This is one of a series of articles about the differences between American English and British English, which, for the purposes of these articles, are defined as follows: For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ... British English (BrE, BE, en-GB) is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere in the Anglophone world. ...

• American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America.
• British English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom.

Written forms of American English are fairly well standardized across the United States. An unofficial standard for spoken American English has developed as a result of mass media and of geographic and social mobility. This standard is generally called a General American or Standard Midwestern accent and dialect, and it can typically be heard from network newscasters, although local newscasters tend toward more provincial forms of speech. Despite this unofficial standard, regional variations of American English have not only persisted, but have actually intensified, according to William Labov. Regional dialects in the United States typically reflect the elements of the language of the main immigrant groups in any particular region of the country, especially in terms of pronunciation and vernacular vocabulary. Scholars have mapped at least four major regional variations of spoken American English: Northern (really north-eastern), Southern, Midland, and Western (Labov, Ash, & Boberg, 2006).^[1] After the American Civil War, the settlement of the western territories by migrants from the east led to dialect mixing and levelling, so that regional dialects are most strongly differentiated in the eastern part of the country that were settled earlier. Localized dialects also exist with quite distinct variations, such as in Southern Appalachia and New York City. British English also has a reasonable degree of uniformity in its formal written form. The spoken forms though vary considerably, reflecting a long history of dialect development amid isolated populations. Dialects and accents vary not only between the countries in the United Kingdom, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but also within these individual countries. There are also differences in the English spoken by different socio-economic groups in any particular region. Received Pronunciation (RP), which is "the educated spoken English of south-east England" has traditionally been regarded as "proper English"; this is also referred to as BBC English or the Queen's English. The BBC and other broadcasters now intentionally use a mix of presenters with a variety of British accents and dialects, and the concept of "proper English" is now far less prevalent.^[2] British and American English are the reference norms for English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world. For instance, the English-speaking members of the Commonwealth often closely follow British English forms while many new American English forms quickly become familiar outside of the United States. Although the dialects of English used in the former British Empire are often, to various extents, based on standard British English, most of the countries concerned have developed their own unique dialects, particularly with respect to pronunciation, idioms, and vocabulary; chief among them are Canadian English and Australian English, which rank third and fourth in number of native speakers.^[3][4] For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Look up Accent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ... NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw A news presenter is, broadly speaking, a person that presents a news show on television or radio. ... Look up Vernacular in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... English English is a term that has been applied to the English language as spoken in England. ...    This article is a stub. ... Scottish English is usually taken to mean the standard form of the English language used in Scotland, often termed Scottish Standard English. ... Welsh English, Anglo-Welsh, or Wenglish (see below) refers to the dialects of English spoken in Wales by Welsh people. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals which transmit programs to an audience. ... For other uses, see Commonwealth (disambiguation). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not compositional — that is, whose meaning does not follow from the meaning of the individual words of which it is composed. ... Canadian English (CanE) is the variety of North American English used in Canada. ... Australian English (AuE, AusE, en-AU) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Historical background

The English language was first introduced to the Americas by British colonization, beginning in the early 17th century. Similarly, the language spread to numerous other parts of the world as a result of British colonization elsewhere and the spread of the former British Empire, which, by 1921, held sway over a population of about 470–570 million people: approximately a quarter of the world's population in that time. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... World map showing the Americas CIA political map of the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the continents of North America[1] and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... British colonization of the Americas (including colonization under the Kingdom of England before the 1707 Acts of Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain) began in the late 16th century, before reaching its peak after colonies were established throughout the Americas, and a protectorate was established in Hawaii. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

Over the past 400 years, the form of the language used in the Americas – especially in the United States – and that used in the United Kingdom and the rest of the British Isles have diverged in many ways, leading to the dialects now commonly referred to as American English and British English. Differences between the two include pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary (lexis), spelling, punctuation, idioms, formatting of dates and numbers, and so on. A small number of words have completely different meanings between the two dialects or are even unknown or not used in one of the dialects. One particular contribution towards formalizing these differences came from Noah Webster, who wrote the first American dictionary (published 1828) with the intention of showing that people in the United States spoke a different dialect from Britain. This article describes the archipelago in north-western Europe. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ... Look up pronunciation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For the rules of English grammar, see English grammar and Disputes in English grammar. ... In linguistics, the lexis of a language is the entire store of its lexical items. ... Proper spelling is the writing of a word or words with all necessary letters and diacritics present in an accepted standard order. ... The term punctuation has two different linguistic meanings: in general, the act and the effect of punctuating, i. ... [[An idiom is an expression (i. ... Look up format in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A date in a calendar is a reference to a particular day represented within a calendar system. ... For other uses, see Number (disambiguation). ... Noah Webster Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 – April 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, political writer, word enthusiast, and editor. ... 1888 advertisement for Websters Dictionary Websters Dictionary is the common title given to English language dictionaries in the United States, derived from American lexicographer Noah Webster. ...

This divergence between American English and British English once caused George Bernard Shaw to say that the United States and United Kingdom are "two countries divided by a common language"; a similar comment is ascribed to Winston Churchill. Likewise, Oscar Wilde wrote, "We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, the language." (The Canterville Ghost, 1888) Henry Sweet predicted in 1877 that within a century, American English, Australian English and British English would be mutually unintelligible. It may be the case that increased world-wide communication through radio, television, the Internet, and globalization has reduced the tendency to regional variation. This can result either in some variations becoming extinct (for instance, the wireless, superseded by the radio) or in the acceptance of wide variations as "perfectly good English" everywhere. Often at the core of the dialect though, the idiosyncrasies remain. George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856–2 November 1950) was a world-renowned Irish author. ... Churchill redirects here. ... Oscar Fingal OFlahertie Wills Wilde (October 16, 1854 – November 30, 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. ... The Canterville Ghost is a popular novella by Oscar Wilde, widely adapted for the screen and stage. ... Henry Sweet (1845-1912) was a philologist, and is also considered to be an early linguist. ... The rise of multinational corporations and outsourcing have played a crucial part in globalization. ...

