>Hi everybody,
>
>There are several words, which are spelled differently in these two languages... Why is that? What's the difference in grammar?
>
>Examples:
>
>center - US
>centre - British
>
>behavior - US
>behaviour - British
>
>Can you please continue?
>
>Thanks in advance.
Nadya;
British English and the American form of the Queens language do have differences. Have you ever seen the movie "My Fair Lady"? Rex Harrison's song on this topic is hilarious!
There are many words that are spelled differently when comparing these two languages. Colour = Color is just another example. Also, there are words that mean the same thing but are very different.
Lift = Elevator
Lowery = Truck
As to why there is a difference – I think it has to do with history, time and distance. How are these words spelled in Canada? That is an interesting question! As for any grammatical differences I have no idea what to say. The American form of English is full of exceptions to rules.
Learning Spanish and German helped me to better understand American English grammar.
Something that makes me laugh is that in other languages you have articles that are feminine and masculine. Americans are very Puritan when it comes to such things and even remote reference to this topic is considered to be “sexual” in nature and to be avoided. It is considered improper amongst some in this country to say words like Mailman, Spokesman, Policeman, Fireman or Congressman.
To be “politically correct” one must replace the terrible reference to “man” with “person”. After all this is considered to be a “sexist” society and we must not have any of that! Women have been subjugated for all to long and we must do something about it! So dropping all references to anything that even remotely sounds masculine is popular.
So some day people will look at the change just discussed above and say - when and why did this occur?
Tom
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