British vs American WordsPin

British vs American Words: Useful List of British and American Vocabulary

British vs American Words! An important list of differences between British English vs American English vocabulary words with examples and ESL infographics.

Learn more with a useful list of American vs British spelling differences that you should know. 

British vs American Words

Here are some commonly confused British vs American words with example sentences.

British vs American Words

STAFF vs FACULTY

  • He was one of the founders of the university’s medical faculty.
  • Our staff will be available to give you technical support.

RESUME vs CV

  • Send a full CV with your job application.
  • Send your resume with a cover letter that is specific to that particular job.

SOFA vs COUCH

  • I just want to crash out on the sofa.
  • Tom offered to sleep on the couch.

CORIANDER vs CILANTRO

  • Jane smelled of coriander and clay soaked by a hard rain.
  • Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

AUTUMN vs FALL

  • The leaves begin to fall when autumn comes.
  • The leaves turn crimson in fall.

PORRIDGE vs OATMEAL

  • Someone’s been and eaten my porridge!
  • Oatmeal is breakfast food.

FOOTBALL vs SOCCER

  • FIFA is the governing body of world soccer.
  • The boys wanted to play football.

MAIZE vs CORN

  • We grew maize, rice, beans, and sesame.
  • There was an abundance of corn last year.

SORBET vs SHERBET

  • In the freezer, it becomes a nice sorbet, he said.
  • Sherbet is made with fruits and ice.

WAISTCOAT vs VEST

  • Ossie was standing there in waistcoat and shirtsleeves.
  • He wore a woolen vest beneath his shirt.

CURTAINS and DRAPES

  • She blinked when I opened the curtains.
  • The door was partially concealed by the drapes.

POST vs MAIL

  • The letter is ready for the post.
  • We do our business by mail.

FILM vs MOVIE

  • We stayed up late to see the film on television.
  • The movie was a great success.

BISCUIT vs COOKIE

  • Would you like some cake or biscuit?
  • She took a nibble of her cookie.

TRAINERS vs SNEAKERS

  • Trainers are so comfortable to wear.
  • She wore sneakers and droopy yellow socks.

PETROL vs GASOLINE

  • The petrol tank in our car is empty.
  • His old car consumed much gasoline.

LORRY vs TRUCK

  • I had a near collision with a lorry.
  • The truck picked up speed slowly.

COOKER vs STOVE

  • We chose a new cooker from the gas showroom.
  • My mother has a gas stove for cooking.

FLAT vs APARTMENT

  • We don’t have flat land in this region.
  • She pays £200 a week for this apartment.

WARDROBE vs CLOSET

  • She hung the dress up in the wardrobe.
  • I need to clear out my closet.

NAPPY vs DIAPER

  • Excuse me while I change the baby’s nappy.
  • I bathed him and changed his diaper.

TROUSERS vs PANTS

  • You look very sexy in those tight trousers.
  • You can’t wear these red pants.

HANDBAG vs PURSE

  • This handbag is made of superior leather.
  • The thieves stole a purse containing banknotes.

BILL vs CHECK

  • I must pay away from the bill tomorrow.
  • She enclosed a check for $ 50 with the letter.

TIN vs CAN

  • They opened a tin of sardines.
  • All we’ve got is a couple of cans of soup.

TORCH vs FLASHLIGHT

  • She flashed the torch as a signal.
  • I saw the sudden flare of a flashlight in the darkness.

CRISPS vs CHIPS

  • Would you like to try some crisps?
  • He’s gone to get some fish and chips.

TAP vs FAUCET

  • The water was barely dribbling out of the tap.
  • The sink and the faucet are spotless.

TAXI vs CAB

  • Can you get me a taxi, please?
  • It’ll save time if we go by cab.

RUBBER vs ERASER

  • Pencil marks can be erased with a rubber.
  • You can rub out the chalk marks with the eraser.

SWEETS vs CANDY

  • He made the sweets himself and sold them by retail.
  • I desired candy all the time I was dieting.

EXAM vs TEST

  • I think I did OK in the exam.
  • He’s anxiously awaiting his test results.

HEADMASTER vs PRINCIPAL

  • Our teacher has been promoted to the headmaster.
  • The principal is a very busy woman.

HOLIDAY vs VACATION

  • We had good weather on our holiday.
  • We’re taking a vacation in June.

MATHS vs MATH

  • How did you do on your maths test?
  • Tim’s good at math and science.

AUBERGINE vs EGGPLANT

  • Cut the aubergines in half lengthways.
  • He likes to eat eggplant.

BEETROOT vs BEET

  • We fed the rabbit some beetroot tops.
  • They talked endlessly about beet and cattle feed.

COURGETTE vs ZUCCHINI

  • She was shaving thin slices off a courgette.
  • Just rinse off the zucchini and dry it.

CUTLERY vs SILVERWARE

  • Where do you keep the cutlery?
  • Silverware and glasses gleamed like ornaments.

GAMMON vs HAM

  • Turn the gammon over once during cooking.
  • Would you like another slice of ham?

POWDERED vs SUGAR

  • Shall I put some powdered milk in your coffee?
  • She sprinkled the strawberries with sugar.

JUG vs PITCHER

  • He filled a jug with juice.
  • He poured the milk out of the pitcher.

British vs American Words Differences | Infographic

Differences between British vs American Words

British vs American WordsPin

British vs American Words Differences

British vs American Words DifferencesPin

British vs American Words

British vs American WordsPin

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Seif Khaled
Seif Khaled
4 years ago

This was good thank you

Scot Crisp
Scot Crisp
4 years ago

Great lists. Thank you. One British word that really threw me: tip. In the U.K., one meaning of a tip is a dump in American English. I and a bunch of other students were confused when our teacher (from England) walked into the classroom and said, “This room is a tip!” After a back and forth, we found out that she wanted us to tidy up our books and papers.

Medhat Almwardy
Medhat Almwardy
4 years ago

really thank you

hhaddow
hhaddow
4 years ago

There a mistake, Americans say Resume and we say CV

Stormy
Stormy
3 years ago

queue – ugh! How can you even remember to spell it? Line is so much easier. Really great list and so helpful ????????

Stormy
Stormy
3 years ago

Another one that is worth mentioning. If some one “has you round for tea” it isn’t just the beverage.

Trinity R!
Trinity R!
3 years ago

Wow…I can do the accent, i want to go to britan, now I know some words! I can’t wait to finally go their when I’m older

Indigo
Indigo
2 years ago
Reply to  Trinity R!

You can do the accent… Word off advise: Just stick with your words before you affend someone we tend to be like that

wymck
wymck
3 years ago

Watch Laura Clery’s English vs American shows, then come back here. We’re seeing some serious connections….

Poshie
Poshie
3 years ago

We definitely don’t use ‘resume’ in the U.K., thats an American word, we use C.V.

Rela
Rela
2 years ago

In the text please correct:
FOOTBALL is definitely in the UK, the motherland of that game 😉
SOCCER is in the US.

Indigo
Indigo
2 years ago

This was good but there’s some us brits say both like :
cookie and biscuit
Test and exam
Gammon and ham
Maize and corn
Post and mail
Film and movie
Lorry and truck
Exam and test
Courgette and zucchini
Just remember it’s OUR language not YOUR language it’s called ENGLISH not AmErIcAn oh and coloUr

Novel
Novel
1 year ago

Totally saved my article. Thank you.

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