Nevertheless, it remains the case that although spoken American and British English are generally mutually intelligible, there are enough differences to cause occasional misunderstandings or at times embarrassment – for example, some words that are quite innocent in one dialect may be considered vulgar in the other.

Pronunciation

Main article: American and British English pronunciation differences

Differences in pronunciation between American English (AmE) and British English (BrE) can be divided into: differences in accent (i. ...

Grammar

Nouns

Formal and notional agreement

In BrE, collective nouns can take either singular (formal agreement) or plural (notional agreement) verb forms, according to whether the emphasis is, respectively, on the body as a whole or on the individual members; compare a committee was appointed ... with the committee were unable to agree...^[5][6] Compare also Elvis Costello's song, Oliver's Army are on their way / Oliver's Army is here to stay. Some of these nouns, for example staff,^[7] actually combine with plural verbs most of the time. In linguistics, a collective noun is a word used to define a group of objects, where objects can be people, animals, inanimate things, concepts, or other things. ... Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick McManus August 25, 1954) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. ...

In AmE, collective nouns are usually singular in construction: the committee was unable to agree ... AmE however may use plural pronouns in agreement with collective nouns: the team takes their seats, rather than the team takes its seats. The rule of thumb is that a group acting as a unit is considered singular and a group of "individuals acting separately" is considered plural.^[8] However, such a sentence would most likely be recast as the team members take their seats. Despite exceptions such as usage in the New York Times, the names of sports teams are usually treated as plurals even if the form of the name is singular.^[9]

The difference occurs for all nouns of multitude, both general terms such as team and company and proper nouns (for example, where a place name is used to refer to a sports team). For instance,

BrE: The Clash are a well-known band; AmE: The Clash is a well-known band.
BrE: Indianapolis are the champions; AmE: Indianapolis is the champion. This article is about the English rock band. ... The Indianapolis skyline Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana. ...

Proper nouns that are plural in form take a plural verb in both AmE and BrE; for example, The Beatles are a well-known band; The Colts are the champions. The White Album, see The Beatles (album). ... City Indianapolis, Indiana Other nicknames The Horseshoes Team colors Blue and White Head Coach Tony Dungy Owner Jim Irsay General manager Bill Polian Mascot Blue League/Conference affiliations National Football League (1953–present) Western Conference (1953-1969) Coastal Division (1967-1969) American Football Conference (1970-present) AFC East (1970-2001...

Count and mass nouns

Verbs

Verb morphology

See also: List of English irregular verbs

• The past tense and past participle of the verbs learn, spoil, spell (only in the word-related sense), burn, dream, smell, spill, leap, and others, can be either irregular (learnt, spoilt, etc.) or regular (learned, spoiled, etc.). In BrE, both the irregular and regular forms are current; in some cases (smelt, leapt) there is a strong tendency towards the irregular forms (especially by speakers using Received Pronunciation); in other cases (dreamed, leaned, learned^[10]) the regular forms are somewhat more common. In AmE, the irregular forms are never or rarely used (except for burnt, leapt, and dreamt).
  Nonetheless, as with other usages considered nowadays to be typically British, the t endings are often found in older American texts. However, usage may vary when the past participles are actually adjectives, as in burnt toast. (Note that the two-syllable form learnèd /'lɜːnɪd/, usually written simply as learned, is still used as an adjective to mean "educated", or to refer to academic institutions, in both BrE and AmE.) Finally, the past tense and past participle of dwell and kneel are more commonly dwelt and knelt on both sides of the Atlantic, although dwelled and kneeled are widely used in the U.S. (but not in the UK).
• Lit as the past tense of light is much more common than lighted in the UK; the regular form enjoys more use in the U.S., although it is somewhat less common than lit.^[11] By contrast, fit as the past tense of fit is much more used in AmE than BrE, which generally favours fitted.^[12]
• The past tense of spit "expectorate" is spat in BrE, spit or spat in AmE.^[13]
• The past participle gotten is rarely used in modern BrE (although it is used in some dialects), which generally uses got, except in old expressions such as ill-gotten gains. According to the Compact Oxford English Dictionary, "The form gotten is not used in British English but is very common in North American English, though even there it is often regarded as non-standard." In AmE, gotten emphasizes the action of acquiring and got tends to indicate simple possession (for example, Have you gotten it? versus Have you got it?). Gotten is also typically used in AmE as the past participle for phrasal verbs using get, such as get off, get on, get into, get up, and get around: If you hadn't gotten up so late, you might not have gotten into this mess. Interestingly, AmE, but not BrE, has forgot as a less common alternative to forgotten for the past participle of forget.
• In BrE, the past participle proved is strongly preferred to proven; in AmE, proven is now about as common as proved.^[14] (Both dialects use proven as an adjective, and in formulas such as not proven).^[15]
• AmE further allows other irregular verbs, such as dive (dove) or sneak (snuck), and often mixes the preterite and past participle forms (spring–sprang, U.S. also sprung)–sprung, sometimes forcing verbs such as shrink (shrank–shrunk) to have a further form, thus shrunk–shrunken. These uses are often considered nonstandard; the AP Stylebook in AmE treats some irregular verbs as colloquialisms, insisting on the regular forms for the past tense of dive, plead and sneak. Dove and snuck are usually considered nonstandard in Britain, although dove exists in some British dialects and snuck is occasionally found in British speech.
• By extension of the irregular verb pattern, verbs with irregular preterites in some variants of colloquial AmE also have a separate past participle, for example, "to buy": past tense bought spawns boughten. Such formations are highly irregular from speaker to speaker, or even within idiolects. This phenomenon is found chiefly in the northern U.S. and other areas where immigrants of German descent are predominant, and may have developed as a result of German influence.^[16] Even in areas where the feature predominates, however, it has not gained widespread acceptance as "standard" usage.

