Search results for 'tag:American tag:Great Britain' matching tags 'American' and 'Great Britain'

Re: Dialectal variation on ESL tests

forbes — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:11:24 GMT

The point I am trying to make is that Standard American and Standard British English are two different (if only slightly different) things and whilst a student may at some stage (and I am inclined to think it should be later rather than earlier) be introduced to whichever variety it is that he did not start out learning, I think it is important that he should not produce a hybrid that is neither one nor the other. To take an obvious example. The phrase "vest and pants" means something rather different in London to what it means in New York. If one knows where the speaker comes from one knows what he means. However, if you are going to use "vest" to mean "undershirt" and "pants" to mean...

Re: Dialectal variation on ESL tests

cool breeze — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:52:27 GMT

It should therefore be corrected to reflect whichever variety it is that is being taught. The point is that no particular variety may be preferred. A Finn would find it extremely strange that a teacher should teach only British or American English. Why would any teacher restrict teaching that way? It just doesn't stand to reason. On the nationwide Matriculation Examination English Listening and Reading Comprehension Tests British English, American English, Indian English, Australian English and even Finnish English has been heard. Why should any teacher be foolish enough to exclude any variety from his/her teaching? Even if such a teacher existed, excluding a major variety would be very difficult because all varieties are used in...

Re: Are these correct?

khoff — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:49:49 GMT

(Film would be even better as it is English rather than movie which is American English Hi Dave -- at first I thought you were arbitrarily saying the British English is "better" than American Enlglish -- then I realized you were just aiming for consistency. Just to clarify -- in England, people queue for films. In the U.S., people line up for movies.

Re: Just quit smoking

gleb_chebrikoff — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:18:58 GMT

Dear friends, just a small remark on the subject. While the forms are interchangeable, using simple past is still considered a feature of American English, and one is more likely to hear the simple perfect counterpart in educated British English. Moreover, all purists would regard the past simple form as substandard. Respectfully, Gleb Chebrikoff

Re: Jones' or Jones's

cool breeze — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:01:14 GMT

In 1960 I got the impression that Mr. Jones' dog is common in American English and Mr Jones's dog is preferred in British English. According to British logic Socrates' dog would be preferable to Socrates's dog , though. CB

Re: Which is correct

mr wordy — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 03:31:25 GMT

There may be differences here between American and British English. In British English, "I don't feel very well" (when referring to one's health) is a natural and very common form of words. There is no sense (that I've ever been aware of) that it's a hypercorrect or suspect form.

Re: Sv agreement

mr wordy — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:29:55 GMT

In British English, words like "group", "team" etc. can take either singular or plural verbs, depending on whether the thing is viewed as a single entity or as a collection of individual entities. In this instance, I would more naturally say "A group of prospectors were ...". As I understand it, American English typically prefers the singular verb in these cases, but an AmE speaker will have to confirm for this particular this sentence. With quantifiers such as "dozen", "score", "hundred" etc., we always use the plural verb. So, it should be "a dozen of them were ..." I find the sentence as a whole slightly awkward. Grammatically, "of them"...

Re: 'audience" - singular or plural?

cool breeze — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:31:05 GMT

Both is and are are acceptable after many words that are grammatically singular but are made up of many people. American English prefers the singular verb forms whereas the plural is very common in British English. As a matter of fact, I don't think I have ever heard a British sports commentator use the singular verb when referring to a football/soccer team, for example: England are up two nil. CB

Re: Demand

billj — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:52:52 GMT

What are the rules for: They demanded that he do the job well? Why isn't it they demanded that he does the job well? Hi Your first sentence is in the subjunctive mood, which is often used to express wishes, commands etc. It is frequently used in subordinate clauses beginning with 'that'. The mandative subjunctive is more common in American than in British English, where it is considered formal or legalistic and tends to be replaced by the indicative, as in your second example. Nevertheless, as you can see, it does have a certain 'impact' on the semantics - so my choice would be the subjunctive version. BillJ

Re: About tuition / lesson

mister micawber — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:48:10 GMT

(a) He has football practice . (b) He has Math and Science tutoring . (c) He attends music lessons. (d) He goes for Science tutoring. Perhaps 'tuition' in that sense is British English, but in American English, 'tuition' normally means the money paid for the classes.

Question -have for UK

arthurawesome — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:22:36 GMT

Have you any money? is that question okay for British English? American? When can I put HAVE to the first place in interrogatives? (I mean not perfect tenses)

Re: About the dot

mr wordy — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:47:57 GMT

In British English the dot is normally omitted. I believe in American English it is normally included. If you do include a dot then you still need a space. For example, "Mr. Chong", not "Mr.Chong".

