The main differences between English and American English lie in vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling and speaking temperament. Pronunciation vowels: One of the biggest differences between British pronunciation and American pronunciation lies in the treatment of voiced vowels (schwa, inverted e, in phonetic symbols). In English, voiced vowels often appear in some monosyllabic unstressed short sounds A (such as about) and er (such as computer). Er in American English is rarely voiced, and sometimes voiced vowels are used for short sounds I (such as sentimental and realistic) and U (such as wuss), and even short sounds oo (such as hooker). The pronunciation of these four examples in English is [u:]. The pronunciation of voiced vowels is uncertain, but it sounds almost like a hurried pronunciation between "Russia" and "ah". There is another important difference in the pronunciation of vowels. First, [O] sound: The short sound of O (such as oft) is pronounced as the shortened long sound of O (such as or) in English, while the short sound of American O sounds very similar to the short sound of English [/\]. At the same time, if the long sound of o is followed by r, it is usually children's as mentioned in the previous paragraph, and if it is not (such as plain, apply), it will automatically become. The most representative difference between English and American English is the pronunciation of er. In English, the short voiced er is the voiced vowel mentioned above, while the long voiced er is just an elongated voiced vowel, which sounds like an exaggeration between "Russian" and "ah". In American English, er sounds like "er" (except for vowels in some common sayings). Ar: Except for short sounds (such as singular) and vowels followed by vowels (such as clarity), All English Ars are unified long sounds [a:], while in American it is "al". In fact, whenever there is an R at the end of a syllable, American and British pronunciations are usually different, such as tour (English: spit, beauty: spit), tear (English: kick, beauty: kick) and pair (English: pe, beauty: pe). Even if it is clear just mentioned, English ['kleriti] and American [' kler(er)ti] are muddy vowels with vowel combinations such as U and I. Consonants: English consonants are basically the same as American consonants, but there are some differences in usage habits. Only the following two are more important: R: The letter R simply represents all the differences between Britain and America, and it is everywhere. When pronouncing consonants, the difference is that when R is at the end of the first word and the second word begins with a vowel, English takes R as a vowel, while American takes R as the consonant of the initial vowel of the next word. For example, the phrase "clear animation" is pronounced as "clear animation" in English and "clear animation" in America. Another obvious difference is D and T. In some unstressed syllables (such as paddle, rattle and realistic), English will clearly pronounce these two letters, but in American English, D and T are often blurred into an inexplicable sound. Compared with other languages, if you know Spanish or Italian, it is very close to the short r; If you know Japanese, the consonants of らりるれろ are very similar. If you don't know, then the closest explanation is the side tone L, but there is a missing segment. One more thing, you may find that the pronunciation of O (a voiced vowel) is in brackets in many phonetic symbols. In Britain, influenced by classical Chinese, English likes to omit this O, while in America, this O is often pronounced. If you are interested in classical Chinese or poetry, you will find that many letters of voiced vowels are expressed in single quotation marks, which means ellipsis. Secondly, Americans are a pragmatic people in spelling, 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 simplified spelling movement, in which some silent letters have been deleted from the spelling of words. 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 in English words, and the American spelling has deleted -ue. English Spelling American Spelling Kg Kg Kg Kg Kg Kg Program Directory Dialog Preface Preface Preface Words ending in -our in English, silent letters have been deleted in American English. English spelling American spelling behavior color behavior color favorite taste taste honor labor labor labor labor 3, ending in -re in English. In American English, the word pronounced /e/ is changed to end with -er, and the pronunciation remains the same. English Spelling American Spelling Center Fiber Theater Theater 4, some English words ending in -ence have been changed to end in -ense in American English. The pronunciation is still /ns/. In American English, some words ending in-ise have been changed to-ize. The pronunciation is still here /z/. English spelling American spelling organization organize/ organize, realize/realize, realize/realize creation impromptu improvement specialization modernization popularization three phrases, word usage: some common meanings of the same words in English and American English are different, or the same thing is said in different words, which are mostly related to cultural customs, but have no substantive influence on communication. 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. Government-funded public schools in the United States are called council school in Britain because they are under the jurisdiction of the education committee of the county council. 