This is list of irregular verbs in the English language. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a comprehensive multi-volume dictionary published by the Oxford University Press. ... In the English language, a phrasal verb is a verb combined with an uninflected preposition, an adverb, or an adverbial particle; for example, stand up. A phrasal verb is also called verb-particle construction, verb phrase, multi-word verb, or compound verb. ... Scots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. ... The preterite (also praeterite, in American English also preterit, or past historic) is the grammatical tense expressing actions which took place in the past. ... AP Stylebook, 2004 edition The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, usually called the AP Stylebook, is the primary style and usage guide for most newspapers and newsmagazines in the United States. ... An idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. ...

Use of tenses

• BrE uses the present perfect tense to talk about an event in the recent past and with the words already, just and yet. In American usage, these meanings can be expressed with the present perfect (to express a fact^{[citation needed]}) or the simple past (to imply an expectation^{[citation needed]}). This American style has become widespread only in the past 20 to 30 years; the British style is still in common use as well.
  • "I've just got(ten) home." / "I just got home."
  • "I've already eaten." / "I already ate."

(Recently the American use of just with simple past has made inroads into BrE, most visibly in advertising slogans and headlines such as "Cable broadband just got faster".) The present perfect tense denotes a present condition resulting from a previous action. ...

• Similarly, the pluperfect is occasionally replaced by the preterite or the conditional in the U.S.^{[citation needed]}; this is generally regarded as sloppy usage by those Americans who consider themselves careful users of the language. (If I would have cooked the pie we could have had it for lunch.)^{[citation needed]}.
• In BrE, have got or have can be used for possession and have got to and have to can be used for the modal of necessity. The forms which include got are usually used in informal contexts and the forms without got in more formal contexts. In American speech the form without got is used more than in the UK. AmE also informally uses got as a verb for these meanings – for example, I got two cars, I got to go; but these are nonstandard and will be considered sloppy usage by most American speakers.
• The subjunctive mood is regularly used in AmE in mandative clauses (as in They suggested that he apply for the job). In BrE, this usage declined in the 20th century, in favor of constructions such as They suggested that he should apply for the job (or even, more ambiguously, They suggested that he applied for the job). Apparently, however, the mandative subjunctive has recently started to come back into use in BrE.^[17]

The pluperfect tense (from Latin: plus quam perfectum more than perfect) is a perfective tense that exists in most Indo-European languages, used to refer to an event that has completed before another past action. ... The preterite (also praeterite, in American English also preterit, or past historic) is the grammatical tense expressing actions which took place in the past. ... The conditional tense (sometimes described as the conditional mood) is a verb form in many languages, in which a verb root is modified to form verb tenses, moods, or aspects expressing degrees of certainty or uncertainty and hypothesis about past, present, or future. ... In grammar, the subjunctive mood (sometimes referred to as the conjunctive mood) is a verb mood that exists in many languages. ...

Verbal auxiliaries

• Shall (as opposed to will) is more commonly used by the British than by Americans. [8] [9]. Shan't is seldom used in AmE (almost invariably replaced by won't or am not going to), and very much less so amongst Britons. American grammar also tends to ignore some traditional distinctions between should and would [10]; however, expressions like I should be happy are rather formal even in BrE.
• The periphrastic future (be going to) is about twice as frequent in AmE as in BrE.^[18]

Transitivity

The following verbs show differences in transitivity between BrE and AmE.

• agree: Transitive or intransitive in BrE, usually intransitive in AmE (agree a contract/agree to or on a contract). However, in formal AmE legal writing one often sees constructions like as may be agreed between the parties (rather than as may be agreed upon between the parties).
• catch up ("to reach and overtake"): Transitive or intransitive in BrE, strictly intransitive in AmE (to catch sb up/to catch up with sb).
• cater ("to provide food and service"): Intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (to cater for a banquet/to cater a banquet).
• claim: Sometimes intransitive in BrE (used with for), strictly transitive in AmE.
• meet: AmE uses intransitively meet followed by with to mean "to have a meeting with", as for business purposes (Yesterday we met with the CEO), and reserves transitive meet for the meanings "to be introduced to" (I want you to meet the CEO; she's such a fine lady), "to come together with (someone, somewhere)" (Meet the CEO at the train station), and "to have a casual encounter with". BrE uses transitive meet also to mean "to have a meeting with"; the construction meet with, which actually dates back to Middle English, appears to be coming back into use in Britain, despite some commentators who preferred to avoid confusion with meet with meaning "receive, undergo" (the proposal was met with disapproval). The construction meet up with (as in to meet up with someone), which originated in the U.S., has long been standard in both dialects.
• provide: Strictly monotransitive in BrE, monotransitive or ditransitive in AmE (provide sb with sth/provide sb sth).
• protest: In sense "oppose", intransitive in BrE, transitive in AmE (The workers protested against the decision/The workers protested the decision). The intransitive protest against in AmE means "to hold or participate in a demonstration against". The older sense "proclaim" is always transitive (protest one's innocence).
• write: In BrE, the indirect object of this verb usually requires the preposition to, for example, I'll write to my MP or I'll write to her (although it is not required in some situations, for example when an indirect object pronoun comes before a direct object noun, for example, I'll write her a letter). In AmE, write can be used monotransitively (I'll write my congressman; I'll write him).