Re: Suggest + subjunctive or not

english 1b3 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:33:07 GMT

Thanks for posting that, dimsumexpress. It's very interesting. I'm pleased to see that most sources seem to be endorsing the use of "should" in this context in BrE -- good news for me, as I think that's the way I most naturally say it in conversation! (I'm assuming that "English" in the strangely worded "more common in American English than in English" actually means " British English"!) Instead, UK English often uses present indicative or even past indicative - which are both considered incorrect by many people in the UK and (prescriptive) UK authorities on language usage - or a construction with "should". Much time is spent in the UK in trying to...

Re: Confused about vs confused of

mr wordy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:54:42 GMT

However, the former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice once said "we take very serious obligation to defend our allies. No one should be confused of that". Is this one of the exceptions to the "confused of" always wrong ? Thanks To me, "confused of" is always wrong, with no exceptions. I'm a British English speaker. Perhaps American English is more tolerant of this expression, or perhaps it was just a slip. ("we take very serious obligation to" is also mangled, so maybe she was having a bad day!) Any native AmE speakers around?

Re: Suggest + subjunctive or not

mr wordy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:04:31 GMT

(I'm assuming that "English" in the strangely worded "more common in American English than in English" actually means " British English"!) Thanks for your reply. Just one comment about the above. How does it mean? "more common in American English than in English" implies that there is something called "English" of which American English is not a part. This is clearly not true. "English" is the generic term; it can be subdivided into "American English", "British English", "Canadian English" and so on.

Re: Suggest + subjunctive or not

dimsumexpress — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:11:37 GMT

Re: Suggest + subjunctive or not

mr wordy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:40:30 GMT

Re: Suggest + subjunctive or not

dimsumexpress — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:45:17 GMT

Hi Mr.Wordy, With the name like Dimsumexpress, it's apparent that I am advertising my origin by design. If I have to describe my English learning, I would say it's a mixed pot of AmE and BrE, with the former being a 75% influence over the many years of my study. My spelling of many words have been also American ize d. as you may already observed. I 'd like to think of my understanding and command of the language being compatible to someone native with an academic background. I don't mean to sound like I am patting my own shoulder. I just want to make a point that it's because I have set the bar high for myself, not just in English, but in life in general witrhout so much in details. Now that the monologue...

Re: Inversion/ across

jimmiefujita — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:31:50 GMT

Thank you for the reply and the brush-up. I'll take 'baby baggy' and 'mother' then. BTW, you sounded a bit funny because you say, "natural." The Japanese, to my eyes, tend to judge things right or wrong by the criteria, natural or unnatural, but I've never heard American or British people saying, "natural." Maybe my observation was wrong. Thanks anyway, Jim

Re: Coexpression or co-expression?

mr wordy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:49:07 GMT

To me, both seem acceptable, though I would personally probably hyphenate it. Google Book Search results seem fairly evenly split. Sometimes it's said that, in cases like this, British English has a greater tendency to hyphenate than American English (I'm a BrE speaker).

Re: British English

grammar geek — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:43:54 GMT

Also, Mr. Wordy's 1, 2 and 4 would be fine in American English as well. No one would think they sounded off. I may even use the present perfect on both parts of #4 myself, though I would certainly use it for the second part of the sentence.

Re: I am psissed

kooyeen — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:59:32 GMT

If you are pisst off , you are very angry. In American English, you can leave "off" out, and you can say you are pisst if you are very angry. But in British English, if you leave "off" out and just say you are pisst , then it means you are drunk. (the word "pisst" has been misspelled on purpose).

Re: British English

grammar geek — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:55:53 GMT

Actually, #4 in American English would be "... but I haven't made the coffee yet."

British English

evo25 — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:53:44 GMT

Here are some sentences in American English. How would they be different in British English? 1) The president was in Moascow Tuesday. 2)Don't forget to write me. 3)He loves to read in bed. 4)I already boiled the water,but I didn't make the coffee yet. Thanks for explanations.

Re: Past simple vs. present perfect simple tense

mr wordy — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:10:16 GMT

In many sentences that might formally require the present perfect, the simple past is fine in conversational English. For example: " I never felt this way about any girl before" -- fine in conversation, but I wouldn't use this style in formal English " I have never felt this way about any girl before" -- acceptable in both conversational and more formal English (I'm a British English speaker and, as you suggest, there may be usage differences here between British and American English.) If you are referring to a period set entirely in the past, the simple past has to be used. For example: "The ancient Greeks never established an empire." Here you would not say...