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, this is called a sidewalk. British people call wallets wallets or wallets, while Americans call them pocketbook. In Britain, it is called a notebook or memo. When eating, Americans call the last dish dessert, while in Britain, only fruit is called dessert. The rest is called pudding. The British and Americans have different names for joint-stock companies. In Britain, it is called limited liability writing co., ltd., for example, Matsushita Electric Trading Co., Ltd. is called incorporated, writing Inc in the United States. For example, the series manufacturing companies mentioned above are just a few examples. In fact, there are countless differences in vocabulary between English and American English. This is English published in America. Four Grammars American English British English He has just come home. He just got home. Do you have a problem? Do you have a problem? I never really knew her. I never really knew her. Her feet hurt because her shoes don't fit. Her feet hurt because her shoes don't fit. The Committee will meet tomorrow. The Committee will meet tomorrow. It looks like rain. It looks as if it will rain. He looked at me strangely. He looked at me strangely. One should know his neighbors. One should know one's neighbors. When Americans don't use the article, British people sometimes like to use it. For example, British English: It was Tuesday, and he didn't come back to work until Wednesday. Conversely, Americans use articles, but British people don't. For example, British English: I have been out of the hospital for six weeks. In addition, prepositions are used in different ways. For example: British English: On weekends American English: On weekends British English: Some parents are talking about keeping their children from going to school. American English: Some parents are talking about ab. Keep their children out of school. When expressing the meaning of "you" in Chinese, American English uses the verb have and British English uses the verb perfect form have got. She has an interesting book. She has an interesting book. (UK). For another example, American English said that I insisted on getting everything ready at six o'clock that night. In the present standard British English, this subjunctive mood form is "should ++ verb prototype". In other words: I insist on getting everything ready before six o'clock that evening. V. Differences between the date of digital expression and the date of digital expression In terms of date, there are differences in expressions between the United States and Britain. It is British to take the sun first and then the moon, but it is the opposite in America. For example,1March 2, 996, which was written as March 2, 1996 (UK) March 2, 1996 (USA). In American writing, 1ST, 2nd and 3rd are not used. Because the written expression of the date is different, the pronunciation is different. For example, April 20 1987, written in Britain as 20 April 20, 1987, pronounced as April 20, 1987; The American expression is1April 20th, 987, and the pronunciation is1April 20th, 987. Similarly, when all dates are expressed in numbers, there are differences between Britain and the United States. 1May 6, 998 should be written as 6/5/98 for English and 5/6/98 for American; 0 1.08. 1998 is British 1998 August 1, but according to American expression, it is 1998 June 5438+0, American1998 August/kloc-. Therefore, when all numbers are used to indicate dates, misunderstandings often occur and must be used with caution in business activities. There are great differences between Britain and the United States in expressing the concept of more than one million. For example, one billion English means "trillion" and "trillion", while American English only means "billion"; One trillion English is equivalent to =1018 in the morning, which is a trillion, but American English is equivalent to one billion British English, which is "trillion" and "trillion". There are also differences in digital oral expression between the two countries. ($ 175) is pronounced a (one) forgotten and seven five dollars in English, and one forgotten and seven five dollars in American. When using the same number to represent numbers continuously, English is used to using double or triple, but Americans generally don't. For example, the telephone number 320 1 12 is pronounced as three two zero, double one two, and American is pronounced as three one two two. 999 234 is pronounced as triple nine two three four in English and nine nine nine two three four in America, but Americans also pronounce three consecutive identical numbers as three plus this number, for example, 999 is pronounced as three nines. 6. Differences in Business English Letters Business or business English letters refer to the communication methods used in transactions. In America, business writing is often used, including letters, telegrams, telephones, telex, reports, postcards and so on. There are some differences in letter styles between Britain and the United States, such as letterhead and address, letter format, wording and closing etiquette. Generally speaking, English letters are conservative. Many British people like to use old-fashioned letters with formal and rigid words, while American letters are very lively, energetic and simple in format. Therefore, when we write to Britain or its old colonial countries, we should use standard English Queen English; ; If this letter is addressed to the United States or areas within its sphere of influence, American English should be used. Of course, the English language and culture have also changed in recent years, but on the whole, the differences between them are obvious. Business English letters are generally required to be printed neatly by typewriter or computer, and the lines on the left are vertical at the beginning, which is called vertical row or square, which is commonly used in the United States. Indentation of the first word of each paragraph is called indentation or indentation. This format is very common in Britain. The vertical position and signature are in the left column. This form has been widely adopted by American companies that attach great importance to work efficiency. In a formal business English letter, the name and address of the receiving company or the full name, position and address of the recipient should be written above the address, which is called the internal address. There are also vertical and indented ways to write addresses in letters. Vertical and American lines are juxtaposed, while indentation or British style takes them back in turn. However, the author has noticed that the addresses in British business letters have not been indented in turn recently, which seems to be the same as those in the United States. In addition, it