British Vs American English

Evening guys, as this blog focuses on TEFL(Teaching Language As Foreign Language) , I would like to introduce you with the varieties of English Language ,and the most common varieties are British and American English. Today we'll talk about the differences between British and American English.

• The use of Present Perfect Tense

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:

I've lost my mobile. Can you help me look for it?

In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my cellphone. Can you help me look for it?

• Past Simple/Past Participles

The irregular form is generally more common in British English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more common to American English.
-Burn
Burnt or burned
-Smell
Smelt or smelled
-Learn
Learnt or learned

• Spelling

Here are some general differences between British and American spellings:

Words ending in -or (American) -our (British) color, colour, humor, humour, flavor, flavour etc.

Words ending in -ize (American) -ise (British) recognize, recognise, patronize, patronise etc.

The best way to make sure that you are being consistent in your spelling is to use the spell check on your word processor (if you are using the computer of course) and choose which variety of English you would like. As you can see, there are really very few differences between standard British English and standard American English. However, the largest difference is probably that of the choice of vocabulary and pronunciation

• Vocabulary

• American English - hood
  British English - bonnet
  
• American English - trunk
  British English - boot
  
• American English - truck
  British English - lorry

Source :

http://esl.about.com/od/toeflieltscambridge/a/dif_ambrit.htm