Complementation

• The verbs prevent and stop can be found in two different constructions: "prevent/stop someone from doing something" and "prevent/stop someone doing something". The latter is well established in BrE, but not in AmE.
• Some verbs can take either a to-infinitive construction or a gerund construction (e.g., to start to do something/doing something). For example, the gerund is more common:
  • In AmE than BrE, with start,^[19] begin,^[20] omit,^[21] enjoy;^[22]
  • In BrE than AmE, with love,^[23] like,^[24] intend.^[25]

Presence or absence of syntactic elements

• Where a statement of intention involves two separate activities, it is acceptable for speakers of AmE to use to go plus bare infinitive. Speakers of BrE would instead use to go and plus bare infinitive: thus where a speaker of AmE might say I'll go take a bath, BrE speakers would say I'll go and have a bath. (Both can also use the form to go to instead to suggest that the action may fail, as in He went to take/have a bath, but the bath was full of children.) Similarly, to come plus bare infinitive is acceptable to speakers of AmE, where speakers of BrE would instead use to come and plus bare infinitive: thus where a speaker of AmE might say come see what I bought, BrE speakers would say come and see what I've bought (notice the present perfect tense: a common British preference).
• Use of prepositions before days denoted by a single word. Where British people would say She resigned on Thursday, Americans often say She resigned Thursday, but both forms are common in American usage. Occasionally, the preposition is also absent when referring to months: I'll be here December (although this usage is generally limited to colloquial speech). The first of these two examples of omitting prepositions may be seen as yet another German influence on American English.
• In the UK, from is used with single dates and times more often than in the United States. Where British speakers and writers may say "the new museum will be open from Tuesday", Americans most likely say the new museum will be open starting Tuesday. (This difference does not apply to phrases of the pattern from A to B, which are used in both BrE and AmE.) A variation or alternative of this is the mostly American the play opens Tuesday and the mostly British the play opens on Tuesday.
• A few 'institutional' nouns take no definite article when a certain role is implied: for example, at sea (as a sailor), in prison (as a convict), and at/in college (for students). Among this group, BrE has in hospital (as a patient) and at university (as a student), where AmE requires in the hospital and at the university. (When the implied roles of patient or student do not apply, the definite article is used in both dialects.) Likewise, BrE has in future and American has in the future.
• In BrE numbered highways usually take the definite article (for example "the M25", "the A14") while in America they usually do not ("I-495", "Route 66"). Southern California is an exception, where "the 5" or "the 405" are the standard. A similar pattern is followed for named roads, but in America there are local variations and older American highways tend to follow the British pattern ("the Boston Post Road").
• AmE distinguishes in back of [behind] from in the back of; the former is unknown in the UK and liable to misinterpretation as the latter. Both, however, distinguish in front of from in the front of.
• American legislators and lawyers always use the preposition of between the name of a legislative act and the year it was passed, while their British equivalents do not. Compare Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
• Dates usually include a definite article in UK spoken English, such as "the 11th of July", or "July the 11th", while American speakers say "July 11th".
• AmE omits, and BrE requires, the definite article in a few standard expressions such as tell (the) time.

Definite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzards 1996 performance released on video and CD. The video/DVD and CD performances were both recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London, England. ... For the town in the Republic of Ireland, see Hospital, County Limerick. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... A legislator (or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. ... For the fish called lawyer, see Burbot. ... The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is the short title of United States Public Law 101-336, 104 Stat. ... The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995) is a UK parliamentary act of 1995, which makes it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport. ...

Prepositions and adverbs

• In the United States, the word through can mean "up to and including" as in Monday through Friday. In the UK Monday to Friday, or Monday to Friday inclusive is used instead; Monday through to Friday is also sometimes used. (In some parts of Northern England the term while can be used in the same way, as in Monday while Friday, whereas in Northern Ireland^{[citation needed]} Monday till Friday would be more natural.)
• British athletes play in a team; American athletes play on a team. (Both may play for a particular team.)
• In AmE, the use of the function word out as a preposition in out the door and out the window is standard. In BrE, out of is preferred in writing, but out is more common in speech.^[26] Several other uses of out of are peculiarly British (out of all recognition, out of the team; cf. above);^[27] all of this notwithstanding, out of is overall more frequent in AmE than in BrE (about four times as frequent, according to Algeo^[28]).
• The word heat meaning "mating season" is used with on in the UK and with in in the U.S.
• The intransitive verb affiliate can take either with or to in BrE, but only with in AmE.
• The verb enrol(l) usually takes on in BrE and in in AmE (as in "to enrol(l) on/in a course") and the on/in difference is also used when enrolled is dropped (as in "I am (enrolled) on the course that studies....").
• In AmE, one always speaks of the street on which an address is located, whereas in BrE in can also be used in some contexts. In suggests an address in a city street, so a service station (or a tourist attraction or indeed a village) would always be on a major road, but a department store might be in Oxford Street. Moreover, if a particular place on the street is specified then the preposition used is whichever is idiomatic to the place, thus "at the end of Churchill Road", and thus also the lyric "our house, in the middle of our street" from "Our House" by the British band Madness, whose intended meaning is "halfway along our street" but is confusing to many Americans—in AmE, the lyric suggests that the house is literally in the middle of the roadway.
• BrE favours the preposition at with weekend ("at (the) weekend(s)"); the constructions on, over, and during (the) weekend(s) are found in both varieties but are all more common in AmE than BrE.^[29] See also Word derivation and compounds.
• Adding at to the end of a question requesting a location is common in AmE (especially in the Midwest), for example, "where are you at?", but would be considered superfluous in BrE.
• After talk American can use the preposition with but British always^{[citation needed]} uses to (that is, "I'll talk with Dave / I'll talk to Dave". The American form is sometimes seen as more politically correct in British organisations, inducing the ideal of discussing (with), as opposed to lecturing (to). This is, of course, unless talk is being used as a noun, for example: "I'll have a talk with him" in which case this is acceptable in both BrE and AmE.
• In both dialects from is the preposition prescribed for use after the word different: "American English is different from British English in several respects." However, different than is also commonly heard in the U.S., and is often considered standard when followed by a clause ("American English is different than it used to be"), whereas different to is the alternative common in BrE.
• It is common in BrE to say opposite to as an alternative to opposite of, the only form normally found in AmE. The use of opposite as a preposition ("opposite the post office") has long been established in both dialects, but appears to be more common in British usage.
• The noun opportunity can be followed by a verb in two different ways: opportunity plus to-infinitive ("the opportunity to do something") or opportunity plus of plus gerund ("the opportunity of doing something"). The first construction is the most common in both dialects, but the second has almost disappeared in AmE and is often regarded as a Briticism.
• Both British and Americans may say (for example) that a river is named after a state, but "named for a state" would rightly be regarded as an Americanism.
• BrE sometimes uses to with near ("we live near to the university"), while AmE avoids the preposition in most usages dealing with literal, physical proximity ("we live near the university"), although the "to" reappears in AmE when "near" takes the comparative or superlative form, as in, "Of all of us, she lives nearer/nearest to the deranged axe murderer's house."
• In BrE, you call (or ring) someone on their telephone number; in AmE, you call someone at their telephone number.
• In AmE, the phrases aside from and apart from are used about equally; in BrE, apart from is far more common.^[30]

