American English V. British English

Probably the biggest difference between American and British English is vocabulary.

Some of these differences are very well known. For example, the Brits call the front of a car the bonnet, while Americans call it the hood; Americans go on a vacation, while Brits go on their holidays; and while New Yorkers live in apartments, Londoners live in flats. Luckily, it’s usually pretty obvious what the meaning of a word is because of the context.

Here is a list of words below, with the British English on one side and the American English on the other. But - to make it difficult - sometimes the British English word is on the left, and sometimes it’s on the right.

Do you know which is which? Good luck! And do get in touch with us if you get stuck.

trousers pants

flat apartment

hood bonnet

trunk boot (of car)

lorry truck

university college

vacation holiday

sweater jumper

chips crisps

chips French fries

sneakers trainers

fizzy drink soda

mailbox postbox

biscuit cookie

chemist /pharmacy drugstore

store shop

soccer football

apartment flat

university college

the movies the cinema

band-aid plaster

cookie biscuit

garden yard