Excuse me: About English.

Personal opinion:

The biggest difference is that phonetic symbols and some idioms (slang), that is, there are obvious differences in daily conversation. In fact, there is not much difference, as long as all English-speaking countries can understand each other's languages.

At present, English is the main textbook in ordinary middle schools, but some schools with their own textbooks (such as our school) learn American English.

Our teacher said that English is an advantage in taking part in competitions or exams in China, but of course oral English is very different, so I can't understand other written English.

But if you want to go abroad, it still depends on which country you go to.

Professional answer:

The difference between English and American English

"Several situations present the separation of American tongues in the future.

English is necessary and inevitable. "-noah webster, English Language Papers, 1789.

In another century, American dialects will become completely incomprehensible.

To an Englishman. "-captain Thomas Hamilton, men and manners in the United States, 1833.

For most English learners in China who are not native English speakers, the British and Americans use exactly the same language-English. Even those who have the opportunity to study in Britain or America may not realize the difference between English and American if they don't engage in language research or teaching. Perhaps a few people who have had the opportunity to live in these two countries for a while can really feel the differences between the British and Americans.

In a sense, American English is a branch separated from English, or as some linguists say, American English is English that has been transplanted on American soil.

Language). Although the main parts (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, etc. Like American English, American English has formed its own characteristics in the process of its development, which is significantly different from English. Mark Twain once said: "The British and Americans are separate.

Language, ... When I speak the purest mother tongue, the British can't understand it at all.

All of them. "(The Stolen White Elephant, 1882). The main difference between British English and American English lies in vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling and speaking temperament.

For a third party living outside Britain and America, English is just a language. In the process of learning, Britain and the United States are "eclectic", and the differences between Britain and the United States may not constitute an obstacle to his communication with them. However, for British and American people who use the same language, different words or different connotations will lead to misunderstandings between them.

English and American are so different in terms of words that during World War II, the US military had to send a short Great guide to every American soldier and logistics staff sent to Europe.

Britain). This is actually an American English dictionary, which collects nearly 200 words that Americans use in their daily lives but are rare or unfamiliar in Britain, and compares them with the corresponding words that British people are familiar with but Americans don't necessarily know. At the same time, the British military also prepared a booklet called Notes for Your Guidance for every RAF pilot sent to the United States for training, with the aim of helping these British people who went to the United States understand the daily life in the United States that they may not have heard of at all.

Although American English has never stopped communicating with English during its development, especially after World War II, with the development of political, economic, cultural and scientific relations between the two countries, English and American English have also influenced and infiltrated each other, but this has not eliminated the differences between English and American English.

English and American English (2)

This paper briefly introduces the differences between English and American English in the above vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling, so as to help readers master and use them skillfully.

First, lexically, this mainly means that English and Americans use different words when expressing the same thing, or that the same words have different connotations in English and America, and it also means that the same words are different in usage.

There is a vivid description in the American language (new york. Alfred-a-Knopf, 1982), written by H.L.Mencken, and quoted as follows:

An Englishman walked into his house, not on the first floor like us, but on the first floor.

the floor When he talked about the first one,

The floor, he means what we call the second floor, and so on until the roof, that is.

Cover, not with tin or wood tiles, but with tiles or lead. He doesn't ask for mail, but

Letters. There is a mail truck in his car.

Countries, but generally speaking, he kept the word mail letters to or from foreign countries.

Country, he didn't know there were so many compounds in America, for example, mail.

Cars, people, boxes and porters. He used post instead. The person who brings his mail or letter is always

The postman, never the postman. The letter he sent was sent by post, not by post.

Mailbox, not mailbox. If it is urgent, send it, not by express mail.

Delivery, but by express mail. Mail-order goods paid by dealers for transportation are called

Arrival, not postage paid or prepaid, but free mail or freight paid ... the British are still in and out.

The train can't get on or off without it. They say the train is on time, not on time, and they know it.

According to Horwill, there is nothing, whether it is a small station, a small station, a crossroads, leaflets, long or short.

Transportation, trunk lines and bundling.

In the quotation, he, they refer to the British, his country refers to Britain, and we refer to Americans.

English and American English (3)

This shows that English and American English use different words, which involve many small aspects of life. For example, in education, the British call it a public school, and the United States calls it a preparatory school, which refers to a private school sponsored by the private sector and attended by rich children. Its purpose is to prepare students for further study in colleges and universities in the future. In the United States, government-funded public schools are called council school in Britain because they are under the jurisdiction of the county council education committee. The course in English schools is called form. In American schools, it is called a grade or class. Boys in British universities are called college men, while those in American universities are called college men. Teachers in British universities are called staff, collectively called dons, and facilities in American universities. For another example, sidewalks are called pavements in Britain. In America, it is called a sidewalk. British people call wallets wallets or wallets, while Americans call them pocketbook. In Britain, it is called a notebook or a memo, and in America, it is called a dessert. When eating, Americans call the last course dessert, while the British only call fruit dessert.

The rest is called pudding. The British and Americans have different names for joint-stock companies. In Britain, it is called limited liability, and it says limited company, such as Panasonic trade.