Estrus (also spelled œstrus) or heat in female mammals is the period of greatest female sexual responsiveness usually coinciding with ovulation. ... Oxford Street, with Centre Point in the background Oxford Street in 1875, looking west from the junction with Duke Street. ... Madness are a British pop/ska band from Camden Town, London, that formed in 1976. ... Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ...

Phrasal verbs

• In the U.S., forms are usually but not invariably filled out, but in Britain they can also be filled in. However, in reference to individual parts of a form, Americans may also use in ("fill in the blanks"). In AmE the direction "fill it all in" (referring to the form as a collection of blanks, perhaps) is as common as "fill it all out."
• Britons facing extortionate prices may have no option but to fork out, whereas Americans are more likely to fork (it) over or sometimes up; both usages are however found in both dialects.
• In both countries, thugs will beat up their victim; AmE also allows beat on (as both would for an inanimate object, such as a drum) or beat up on, which are often considered slang.
• When an outdoor event is postponed or interrupted by rain, it is rained off in the UK and rained out in the U.S.

Rip-Off Britain is an expression coined by the tabloid press in the late 1990s to describe dissatisfaction with certain products costing more in the United Kingdom than in the some other countries, especially certain members of the EU and the United States. ... Look up thug in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Miscellaneous grammatical differences

• In AmE, some prescriptionists feel that which should not be used as an antecedent in restrictive relative clauses. According to The Elements of Style (p. 59), "that is the defining, or restrictive pronoun, which the nondefining, or nonrestrictive." This distinction was endorsed by Fowler's Modern English Usage, but the use of which as a restrictive pronoun is common in great literature produced on both sides of the Atlantic [11].
• In names of American rivers, the word river usually comes after the name (for example, Colorado River), whereas for British rivers it comes before (as in River Thames). One exception present in BrE is the Fleet River, which is rarely called the River Fleet by Londoners outside of official documentation. Exceptions in the U.S. are the River Rouge and the River Raisin, both in Michigan and named by the French. This convention is mixed, however, in some Commonwealth nations, where both arrangements are often seen.
• In BrE the word sat is often colloquially used to cover sat, sitting and seated: "I've been sat here waiting for half an hour." "The bride's family will be sat on the right-hand side of the church." This construction is not often heard outside the UK. In the 1960s, its use would mark a speaker as coming from the north of England but by the turn of the 21st century this form had spread to the south. Its use often conveys lighthearted informality, as many speakers intentionally use an ungrammatical construction they would probably not use in formal written English. This colloquial usage is widely understood by British speakers. Similarly stood can be used instead of standing. To an American, these usages are passive, and may imply that the subject had been involuntarily forced to sit or stand, or directed to hold that location.
• In most areas of the United States, the word with is also used as an adverb: "I'll come with" instead of "I'll come along". However, in some British Dialects, 'come with' is used as an abbreviation of 'come with me', as in "I'm going to the office - come with" instead of "I'm going to the office - come with me". This particular variant is also used by speakers in Minnesota and parts of the adjoining states: "Want to come with?" This is another expression possibly arising from German (kommst du mit?) in parts of the United States with high concentrations of German American populations. It is similar to South African English, where the expression comes from Afrikaans, and is also used by Dutch speakers when speaking in English.
• The word also is used at the end of a sentence in AmE (just as as well and too are in both dialects), but not so commonly in BrE, although it is encountered in Northern Ireland. Additionally, sentence-ending as well is more formal in AmE than in BrE.
• In AmE, the last letter of the alphabet is pronounced zee; in BrE, the last letter is pronounced zed.

In syntax, the concept of restrictiveness applies to a variety of syntactical constructions. ... The Elements of Style, 2000 edition. ... A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, often referred to simply as Fowlers Modern English Usage, or Fowler, is a style guide to British English usage, authored by Henry W. Fowler. ... The Colorado River from the bottom of Marble Canyon, in the Upper Grand Canyon Colorado River in the Grand Canyon from Desert View The Colorado River from Laughlin Horseshoe Bend is a horseshoe-shaped meander of the Colorado River located near the town of Page, Arizona The Colorado River is... This article is about the River Thames in southern England. ... The River Fleet is the largest of Londons subterranean rivers. ... A Londoner is someone who inhabits or originates from London. ... The Rouge River, sometimes incorrectly called the River Rouge, is a river in the Metro Detroit area of southeastern Michigan. ... Boats on the River Raisin just downstream from Monroe, Michigan The River Raisin is a river in southeastern Michigan, United States that flows through glacial sediments into Lake Erie. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Note: this article may be of particular interest to non-native users of English. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Area  Ranked 12th  - Total 87,014 sq mi (225,365 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 400 miles (645 km)  - % water 8. ... German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry. ... South African English is a dialect of English spoken in South Africa and in neighbouring countries with a large number of Anglo-Africans living in them, such as Botswana, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. ... Look up Wiktionary:Swadesh lists for Afrikaans and Dutch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people, mainly in the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname, but also by smaller groups of speakers in parts of France, Germany and several former Dutch colonies. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...

