British and American English are two main variants of English. They have some peculiarities in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary, but they are easily used for communication between people living in these countries.
There are some differences between British and American English in the usage of prepositions, such as prep. with dates, days of the week BE requres «on» /To start holiday on Friday/, in American English there is no preposition / To start vacation Friday/. In Be we use «by day», «by night»/»at night», in AE the corresponding forms are «days» and «nights». In BE «at home» , in AE - «home» is used. In BE «a quarter to five», in AE «a quarter of five». In BE we say «in the street», in AE - «on the street». In BE «to chat to somebody», in AE «to chat with somebody».
There are also units of vocabulary which are different while denoting the same notions, e.g. BE - «trousers», AE -«pants»; in BE «pants» are «трусы» which in AE is «shorts». While in BE «shorts» are outwear. This can lead to misunderstanding.
Differences of spelling.
The reform in the English spelling for American English was introduced by the American lexicographer Webster:
a) the delition of the letter «u» in words ending in «our», e.g. honor, favor;
b) the delition of the second consonant in words with double consonants, e.g. traveler, wagon,
c) the replacement of «re» by «er» in words of French origin, e.g. theater, center,
d) the delition of unpronounced endings in words of Romanic origin, e.g. catalog, program,
Differences in pronunciation
In American English we have r-coloured fully articulated vowels, in the combinations: ar, er, ir, or, ur, our etc. In BE the sound / / corresponds to the AE /^/, e.g. «not». In BE before fricatives and combinations with fricatives «a» is pronounced as /a:/, in AE it is pronounced / / e.g. class, dance, answer, fast etc.