Re: Are there any difference between these?

dokterjokkebrok — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 14:35:30 GMT

are there any difference in pronouncing eə and e?, əʊ and oʊ? say various ( ˈ v eə .ri.əs | ˈ v e r.i.əs ) video ( ˈ vɪd.i. əʊ | ˈ vɪd.i. oʊ ) Yes. /eə/ and /e/ sound quite differently. Typically, the first one is the British English pronunciation, and the second one the American pronunciation. The same goes for /əʊ/ and /oʊ/. A sound consisting of two IPC symbols is called a diphthong . /əʊ/, /eə/, and /oʊ/ are all diphthongs. Sounds of only one symbol are monophthongs, for example /e/. Words with /eə/ or /e/, depending on the accent: c are , d are , t ea r, w ea r, st ai rs, f ai r, f a re, r a re, Words with /əʊ/ or /oʊ/, depending on the accent: b oat , c oat , sn ow , l ow , sl ow , f oe , McEnr oe , Kind...

Re: Uncountable Nouns

toms mathew — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:01:03 GMT

Please refer to the following link. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/people . I was once given the same link to check the word 'alit', when I answered 'I have never come across such a word' ,from this forum. I would like to request you to check the same word in an 'Oxford Dictionary', Meant for British English speakers and you can find the 'Past tense of 'alight' is 'alighted' and not 'alit'. It may be right in American English and I'm not there to argue.

American/British English Capitalization

sevilla — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:28:48 GMT

Does the following stand for: American, British and Canadian English? In English titles the initial letters of the first word and of all nouns, pronouns (except the relative 'that'), adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and subordinating conjunctions are capitalized, but those of articles, possessive determiners ('my', etc.), prepositions, and the co-ordinating conjunctions 'and', 'but', 'or', and 'nor' are not: (books) Put Out More Flags; How Far Can You Go?; The Man Who Was Thursday; All's Well that Ends Well; Pride and Prejudice; A Voyage towards the South Pole; (series) A Social History of the Welsh Language ; (poems) The Faerie Queene; 'The Passionate Shepherd to his Love ' ...

Re: UNLESS / EITHER / WHILE / NORMAL THAT vs NORMAL FOR

toms mathew — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:27:57 GMT

1. Why would he do that unless he has a big hand?..Negative sense. 2. She doesn't know how to do it either. 3. I watch a movie while playing. 4. I got back from her, what he stole from me. (Use of relative pronoun) 5. First one seems good. 6. She doesn't watch as many films as she used to per day. I would like to remind u one thing that in India we use British english in every sense, though we have a paper on American Literature in our Master's degree we just use it to score mark,

Re: Was never?

mr wordy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:35 GMT

The full, formally correct version (at least in British English) would be: "I have never been bitten by a shark." "I was never bitten by a shark" is an abbreviated form that you may hear in conversational English. To me, the use of "bit" for "bitten" sounds either uneducated or dialectal. American English speakers may have a different take on it. Sorry, I forgot to mention that "I was never bitten by a shark" is the "fully correct" (not abbreviated) form if you're talking about a period that lies wholly in the past (rather than the period up to the present). For example: "I worked as an underwater cameraman for five years and I was never bitten...

Re: ALTERNATE vs ALTERNATIVE

mr wordy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 01:02:17 GMT

Is there a difference? I assume you are talking about the adjectival meaning. This is an old chestnut. In British English, the two words have different meanings, or should do. See http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/alternate and http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/alternative . Even so, in British English, many people muddle them up. In American English, "alternate" is widely used to mean the same as "alternative". An AmE speaker will have to advise whether this is completely accepted in all situations. 1 There are alternate/alternative words that mean the same thing but not quite. It seems a bit awkward. You could say "There are alternative words that mean almost the same...

Re: Does this sentence make sense?

mr wordy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:15:48 GMT

Yes, it makes sense. In British English we would usually say "(name of band) are ", but I think that "is" is OK in American English. Hopefully an American English speaker here will put me straight me if I'm wrong. You need a period (.) at the end of your sentence.

Re: Help with phrasing the sentence below.

mr wordy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:59:36 GMT

Both forms are possible, but there is a slight difference in meaning. "Meeting with someone" normally refers to a pre-arranged meeting to discuss a specific issue. My impression is that this form is more common in American English than British English. "Meeting someone" can mean the same, or it can refer to a more casual or accidental meeting with no pre-arranged purpose. To me, the sentence as a whole -- "It was a pleasure meeting (with) you" -- tends to suggest an unarranged meeting, or a first-time meeting. So, to me, it seems more likely that "with" would be omitted.

Internist in British English

chenyincheng — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:08:42 GMT

Hi guys, In American English, a doctor who specialises in internal medicine is called an "internist". What about in Britain? Thanks a lot

British spoken English

triumph1 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:30:19 GMT

Could you please help me to complete a chat of British teenage friends with the phases that best fit it. For each gap choose either A or B. A: (1)__ B: Yeah, great! I’ve decided to (2)________________ to a new iPod. A: (3) ______________! Don’t you worry about the noise? You know on the bus or the tube? B: (4)__It has a noise reduction button. A: (5)____________ Come on, let’s have a look at it! 1. (A) How are you? (B) Hey, you ok? 2. (A) treat myself (B) indulge myself 3. (A) Oh, my God! (B) Ooh, swish! 4. (A) Nah. (B) I don’t know. 5. (A) Really? (B) Yeah. Thank you for your help!