Word derivation and compounds

• Directional suffix -ward(s): British forwards, towards, rightwards, etc.; American forward, toward, rightward. In both dialects, distribution varies somewhat: afterwards, towards, and backwards are not unusual in America; while in Britain forward is common, and standard in phrasal verbs like look forward to. The forms with -s may be used as adverbs (or preposition towards), but rarely as adjectives: in Britain as in America one says "an upward motion". The Oxford English Dictionary in 1897 suggested a semantic distinction for adverbs, with -wards having a more definite directional sense than -ward; subsequent authorities such as Fowler have disputed this contention.
• AmE freely adds the suffix -s to day, night, evening, weekend, Monday, etc. to form adverbs denoting repeated or customary action: "I used to stay out evenings"; "the library is closed Saturdays". This usage has its roots in Old English, but many of these constructions are now regarded as American (for example, the OED labels nights "now chiefly N.Amer. colloq."; but to work nights is standard in BrE).
• In BrE, the agentive -er suffix is commonly attached to football (also cricket; often netball; occasionally basketball). AmE usually uses football player. Where the sport's name is usable as a verb, the suffixation is standard in both dialects: for example, golfer, bowler (in Ten-pin bowling and in Lawn Bowls), and shooter. AmE appears to sometimes use the BrE form in baller as slang for a basketball player, as in the video game "NBA Ballers." However, this is derived from slang use of "to ball" as a verb meaning to play a basketball.
• English writers everywhere occasionally (and from time immemorial) make new compound words from common phrases; for example, health care is now being replaced by healthcare on both sides of the Atlantic. However, AmE has made certain words in this fashion that are still treated as phrases in BrE.
• In compound nouns of the form <verb><noun>, sometimes AmE favours the bare infinitive where BrE favours the gerund. Examples include (AmE first): jump rope / skipping rope; racecar / racing car; rowboat / rowing boat; sailboat / sailing boat; file cabinet / filing cabinet; dial tone / dialling tone.
• More generally, AmE has a tendency to drop inflectional suffixes, thus favouring clipped forms: compare cookbook / cookery book; Smith, age 40 / Smith, aged 40; skim milk / skimmed milk; dollhouse / doll's house; barbershop / barber's shop.^[31]
• Singular attributives in one country may be plural in the other, and vice versa. For example, the UK has a drugs problem while the United States has a drug problem (although the singular usage is also commonly heard in the UK); Americans read the "sports" section of a newspaper, while the British are more likely to read the "sport" section. However, BrE maths is singular, just as AmE math is: both are abbreviations of mathematics.

In the English language, a phrasal verb is a verb combined with an uninflected preposition, an adverb, or an adverbial particle; for example, stand up. A phrasal verb is also called verb-particle construction, verb phrase, multi-word verb, or compound verb. ... The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, often referred to simply as Fowlers Modern English Usage, or Fowler, is a style guide to British English usage, authored by Henry W. Fowler. ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the sport. ... A netball game in Australia Netball is a non contact sport similar to, and derived from, basketball. ... This article is about the sport. ... This article is about the sport. ... Tenpin is also the name of a chain of ten-pin bowling complexes in the United Kingdom. ... Swifts Creek Bowls Club Bowls (also known as Lawn Bowls or Lawn Bowling) is a precision sport in which the goal is to roll slightly radially asymmetrical balls (called bowls) closer to a smaller white ball (the jack or kitty) than ones opponent is able to do. ... The shooting sports include those competitive sports involving tests of proficiency (accuracy and speed) using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns (see Archery for more information on shooting sports that make use of bows and arrows). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A compound is a word composed of more than one free morphemes. ... In grammar, infinitive is the name for certain verb forms that exist in many languages. ... In linguistics, “gerund” is a term used to refer to various non-finite verb forms in various languages: As applied to English, it refers to what might be called a verbs action noun, which is one of the uses of the -ing form. ... An 1800 depiction of jumping rope A jump rope, skipping rope or skip rope is the primary tool used in the game of skipping played by children and many young adults, where one or more participants jump over a spinning rope so that it passes under their feet and over...

Lexis (Vocabulary)

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Most of the differences in lexis or vocabulary between British and American English are in connection with concepts originating from the 19th century to the mid 20th century, when new words were coined independently.^{[citation needed]} Almost the entire vocabularies of the car/automobile and railway/railroad industries (see Rail terminology) are different between the UK and U.S., for example. Other sources of difference are slang or vulgar terms, where frequent new coinage occurs, and idiomatic phrases, including phrasal verbs. The differences most likely to create confusion are those where the same word or phrase is used for two different concepts. Regional variations, even within the U.S. or the UK, can create the same problems. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... “Car” and “Cars” redirect here. ... Two rail welds in continuous welded rail in Wisconsin. ...

General trends

While the use of American expressions in the UK is often noted, movement in the opposite direction is less common. But such words as book (meaning "to reserve") and roundabout (otherwise called a traffic circle or rotary) are clearly current in AmE, although often regarded as British. Some other "Briticisms", such as go missing (as an alternative to disappear), bespoke (for custom-made or made-to-order), or run-up (for "period preceding an event") are increasingly used in AmE, and a few (for instance, early on) are now completely standard.

Words mainly used in a single form

Though the influence of cross-culture media has done much to familiarize BrE and AmE speakers with each other's regional words and terms, many words are still recognized as part of a single form of English. Though the use of a British word would be acceptable in AmE (and vice versa), most listeners would recognize the word as coming from the other form of English, and treat it much the same as a word borrowed from any other language. For instance: an American using the word "chap" or "mate" to refer to a friend, would be heard in much the same way as an American using the Spanish word "amigo".

