| George Bernard Shaw is famously quoted as having | | | | Of equal importance when understanding the |
| said that the British and the Americans are two nations | | | | differences between American and British English |
| "separated by a common language". In reality, there is | | | | vocabulary and word usage, is spelling. There are |
| no real difference in the application of the language in | | | | some significant differences which, if not taken into |
| grammatical terms between American English and | | | | account by the writer, will highlight that you may not |
| British English: sentences are constructed in an identical | | | | have fully investigated your target audience. Again, for |
| manner and the application of punctuation is the same. | | | | example:center (US) v centre (UK)donut (US) v |
| The main area of difference is in the vocabulary and | | | | doughnut (UK)favorite (US) v favourite (UK)tire (US) v |
| spelling used. There are many differences in these | | | | tyre (UK)catalog (US) v catalogue (UK)color (US) v |
| areas, not immediately apparent to a many people but | | | | colour (UK) |
| afficionados of Hollywood movies will be able to | | | | If you are looking to write for both markets, it is |
| identify a few of the more obvious differences without | | | | worthwhile acquainting yourself with more of these |
| difficulty. For example:gas (US) v petrol (UK)soccer | | | | kind of differences. It will also be useful to get a hold of |
| (US) v football (UK)apartment (US) v flat (UK)attorney | | | | UK and US English dictionaries (Websters for the US |
| (US) v lawyer (UK)sidewalk (US) v pavement (UK) | | | | and Oxford OED for the UK). |
| If you are a writer considering writing either in the UK, | | | | Use the internet to look for key differences and ways |
| the US or both, you will need to ensure you tailor your | | | | in which the language is developing on each side of the |
| writing for the readership you are trying to target. The | | | | Atlantic. Since the UK and the US are separated by an |
| use of American vocabulary, and particularly spelling, in | | | | ocean and several thousand miles, we will increasingly |
| British publications is frowned upon and will immediately | | | | find that the dialects of British and American English will |
| switch a reader off; that's if it ever gets past an editor | | | | continue to diverge as the modern languages develop. |
| first. Likewise, use of UK-specific vocabulary will have | | | | It is also worth investigating the now apparent |
| a similar effect in the USA. It is far better to take | | | | differences in English language usage between the |
| account of this at the beginning, than be put in the | | | | generations as well, especially in the modern urban |
| potentially embarrassing position of having to rewrite | | | | environments. |
| your text. | | | | |