Re: A British English question

kooyeen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 13:11:36 GMT

3) All the class is going to be punished, because someone has written an offensive anonymous essay. You know, I am not even sure that Present Perfect is necessary in this sentence :P. Isn't it optional in AmE and BrE? I used it on purpose, because it was an example. I would definitely say that it's not necessary at all there, in American English. But I am still wondering if that is the case in the UK as well. Our infamous friend Michael Swan said: If we say something has happened , we are thinking about the past and the present at the same time. - I can't go on holiday because I've broken my leg (NOT: I can't go on holiday because I broke my leg ) I don't see what could be wrong with the simple past...

Re: A British English question

kooyeen — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:11:08 GMT

I might be wrong, but I'm afraid "Who has completed all the exercises" might be ok, and "Who has demolished such a beautiful cemetary" might not. I see that in Jim's and Amy's examples there always seems to be an implicit kind of "so far/already/yet/ever". We have three cases: 1) Who has written the essay? It's due tomorrow. 2) Who wrote this beautiful essay? I found it on my desk. 3) All the class is going to be punished, because someone has written an offensive anonymous essay. Maybe the present perfect in questions is always linked to an implicit "so far/yet/already/ever", and maybe the usage that emphasizes the result of a past event is only possible in affirmative...

Re: A British English question

dimsumexpress — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:59:56 GMT

Who has let the cat in? (= look at the mess the cat has done ..) Who let the cat in? ( who was the person responsible ..) I think this explanation seems a little iffy in my opinion. If you walk into your kitchen and saw a puddle of milk spilled on the floor, what are you likely to say? "Who did this !", "Who spilled the milk?" Or "Who has spilled the milk?". If I am correct, most Americans would simply say "who did this", Or "who spilled the milk?". For the same effect, if the glass on the window is broken, the likely question would be: "who broke the window", as Amy has mentioned in the earlier thread. So the question becomes...

Re: A British English question

yankee — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:06:43 GMT

1. Who has just taken my newspaper? 2. Who has broken the window? Well, I for one am hoping that one of our British cousins comments on Anton's specific sentences. To my American ear, the wording of sentence number 1 doesn't strike me as something that is very likely to be produced by an American mouth. And if someone had just now noticed that the window is broken (number 2), I'd expect the question to be "Who broke the window?" on this side of the pond. We use the present perfect often enough in AmE, but personally, I wouldn't expect present perfect to be used in the particular sentences that Anton posted.

Re: A British English question

kooyeen — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:23:14 GMT

If a situation calls for present perfect, regardless whether it's in Britain or in the US, the same grammar rules still applies. I was told there is this difference: American: I just saw your sister / I've just seen your sister. British: I've just seen your sister. American: I already ate. / I've already eaten. British: I've already eaten. But I am not 100% sure. Maybe in the UK now the simple past can be used like in the US? Maybe young people have started to use it that way as well? I don't know.

Re: Got / Did Get

califjim — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 01:33:51 GMT

Is there a difference in the meaning of these two phrases? "Yes, I got your message." "Yes, I did get your message." The difference is in emphasis. The second is emphatic. Are both of these phrases in Simple Past Tense? Yes, but some grammarians use the term Emphatic Simple Past for the second one. Is there a variation in the meaning of these sentences between American and British English? No. CJ

Re: General grammar

cool breeze — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:11:22 GMT

Both are generally considered correct. As far as I know, the plural are is more common in British English than American English. CB Oh dear! I hadn't even noticed that even staff was in the plural in the question! No No! What I meant is that staff is and staff are are both commonly condidered correct. My apologies. CB

Re: General grammar

cool breeze — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 08:52:10 GMT

Both are generally considered correct. As far as I know, the plural are is more common in British English than American English. CB

Re: Slang or casual language?

kooyeen — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:28:15 GMT

1) T + Y = CH Can't you do it? Don't you like it? Aren't you ...? Got you. This is very much American^ Only american speakers will say things like this. Hmm, I'm pretty sure the T + Y assimilation occurs in British English too. All the stuff discussed here can be found in a good accent reduction course (for either British English or American English).

Re: Direct Indirect Speech

gleb_chebrikoff — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:35:17 GMT

Dear friend, as Mr Micawber said, style manual disagree on the usage of quotation marks (known as 'inverted commas' in British English). In the American system, a single mark designates the embedded quotation, contrasting with the double marks for the larger quotation. The British system is reversed: double quotations reside within the single marks. Your sentences: He said , " My father said , ' I am the head of the family . ' " (American system, embedded quotation - I am the head of the family ); He said , ' My father said , " I am the head of the family " '. (British system)