Search results for 'tag:Images tag:British English' matching tags 'Images' and 'British English'

Re: Question about how to pronounce Europe

Orpheus — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 05:10:01 GMT

I'd say that there is a slight difference between the US and UK pronunciation of the word. The first syllable of Europe in British English is generally pronounced with the diphthong // while in American English it is simply with the vowel //. The diphthong // is a characteristic of British English and is not found in American English; American English in corresponding places would have the simple vowel // followed by /r/.
The first consonant sound /j/ on the other hand is pronounced exactly the same in both American and British English. It is the same /j/ as in 'you'.

Re: all tenses in one exercise - from Bywater's A Proficiency Course in English

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:07:47 GMT

Forum_mail wrote:
Hello there!
PS. Is that true that if a Brit guy comes to the USA and uses a/the word "fortnight" he may not be understood?

appears so.

fortâ§night S3 [countable usually singular] British English

two weeks:

a fortnight's holiday

in a fortnight's time

a fortnight ago

Longman.

Re: which pronunciation for clarity is more popular?

Conchita57 — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:00:28 GMT

In standard British English, 'clarity' is normally pronounced ['klariti] or ['klarti].

Re: British English: How to pronounce 'Schedule'

nona the brit — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:16:57 GMT

From the Mirriam-Webster dictionary (American)

Main Entry: ¹schedÂ·ule
Pronunciation: 'ske-(")jÃ¼l, -j&l, Canad also 'she-, Britain usually 'she-(")dyÃ¼l

Re: Cote D'livore

Conchita57 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:08:17 GMT

Marvin A. wrote:
>> Now, said with a Southern French accent, it becomes [cot] <<
>> The sound I meant is [o:] as in RP or Standard British English. <<

Now you're really confusing me. Are you using IPA, or similar system for transcription? The letter "c" in the IPA, X-SAMPA, and Kirshenbaum transcription systems is a voiceless palatal plosive, that is only found in Hungarian. The letter "o" in IPA is the "o" sound in the word "coat" in North Central dialects of NAE--most dialects of England English use a diphthong for the "o" sound. The vowel that is used to transcribe the "au" in "caught" in RP is not /o:/, but is /ÉË/, the long open-mid back rounded vowel.

[cot] (I'm assuming /kot/), would be how someone from Minnesota pronounces the word "coat". It is not how an RP speaker pronounces the word "cot".

The [ ] and / / marks represent IPA or X-SAMPA transcription.

I would pronounce "cote d'ivoire" as /kot divwA/.

Except for the , which should indeed be a , Iâm using the phonetic symbols Iâve used all my life, as I learnt them 35 years ago from the Oxford Progressive English Course, by A. S. Hornby (EFL/ESL coursebooks have come a long way since then!). If you replace my âoâ in and [o:] with [ ] and [ÉË], it should be less confusing for you.

The French âoâ in âCÃ´teâ isnât a diphthong â it rhymes with âcaughtâ in RP. The ProvenÃ§als, however, say it as âcotâ in RP.

Re: Is the present perfect being shown the door?

milky — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 11:52:19 GMT

I just found/I've just found ( ) this:

"The present perfect is more frequent in British English and the preterite more frequent in American English. The claims often made to that effect have been amply confirmed."

The Use of the Perfect and the Preterite and in Present-day English, by Johan Elsness.

Source used: LOB/BUC corpora.

Re: Modal verbs

milky — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 07:07:56 GMT

Milky wrote:

I have agreed that certain BE speaking individuals do not follow the must subjective/have to objective line and that their use may be either regional, idiolectic, or influenced by AE use.

This is like saying "All swans are white, except the ones that are black. Nonetheless, all swans are white.">

Strange, you are the one who asked me if I thought that all BE speakers used "have to" and "must" in the way I see it.

<I'm arguing against a restrictive interpretation which does not reflect current British English usage.>

Can you prove that it doesn't? In general usage?

<"Because they're using an alternative, usually non-auxiliary, modal expression.">

Pay attention:

<< speakers tend to prefer to use an alternative, usually non-auxiliary, modal expression>> Note the qualification with "tend to" there.

Hmm. I think I should have asked this at the start: What is your definition of BE?

Re: What to use? Miss/Mrs?

Dominik — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 18:40:06 GMT

Hi,

Miss used in front of the family name of a woman who is not married to address her politely, to write to her, or to talk about her:
I'd like to make an appointment with Miss Taylor.

! Some unmarried women prefer to be addressed as Ms because it does not draw attention to whether or not they are married. Ms is also used in business English. Ms Murphy; Ms Jean Murphy.

Ms British English ; Ms. American English

used before a woman's family name when she does not want to be called 'Mrs' or 'Miss', or when you do not know whether she is married or not:

Dear Ms Johnson, ...

(old-fashioned or formal) the Misses Hill

Regards
Dominik

Re: how to pronounce words with "eg"

Nef — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 02:24:15 GMT

Anonymous wrote:
Nef wrote:

See if you can go to www.m-w.com (on-line Merriam-Webster Dictionary) and hear the pronunciation.

If you search there for a word, it should give you definition(s). Many words also have a red speaker icon (see the example below). Make sure your speakers are on and click on that speaker icon to hear the word.

well, it is really helpful, but in Longman "describe" is said to be pronounced /di'skrayb/. when I checked it in the adress given above, I noticed that it is pronounced as "dis'krayb". The two is different.

Interesting. I went to the Longman site after I read your note. I think the speaker on the Longman site is using British English, while the speaker on the M-W site is using North American English. At least that's what it sounded like to me. Maybe someone else knows more about this.

Re: e and a

Orpheus — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 02:10:53 GMT

I think this is another US/Brit division.
There are three diphthongs / / that are found only in British English. American English in corresponding places would have a simple vowel followed by /r/ so vary in BrE is pronounced // while in AmE it is either // or //.