived	dived	dived
dream	dreamed/ dreamt	dreamed/ dreamt	dreamed/ dreamt	dreamed/ dreamt
get	got	got	got	gotten
lean	leaned/ leant	leaned	leaned/ leant	leaned
learn	learned/ learnt	learned	learned/ learnt	learned
plead	pleaded	pleaded/ pled	pleaded	pleaded/ pled
prove	proved	proved	proved	proved/ proven
saw	sawed	sawed	sawn	sawn/ sawed
smell	smelled/ smelt	smelled	smelled/ smelt	smelled
spill	spilled/ spilt	spilled	spilled/ spilt	spilled
spoil	spoiled/ spoilt	spoiled/ spoilt	spoiled/ spoilt	spoiled/ spoilt
stink	stank	stank/ stunk	stunk	stunk
wake	woke	woke/ waked	woken	woken

Note that have got is possible in American English, but is used with the meaning ‘have‘, and gotten is the usual past participle of get.

Implications for teaching

The two major varieties of English

The 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 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. Comments such as “American English is inferior to British English”, or “American English is better than British English” have no solid basis other than the speaker’s opinion. The truth is that no language or regional variety of language is inherently better or worse than another. They are just different. Students will often have very firm beliefs on which English they think is better, clearer or easier to understand. 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 varieties

If you 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 included ‘at the weekend‘, it takes very little time to point out that in American English people say “on the weekend”. Accept either from your students then. If you decide to go along with the book and say “at the weekend” yourself, you’ll probably sound unnatural, and “on the weekend” might slip out anyway!

Exams and essay writing

In most international exams, both varieties of English are accepted. However, while writing for an international exam (or writing in English generally) students should try to remain consistent. That means if they favour (or favor) American spelling and grammar, they should stick to that convention for the whole piece of writing.

What role do other varieties of English have in the classroom?

Although British and American varieties are the most documented, there are of course many other varieties of English. Scotland, Ireland, South Asia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, West Africa, the Caribbean, South Africa all have their own regional variations of English. The decision whether or not to highlight aspects of these Englishes would depend on two factors:

• if the students are going to live, or are already living, in one of these places – in which case the need to understand specific aspects of that English is clear; or
• if the teacher is from one of those places and therefore speaks a regional variation of English. In this case, it could be useful to occasionally point out differences between your English and that of your coursebook