3 American and British English Differences YOU DON'T KNOW!

Brits and American share the same language but there are so many differences. Now I'm

going to show you three differences that I think most people don't know about. I'm not

talking about tomato tomato. No, no, no, no we're getting to the real stuff now. So if

you are ready, let's get going.

Hello and welcome to Eat Sleep Dream English if you haven't met me before my name is Tom

and I teach fresh modern British English so that you can take your English to the next

level and achieve your life goals. Today we're looking at some differences between American

English and British English that most people don't know about but because you are here,

you are going to learn about it. Now before we get started I want to remind you guys about

my YouTube membership scheme. All you need to do is hit that join button below and you

can get access to live Q&A videos with me, you can get extra English videos with me,

you can get behind the scenes photos and so much more. If you are interested in joining

Eat Sleep Dream English hit that join button and follow the steps. Alright, here's the

first difference.

So you want to know if your friend ate before they came to see you. So in British English

we would ask 'Have you eaten yet?' What tense is that? It's the present perfect tense. Have

you eaten? So have is the auxiliary, eaten is the past participle. Have you eaten yet?

Now in American English generally they would say 'Did you eat yet?' This of course is the

past simple. Because they want to know about a past action. It's finished, it's complete.

So did you eat yet? Whereas in British English we have this idea that it's a past action

but it is still linked to now so have you eaten yet? So the answer might be in British

English 'I've eaten already' or 'I've already eaten' would be fine 'I've already eaten'.

So again we are using the present perfect to show that this action in the past that's

still kind of true now, we would use the present perfect. However in American English they

are going to say 'I ate already'. So we are using the past simple there, I ate already.

Again because it's a past complete action so yeah it makes sense, it's finished, it's

done. You find this pattern mostly with just, already and yet. So with British English we

use the present perfect, in American English they'll use the past simple. For other examples,

for example if you want to know about someone's life experience 'Have you been to China?'

for example. I think in both Englishes they'd use the present perfect. Have you been to

China? in British English and in American English. I believe that's true but if there

are any American English speakers out there that could confirm that for me, please let

me know in the comments below. If you wanted to know whether someone has ever been to China

or to Italy or wherever, would you use the present perfect or the past simple? So would

you say 'Have you been to China?' or 'Did you go to China?' Obviously in British English

that's quite an important difference. We would say 'Have you been to China?' in your life.

Like have you ever been to China but 'Did you go to China?' it's a more specific past

time. So maybe we are talking about your trip around Asia. You have just come back from

Asia and then I might say 'Oh did you go to China?' Because it is a specific, it's a more

specific time rather than the general life experience that we use with the present perfect.

Now how is this important for you learning English? Well, to be honest it's not that

big of a deal. If you speak British English and you use the present perfect and you go

to America or you speak to someone who speaks American English, you are fine. They are going

to understand you, it's not a problem and in reverse if you are learning American English

and you come to Britain and you use the past simple and not the present perfect, it's fine.

Don't worry about it. It's just an interesting difference and it's quite interesting to see

how we interpret language in different ways. But I wouldn't worry about it, whatever you

do now whether it's the present perfect or the past simple keep doing it.

The second difference between British English and American English is collective nouns.

Now let's talk about a team. Let's talk about a really really great football team. Let's

talk about Tottenham Hotspur. That's right, ok. Great football team in the English Premier

league. Tottenham Hotspur, maybe the greatest team in the world. Let's use them as an example.

So I'm going to put two sentences up and I want you to tell me which one is British English

and which one is American English. Alright, here we go. So 'Tottenham Hotspur is going

to win the Premier League'. Hopefully, one day. Or 'Tottenham Hotspur are going to win

the Premier League.' Which one is American English which one is British English? So the

first one is American English. We've used the singular form there 'is' because they

look at the team as being one thing. Tottenham Hotspur, it's one team. So they use 'is' Tottenham

Hotspur is going to win the Premier League'. In British English generally we would use

the plural form. We would say Tottenham Hotspur are going to win the Premier League' because

we see it as yes it's a team but it's a team filled with individuals. So it is plural,

there are many different components to this noun so we see it as a plural. Some books

say that in British English we use the singular form as well but to be honest I'm thinking

about my own use of English, I would use the plural form. So that's particularly useful

for talking about sports teams. Collective nouns, singular in American English, plural

in British English.

And my final difference, in American English they use -s as a suffix to show that something

is a repeated action or a custom. For example 'I used to work nights' so we are pluralising

nights to show that it happens often. It's a habit, it's a routine. In British English

traditionally we would probably have said 'I used to work at night' So again telling

us that we did it often. Having said that more and more in British English these days

I'm hearing people say nights. I work nights. I think that's become quite an established

word these days so. 'The swimming pool is closed Saturdays.' There we are, we are putting

the -s on Saturday to show that it's a repeated action. To show that every Saturday it's closed.

That's in American English. In British English we would say 'The swimming pool is closed

on Saturday.' As I say, having said that more and more we are being influenced by American

English and so we are starting to use -s on the end. Again, you do what you want to do.

It doesn't really matter, the meaning won't change that much. People will understand what

you are saying, it's just good to be aware of these differences. Alright guys, thank

you so much for hanging out with me. I hope you enjoyed that. If you did please give it

a big thumbs up. Let me know in the comments below. If you have any other differences between

American English and British English, tell me as well. I am always interested, I'm always

fascinated to learn from you guys. And of course anyone reading those comments gets

to learn as well. So thank you very much, I appreciate it. Remember I've got new videos

out every Tuesday and every Friday or Tuesdays and Fridays teaching you fresh modern British

English. I've got Instagram, Instagram stories where you go behind the scenes with me on

my every day and of course on Facebook as well. But until next time guys, this is Tom

the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.