1.Accent
口音
It’s difficult to make clear distinctions between US and UK accents when there is such a wide variety of accents within both the US and UK. A Texan and a New Yorker are both Americans, but have very different accents. The same goes for British accents in London, Manchester and Glasgow.
要區(qū)別清楚美式英語和英式英語是很困難的,因為美國和英國都各自有著各式各樣的口音。德克薩斯人和紐約人都是美國人,但是他們的口音也是相當(dāng)不同的。對于英式口音也一樣,在倫敦、曼徹斯特和格拉斯哥的口音也是不一樣的。
However, some very general distinctions can be made. Americans usually pronounce every “r” in a word, while the British tend to only pronounce the “r” when it’s the first letter of a word.
然而,(美式英語和英式英語)也有一些一般的區(qū)別。美國人會讀出單詞里的每個“r”音,而英國人則傾向于只發(fā)單詞中的第一個“r”音。
下面來看一下更加具象化的二者差異:
2.Spelling
拼寫
含義 美式英語 英式英語
顏色 color colour
行為,態(tài)度 behavior behaviour
劇院 theater theatre
米,公尺 meter metre
組織 organize organise
旅行(過去式) traveled travelled
3.Vocabulary
詞匯
含義 | 美式英語 | 英式英語 |
顏色 | color | colour |
行為,態(tài)度 | behavior | behaviour |
劇院 | theater | theatre |
米,公尺 | meter | metre |
組織 | organize | organise |
旅行(過去式) | traveled | travelled |
4.Grammar
語法
Prepositions
介詞
The differences below are only a general rule. American speech has influenced Britain via pop culture, and vice versa. Therefore, some prepositional differences are not as pronounced as they once were.
下面舉例的區(qū)別只是一般規(guī)則。美國人的講話方式通過流行文化影響到了英式英語,反之亦然。因此,有些介詞上的區(qū)別并不是像它們曾經(jīng)那樣明顯了。
中文 | 美式英語 | 英式英語 |
這周末我要去參加一個派對。 | I’m going to a party onthe weekend. | I’m going to a party at the weekend. |
你圣誕節(jié)要做什么呢? | What are you doing onChristmas? | What are you doing atChristmas? |
從周一到周五。 | Monday through Friday. | Monday to Friday. |
這跟其他人不一樣。 | It’s different from/than the others. | It’s different from/to the others. |
5.Past Simple vs Present Perfect
一般過去時和現(xiàn)在完成時
Americans tend to use the past simple when describing something that has recently occurred, while people in the UK are more likely to use the present perfect.
美國人傾向于使用一般過去時去描述剛剛發(fā)生的事情,而英國人則更可能使用現(xiàn)在完成時來描述過去剛剛發(fā)生的事情。
中文 | 美式英語 | 英式英語 |
我吃太多了。 | I ate too much. | I’ve eaten too much. |
我去過商店了。 | I went to the store. | I’ve been to the shop. |
從周一到周五。 | Monday through Friday. | Monday to Friday. |
你拿到報紙了嗎? | Did you get the newspaper? | Have you got the newspaper? |
6.The past participle of get
Get的過去分詞區(qū)別
In the UK, “gotten” as the past participle of “get” is considered archaic and was abandoned long ago in favor of “got” .However, in the US people still use “gotten” as the past participle.
在英國,用“gotten”作為“get”的過去分詞形式是被認(rèn)為很老派的,并且在很久之前就使用“got”來取代“gotten”了。然而,在美國,人們?nèi)匀皇褂?ldquo;gotten”做為“get”的過去分詞。
中文 | 美式英語 | 英式英語 |
得到 | get — got — gotten | get — got — got |
我還沒有收到關(guān)于他的消息。 | I haven’t gotten any news about him. | I’ve not got any news about him. |
7.Collective nouns: singular or plural?
集合名詞:單數(shù)還是復(fù)數(shù)?
In British English, a collective noun (like committee, government, team, etc.) can be either singular or plural, but more often tends toward plural, emphasizing the members of the group. Collective nouns in the US, by comparison, are always singular, emphasizing the group as one whole entity.
在英式英語中,集合名詞(比如committee, government, team等等)作為單數(shù)和復(fù)數(shù)都是可以的,不過更多的情況下往往是傾向于復(fù)數(shù),用來強(qiáng)調(diào)小組里的成員們。相比之下,在美國,集合名詞總是單數(shù)形式,強(qiáng)調(diào)群體作為一個整體。
中文 | 美式英語 | 英式英語 |
政府在這次危機(jī)期間做了它能做的一切。 | The government is doing everything it can during this crisis. | The government are doing everything they can during this crisis. |
我的隊伍贏了。 | My team is winning. | My team are winning. |
8.Regular or irregular verbs?
規(guī)則動詞和不規(guī)則動詞
This is a subtle difference that can be easily overlooked in speech, but is much more apparent in written form. Many verbs that are irregular in the preterite in Britain (leapt, dreamt, burnt, learnt) have been made regular in America (leaped, dreamed, burned, learned).
在口語中,規(guī)則動詞和不規(guī)則動詞的微妙區(qū)別是很容易被忽視的,不過在書面形式中會比較明顯。許多動詞在英國的過去時態(tài)中是不規(guī)則的(leapt, dreamt, burnt, learnt),到了美國就是規(guī)則動詞了(leaped, dreamed, burned, learned)。
作為全球最常講的第二語言,英語應(yīng)該是一個很靈活的語言。畢竟,它不僅僅是在只在美國和英國兩個國家使用的。所以,不論你使用的是美式英語還是英式英語,都不會妨礙你跟其他人進(jìn)行交流。