Ltd. is called incorporated English, writing Inc in the United States, such as Tandem Manufacturing Inc These are just a few examples. In fact, there are countless differences in vocabulary between English and American English. Here are some common parts from the article "Some English-American Equivalence" published in the third issue of English Teaching Forum 1989 published in the United States.

Some English and American equivalents

The word English American

place

flat

Clinic surgeon's office

Elevator lift

Corridor passage hall, corridor

Mailbox mailbox

Cinema film

Danshen apartment housekeeper studio

Overpass

Highway Park Road on the Expressway

pedestrian crossing

shop

Subway tube

Toilet (bathroom)

Garden courtyard

Useful object

Flashlight flashlight

Trash bin

Parcel parcel

Shopping bag handbag shopping bag

Cookware stove

food

Canned tin can

candy

Dessert biscuit

chips

fried chips

Fruit vegetable shop

personal effects

(hairstyle) bangs

Pants. Pants

panty-hose

Raincoat mac raincoat

Pant strap

Poloneck turtle neck

Vest vest

Sweater vest undershirt

human

Graduate student

Dude, dude, dude.

policeman

(slang) a policeman, a policeman

Shop assistant (female, male)

automobile parts

windshield

tyre

Fender fender

Indicator lamp left/right turn signal

Side mirror side mirror

License number, registration number, license number

License plate

petrol tank

Muffler muffler

In addition to different words, some very common words are not used exactly the same in English and America. For example, Americans do or it hurts me, while the British only say it hurts and rarely add pronouns to me. When you are on the road, the Americans say I will catch up with you, and the British say I will catch up with you.

English and American English (4)

Second, the pronunciation differences between English and American English are mainly reflected in vowel letters A, O and consonant letter R.

Different pronunciations.

1, in words like ask, can, dance, fast, half and path, the British read the letter a as/? :/,while Americans read/? /,so these words become/in the American population? sk/，/k？ nt/，/d？ ns/，/f？ st/，/h？ F/ and p? /.

In box, crop, hot, iron, polish, spot and other words, the British read the letter O as/? /,while Americans read O as approximate/? :/sound/？ /.So these words are pronounced by Americans /b? ks//kr？ p//h？ t//ai'r？ nik//p？ Lee? /and /sp? t/。

3. Whether the consonant R in a word is pronounced or not is another obvious difference between British and American. In English, the r syllable does not contain the retroflex /r/, while in American English, the r syllable contains the retroflex /r/. For example, the following words are pronounced differently in English and American English:

English pronunciation American pronunciation

Car /k? ://k？ r/

Door /d? ://d？ r/

River/'River? //'River? r/

party/'p？ :ti//'p？ rti/

board/b？ :d//b？ R&D/

Dirty? :ti//'d？ rti/

Good morning? : ni? //'m？ rni？ /

In English, the letter r is pronounced as /r/:/f only when it is read continuously, such as far away, for ever, far and wide, etc. :r

Wei //f? :' rev？ //f？ :r？ ndwaid/。

4. In polysyllabic words ending in -ary or -ory, British people usually read A or O weakly, while Americans not only don't read it weakly, but also add secondary stress to the syllables where A or O is located, so these words are not only pronounced differently in English and American English, but also have obviously different rhythms, for example:

English pronunciation American pronunciation

Dictionary /'dik? n？ ri//'dik？ n？ ri/

Lab /le'b? :r？ tri//'l？ br？ t？ ri/

Inevitably, nesis? rili//？ nesi'serili/

Ready/priority? r？ t？ ri//pri'p？ r？，t？ ri/

Secretary/Swedish krona? tri//'sekr？ t？ ri/

5, and in another word ending in -ile, the British read the letter I in the last syllable as a long sound/ai/; Americans read it weakly as/? /,for example:

English pronunciation American pronunciation

Docile/'bucket sail /'d? s？ l/

Fertility /'f? :tail//'f？ rtl/

Fragile /'fr? d？ ail//'fr？ d？ l/

Hostile /'h? stail//'h？ stl/

The missile is missing? l/

In addition, some words that are difficult to classify have different pronunciations in English and America:

English pronunciation American pronunciation

Clerk /kl? :k//kl？ :rk/

Or /'ai? //'I:? r/

Figure/'Figure? //'figj？ r/

issue/'isju://'i？ u:/

Leisure /'le? //'Li:? r/

Neither/'Nye? //'ni:？ r/

schedule/'？ Edku: I asked? ul/

The above comparison of English and American pronunciations is only based on most people's pronunciations or standard pronunciations, regardless of the influence of regions or dialects.

English and American English (5)

Americans are a pragmatic people, and they also take a pragmatic attitude in spelling words. In the development of American English, there has also been a movement similar to China's short spelling.

Exercise), delete some silent letters in spelling. The difference in spelling is another difference between English and American English. To sum up, there are the following situations.

1, the silent suffix -me, -ue in English words has been deleted in American spelling.

English spelling American spelling

Kg kg

Program program

catalogue

Dialogue dialogue

Preface Preface

2. For English words ending in -our, the silent letter U has been deleted from American English.

English spelling American spelling

behavior

Color color

favorite