These two varieties of English may sometimes cause confusion and be a source of misunderstandings or funny situations, even to native-speakers themselves!

For instance, if someone says pants in the USA, they mean trousers, whereas in the UK, pants is actually short for underpants – which I have no doubt could lead to some delightful misunderstandings.Imagine a situation at work, when your colleague pays you a complement and says: ” I like your pants!”. You might be wondering which ”pants’ does he or she mean?

George Bernard Shaw once said:

America and England are two countries seperated by a common language’

WHAT IS DIFFERENT?

• A few differences of grammar and spelling
• Pronunciation can be very different, but most American and British speakers will understand each other.
• More differences of vocabulary
• Some words have one or more additional meanings that are specific to either AmE or BrE: a caravan ”a group of travelers in a desert” ( common to both varieties), BrE caravan ”vehicle towed by a car” (=AmE trailer)
• Some words have the same meaning in both varieties and additional synonyms: both have pharmacy, but AmE has drugstore and BrE has chemist’s.
• There is a list of words which are completely different in AmE and BrE.

These two small helpful tables will make sure you can use both American English or British English terms in different everyday situations.

Enjoy!

And finally, watch the Jonathan Ross show ” Americans Don’t Understand English” to find out more about the differences between American and British English:)

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