Words mainly used in British English

See also: List of British words not widely used in the United States

Speakers of AmE are likely to be aware of some BrE terms, such as lorry, queue, chap, bloke, loo, and shag although they would not generally use them, or may be confused as to whether someone intends the American or British meaning (such as for biscuit). They will be able to guess approximately what is meant by some others, such as driving licence. However, use of many other British words, such as naff (unstylish, though commonly used to mean "not very good"), risks rendering a sentence incomprehensible to most Americans. Main article: American and British English differences This is a list of British words not widely used in the United States. ... Look up naff in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Words mainly used in American English

See also: List of American words not widely used in the United Kingdom

Speakers of BrE are likely to be aware of some AmE terms, such as sidewalk, gas (gasoline/petrol), counterclockwise or elevator, although they would not generally use them. They will be able to guess approximately what is meant by some others, such as cotton candy. However, use of some other American words such as semi (articulated lorry), stroller (pram/pushchair) or kitty-corner/catty-corner (diagonally opposite) risks rendering a sentence incomprehensible to most BrE speakers. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into List of words having different meanings in British and American English. ...

Words with differing meanings

See: List of words having different meanings in British and American English

Words like bill (AmE "paper money", BrE and AmE "invoice") and biscuit (AmE: BrE's "scone", BrE: AmE's "cookie") are used regularly in both AmE and BrE, but mean different things in each form. As chronicled by Winston Churchill, the opposite meanings of the verb to table created a misunderstanding during a meeting of the Allied forces; in BrE to table an item on an agenda means to open it up for discussion, whereas in AmE, it means to remove it from discussion. This is a list of words and phrases having differing meanings in British and American English. ... Churchill redirects here. ...

Word choice

• In the UK, the word whilst may be used as a conjunction (as an alternative to while, especially prevalent in some dialects), but while is used as a noun. In AmE only while is used in both contexts. For example, "I will be a while" versus "whilst/while you were out your friend called". To Americans the word whilst, in any context, seems very archaic or pretentious or both. In some regions of England, the word "while" is used to mean "until", so "whilst" may be used in spoken English to avoid confusion.

• In the UK, generally the term fall meaning "autumn" is obsolete. Although found often from Elizabethan to Victorian literature, continued understanding of the word is usually ascribed to its continued use in America.

• In the UK, the term period for a full stop is now obsolete. For example, Tony Blair said "Terrorism is wrong, full stop." whereas in AmE, "Terrorism is wrong, period."^[32]

• Fitted is used in both conventions as an adjective ("fitted sheets" are the same size as the mattress) and as the past tense of fit ("to suffer epilepsy", for example, "Leavitt fitted" in The Andromeda Strain); however fit and fitting do not denote epileptic seizure in ordinary British use (though that usage is common within medical circles), as the same effect is achieved by to have a fit or to throw a fit.

• Media domination has seen American vocabulary encroaching on British in recent decades, so that (for example) truck is now increasingly heard in the UK instead of lorry, and line is used as well as queue - so that the verb queue up or queue is now sometimes replaced with stand in line.

This article is about the temperate season. ... Obsolescence is when a person or object is no longer wanted even though it is still in good working order. ... The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S... Image:Cg Charles Dickens is still one of the best known English writers of any era. ... A full stop or period (sometimes stop, full point or dot), is the punctuation mark commonly placed at the end of several different types of sentences in English and many other languages. ... For other people of the same name, see Tony Blair (disambiguation) Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born May 6, 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the Labour Party, and Member of Parliament for the constituency... This article is about the novel. ... This article is about the neurological disorder as it affects humans. ... This article is about epileptic seizures. ...

Numbers

See also: Names of numbers in English

When saying or writing out numbers, the British will typically insert an "and" before the tens and units, as in "one hundred and sixty-two" and "two thousand and three". In America, it is considered correct to drop the "and" as in "two thousand three"; however, this is rarely heard in everyday speech, "two thousand and three" being much more common^{[citation needed]}. In English, numbers are pronounced different ways in different regions. ...

Some American schools teach students to pronounce decimally written fractions (".5") as though they were longhand fractions ("five tenths"), such as "five hundred thirteen and seven tenths" for 513.7 . This formality is often dropped in common speech. It is steadily disappearing in instruction in more advanced mathematics and science work as well as in international American schools. In the UK, 513.7 would generally be read "five hundred and thirteen point seven", although if it were written 513 ⁷⁄₁₀, it would still be pronounced "five hundred and thirteen and seven tenths").

In counting, it is common in both varieties of English to count in hundreds up to 1,900 — so 1,200 may be "twelve hundred". But Americans use this pattern for much higher numbers than is the norm in British English, referring to "twenty-four hundred" where British English would most often use "two thousand four hundred". Even below 2,000, Americans are more likely than the British to read numbers like 1,234 as "twelve thirty-four", instead of "one thousand, two hundred and thirty-four".

In the case of years, however, "twelve thirty-four" would be the norm on both sides of the Atlantic for the year 1234. The year 2000 and years beyond it are read as "two thousand", "two thousand (and) one" and the like by both British and American speakers. For years after 2009, they are frequently said "twenty ten", "twenty twelve" etc. by the BBC.

For the house number (or bus number, etc) "272" British people would tend to say "two seven two" while Americans would tend to say "two seventy-two".

There is also a historical difference between billions, trillions, and so forth. Americans use "billion" to mean one thousand million (1,000,000,000), whereas in the UK, until the latter part of the 20th century, it was used to mean one million million (1,000,000,000,000). It is believed that the change was started by Margaret Thatcher on advice from the Bank of England. The British prime minister, Harold Wilson, in 1974, told the House of Commons that UK government statistics would now use the short scale; followed by the Chancellor, Denis Healey, in 1975, that the treasury would now adopt the US billion version. Although historically such numbers were not often required outside of mathematical and scientific contexts. One thousand million was sometimes described as a "milliard", the definition adopted by most other European languages. However, the "American" version has since been adopted for all published writing, and the word "milliard" is obsolete in English, as are billiard (but not billiards, the game), trilliard and so on. However, the term yard, derived from milliard, is still used in the financial markets on both sides of the Atlantic to mean "one thousand million". All major British publications and broadcasters, including the BBC, which long used "thousand million" to avoid ambiguity, now use "billion" to mean thousand million. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world: Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte. ... Milliard is a French-derived word meaning the number 1,000,000,000 (109; one thousand million; SI prefix giga). ... In some countries and languages using the long scale: one billiard = = one short scale quadrillion. ... This article is about the various cue sports. ... In long scale usage: one trilliard = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 = 1021 one thousand trilliards =one (long scale) quadrillion This word is not found in standard English dictionaries. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...