is also popular in the United States to write the address of ordinary recipients, that is, in the inner address of letters, the house number and street name are omitted. Use honorifics in English letters. The most common honorifics are Mr, Mrs and Miss (for unmarried women). English people often use esq. (short for esquire) after men's names, but in business, for more than two women, they are gradually changing into Mr. MMEs (plural form of madam). Messrs (plural form of Mr) is used for more than two people, or for companies or groups composed of more than two people. In British English letters, Mr., Mrs. and Mr. don't need to abbreviate periods. On the contrary, American English, which tends to be progressive and free, uses abbReviations such as Mr, Mrs and Messrs In terms of address, there are two most common forms of address in business: Gentlemen (American) and Dear Sirs (British), which are equivalent to China's "sincere Rev" or "sincere rev". If this letter is addressed to a company and not to a specific person, it should be Gentlemen American and Dear Sirs in English. If there is only one person in the other company, you must use Sir/ Dear Sir. Punctuation marks are generally used after salutation, with colons in Britain and semicolons in America. There are many polite closures at the end of letters, which are equivalent to "salute", "salute" and "Shun 'an" used at the end of letters in China. The most typical American writing style is sincere and best greeting, and the typical English expressions are Yours sincerely (an acquaintance or someone who knows his name), best wishes, cordial greetings and yours faithfully (whose name is unknown). In addition, British polite expressions have special polite formats, but they are no longer used except in special circumstances. Differences in Idioms There are also obvious differences in idioms between American English and British English. For example, British English often adds should to virtual forms, while American English mostly doesn't. In English, "yes/no" and "yes/no" mean "yes" or "no" in the United States. Have to and have to do something. In English, you must do something. In America, you just say you must do something. . Holiday jobs is used for English and summer/temporary jobs; Used in American English. The English expression of "renting a computer" is computer hire, and the American expression is ComputerRental. "Graduated from a certain school" has different expressions in Britain and America. In the United States, the word "graduate" can be used in any kind of school, such as university/school graduation, while in English, graduate is limited to university graduation and leaving; It's for high school graduation. When talking about the low salary of a company, the usual expression in English is that its salary is very low, while the expression in the United States is that its salary is not very high; ; The expression "I get along well with my boss" in English means that I get along well with my boss, but in American English, I use got have instead of got on. "raise prices" in English means put up prices and raise prices in the United States; The English expression of "taking a computer course" means taking a computer course, while the American expression means taking a computer course. Tone: English people speak in a cadence and high tone, which is quite similar to French (but they won't admit it). British people laugh at Americans for speaking weakly, loosely and without rhyme. Americans speak in a steady and low voice, and sentences are usually in a falling tone, and their speech speed is slow. On the other hand, Americans like to laugh at the hysterical and feminine tone of the British. When talking on the phone, Britain and America also have different expressions. If you are a clerk such as an office secretary or an operator, and you are not the person the other party is looking for, we often say "please wait a moment". The idiom in English is please don't hang up, and American English usually uses hold on；; If you ask the other party (such as the operator) to transfer it to the manager, the English expression is, can you put me through to the manager? In American English, the preposition "to" is often used instead of "with" in sentences. British English is good, so is American English. This is very important for us foreign learners. We can say it in the way we like. For example, some people like British English and think it is elegant; Some people like American English and think it is fashionable. Nowadays, most young people prefer American English, which has something to do with the development of today's times. Anyway, just remember that no matter which English we prefer, as long as we learn it well, we can communicate with all English speakers, and this will not change. They are all in English, even if there are differences in spelling and pronunciation, they must be ignored. As long as we work hard and study hard, we can master it skillfully and use it flexibly in real life, so that our life, study and career can all embark on the road of internationalization. In terms of address, there are two most common forms of address in business: Gentlemen (American) and Dear Sirs (British), which are equivalent to "sincere" or "sincere" in China. If this letter is addressed to every department of the company, rather than a specific person, it should be "gentleman" in American English and "dear gentlemen" in English. If there is only one person in the other company, you must use Sir/ Dear Sir. Punctuation marks are generally used after salutation, with colons in Britain and semicolons in America. There are many polite closures at the end of letters, which are equivalent to "salute", "salute" and "Shun 'an" used at the end of letters in China. The most typical American writing style is sincere and best greeting, and the typical English expressions are Yours sincerely (an acquaintance or someone who knows his name), best wishes, cordial greetings and yours faithfully (whose name is unknown). In addition, British polite expressions have special polite formats, but they are no longer used except in special circumstances.