Many people have no direct experience with manipulating numbers this large, and many non-American readers may interpret "billion" as 10¹² (even if they are young enough to have been taught otherwise at school); also usage of the "long" billion is standard in some non-English speaking countries. For these reasons, defining the word may be advisable when writing for the general public. See long and short scales for a more detailed discussion of the evolution of these terms in English and other languages. The long and short scales are two different numerical systems used throughout the world: Short scale is the English translation of the French term échelle courte. ...

When referring to the numeral 0, British people would normally use "nought", "oh", "zero" or "nil" in instances such as sports scores and voting results. Americans use the term "zero" most frequently; "oh" is also often used (though never when the quantity in question is nothing), and occasionally slang terms such as "zilch" or "zip". Phrases such as "the team won two-zip" or "the team leads the series, two-nothing" are heard when reporting sports scores. The digit 0, for example, when reading a phone or account number aloud, is nearly always pronounced "oh" in both language varieties for the sake of convenience. For other senses of this word, see zero or 0. ...

When reading numbers in a sequence, such as a telephone or serial number, British people will usually use the terms double or triple/treble. Hence 007 is "double oh seven". Exceptions are the emergency telephone number 999, which is always "nine nine nine" and the apocalyptic "Number of the Beast" which is always "six six six". The directory enquiries prefix 118 is also "one one eight" in Britain. In the U.S., 911 (the U.S. emergency telephone number) is almost always read "nine-one-one", while 9/11 (in reference to the September 11, 2001, attacks) is usually read "nine-eleven". 007 redirects here. ... 999 is the United Kingdoms emergency telephone number along with the EU standard 112. ... For other uses, see Number of the Beast (disambiguation). ... A telephone service allowing one to obtain people or organisations phone numbers by providing other details, usually their full name and address. ... For other uses, see 911 (disambiguation). ... The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ...

Monetary amounts

• Monetary amounts in the range of one to two major currency units are often spoken differently. In AmE one may say "a dollar fifty" or "a pound eighty" whereas in BrE these amounts would be expressed "one dollar fifty" and "one pound eighty". For amounts over a dollar, an American will generally either drop denominations or give both dollars and cents, as in "two-twenty" or "two dollars and twenty cents" for $2.20. An American would not say "two dollars twenty." On the other hand, in BrE, "two pounds twenty" would be the most common form. It is more common to hear a British-English speaker say "one thousand, two hundred dollars" than "a thousand, two hundred dollars" although the latter construct is common in AmE. The term "twelve hundred dollars", popular in AmE, is frequently used in BrE but only for exact multiples of 100 up to 1900. Amounts over 1900 expressed in hundreds, for example "twenty-three hundred" are very rarely heard by speakers of BrE.
• The BrE slang term "quid" is roughly equivalent to the AmE "buck" and both are often used in the two respective dialects for round amounts, as in "fifty quid" for £50 and "twenty bucks" for $20. "A hundred and fifty grand" in either dialect could refer to £150,000 or $150,000 depending on context.
• A user of AmE may hand-write the mixed monetary amount $3.24 as $3²⁴ or $3²⁴ (often seen for extra clarity on a check); BrE users will always write this as £3.24, £3·24 or, for extra clarity on a cheque as £3—24. In all cases there may or may not be a space after the currency symbol, or the currency symbols may be omitted depending on context.^[33]
• In order to make explicit the amount in words on a cheque, Americans write three and ²⁴⁄₁₀₀ (using this solidus construction or with a horizontal division line): they do not need to write the word "dollars" as it is usually printed on the cheque. UK residents write three pounds and 24 pence, three pounds ‒ 24 or three pounds ‒ 24p, since the currency unit is not preprinted. To make unauthorized amendment difficult, it is useful to have an expression terminator even when a whole number of dollars/pounds is in use: thus Americans would write three and ⁰⁰⁄₁₀₀ or three and ^no⁄₁₀₀ on a three-dollar cheque (so that it cannot easily be changed to, for example, three million) and UK residents would write three pounds only, or three pounds exactly.^[34]
• The term 'pound sign' in BrE always refers to the currency symbol "£", whereas in AmE 'pound sign' means the number sign, which the British call the 'hash' symbol, "#". (The British telephone company BT, in the 1960s–1990s, called this 'gate' on telephone keypads.)
• In BrE, the plural of the word pound is often considered to be "pound" as opposed to "pounds." For example, "three pound forty", and "twenty pound a week" are both legitimate British English. This does not apply to other currencies however, so that the same speaker would most likely say "three dollars forty", "twenty dollars a week", "three euros forty" and "twenty euros a week" in similar contexts.
• In BrE, the use of p instead of pence is common in spoken usage. Each of the following have equal legitimacy: "three pounds, twelve p", "three pounds and twelve p", "three pounds, twelve pence", "three pounds and twelve pence", as well as just "eight p" or "eight pence".
• AmE uses words like nickel, dime, and quarter for small coins. In BrE, the usual usage is 10-pence piece or 10p piece for any coin below £1, with piece sometimes omitted, but pound coin and two-pound coin. BrE did have specific words for a number of coins prior to decimalisation.

Due to technical limitations, /. redirects here. ... This article is about the currency symbol. ... Number sign is one name for the symbol #, and is the preferred Unicode name for the codepoint represented by that glyph. ...