British/American comparison stylebook/grammar

Hi. I've recently begun teaching writing in Hong Kong. The problem I'm running into is that my students have been educated in "British-style" English and I'm from the US. While the rules may not be overly different for most things, my students don't know the American terminology and I don't know the British. This is frustrating on both sides.

Before running out and buying a British grammar book, I want to know if there is already a "side by side" book. I will do the former if I must, but I'd like to have a "comparo" type of book for quick reference.

Thanks a lot!

M

I wouldn't rush out to buy any books. You'll probably get used to any differences quick enough. The only differences in terminology that spring to my mind are "inverted commas" vs. "quotation marks", "full stops" vs. "periods" and "present/past continuous" vs. "present/past progressive".

Grammar - American vs British - typical sentences you may come across

(U.S.) Finnair has a flight to London today.
(G.B.) Finnair have a flight to London today. (large collective nouns)

(U.S.) England has (...) played well today, even if it lost.
(G.B.) England have played well today, even if they lost.

(G.B.) Have you got your grade in history yet?
(U.S.) Have you gotten your grade in history yet?

(G.B.) He went on a course. How many were on the course?
(U.S.) He was in a course. How many were in the course?

(G.B.) We lived in the High Street. (cf 'street people' ...)
(U.S.) We lived on Main Street ("on" plus article plus High/Main)

(G.B.) He's in hospital with a broken leg.
(U.S.) He's in the hospital with a broken leg.

(G.B.) I have got a car. vs. (U.S.) I have a car. I got a car. (different implications)

(G.B.) We weren't able to catch him up
(U.S.) We weren't able to catch him, catch up with him, catch up [with him].

Being Australian, there are few there that I don't understand:

"(G.B.) He went on a course. How many were on the course?
(U.S.) He was in a course. How many were in the course? "
Does that relate to studies?

For the following, if I understand correctly, I would say: We lived on the main street:
"(G.B.) We lived in the High Street. (cf 'street people' ...)
(U.S.) We lived on Main Street ("on" plus article plus High/Main)"

This one doesn't look quite right, since England is singular:
(G.B.) England have played well today, even if they lost.

Thanks. That's not even what I'm talking about. For example, I've been dealing with sentence fragments, particularly those that start with what we in America call "subordinate conjunctions" (at least, that's how I learned it, and what the stylebooks I use for my proofreading jobs call it). However, when I was talking to them about subordinate conjunctions, they had no idea what I was talking about. So I prepared a list of these subordinate conjunctions for them for class this morning.

But this weekend, I was riding one of the large city busses downtown. They have TVs in them with all kinds of strange programming, but there is sometimes an English grammar tidbit. As I was watching and listening, the lady was presenting exactly my students' errors. Though the delivery and most of the subtitles on the screen were in Chinese, the English words and terms were in English, and she was calling these "connectives." So I wrote that down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it.

I came to class this morning and gave my students the handout I had prepared. I asked, "Have any of you heard of a subordinating conjunction?" None of them had. I then asked, "Have any of you heard of a connective?" Yes, they all had. They knew exactly what I was talking about and it saved me a lot of time.

That's what I'm referring to. I know some of the differences between the two languages, and could probably add some to it (for example, here they would never say, what's your grade, but what's your mark); that's not really what my problem is. My problem is knowing what the terminology is and being able to tap into what my students have already learned.

Thanks!

M

FYI--in rereading my message, I come across rather rude in my second sentence--that was not intentional. I apologize!

M

AuE Finnair has a flight ...

AuE England was lucky to win the last Test

AuE Have you got your history marks yet?

(G.B.) He went on a course. How many were on the course?
AuE same

AuE We lived in High Street (not the, not on)

(G.B.) He's in hospital with a broken leg.
AuE same

(G.B.) I have got a car
AuE same

(G.B.) We weren't able to catch him up

AuE same as GB, but depends on context

New Zealand English

(U.S.) Finnair has a flight to London today. (NZ)
(G.B.) Finnair have a flight to London today. (large collective nouns)

(U.S.) England has played well today, even if it lost. (NZ)
(G.B.) England have played well today, even if they lost.

(G.B.) Have you got your grade in history yet? (NZ)
(U.S.) Have you gotten your grade in history yet?

(G.B.) He went on a course. How many were on the course?
(U.S.) He was in a course. How many were in the course?
(BOTH ARE ACCEPTABLE)

(G.B.) We lived in the High Street. (cf 'street people' ...)
(U.S.) We lived on Main Street ("on" plus article plus High/Main)
(NONE ' WE LIVED ON HIGH STREET ' MIXTURE OF BOTH)

(G.B.) He's in hospital with a broken leg. (NZ)
(U.S.) He's in the hospital with a broken leg.

(G.B.) I have got a car. vs.
(U.S.) I have a car. I got a car. (NZ)

(G.B.) We weren't able to catch him up
(U.S.) We weren't able to catch him, catch up with him, catch up [with him].
(BOTH ARE ACCEPTABLE)

(G.B.) Have you got your grade in history yet? (NZ)
(U.S.) Have you gotten your grade in history yet?

Sorry minor change to this sentence.

(N.Z) Have you got your HISTORY MARK(S) yet?
(Exactly like Australian English.)

<<This one doesn't look quite right, since England is singular:
(G.B.) England have played well today, even if they lost. >>

'England have...' is correct in British English, when you're talking about a sports team. Otherwise, it's singular - 'England has a lot of old buildings'.

British English: "England have"........as Candy says, it's a sports team.....a group of individuals, so it takes the plural case. England, as a country, is singular....in the grammatical sense....and it does have loads of old buildings! England is also singular in the sense that it is: "remarkable, exceptional, extraordinary". In another sense, it is no way: "unusual, odd, peculiar"! :-) That's right, isn't it, Candy? :-)

In no way am I asking for trouble.....

<<England is also singular in the sense that it is: "remarkable, exceptional, extraordinary". In another sense, it is no way: "unusual, odd, peculiar"! :-) That's right, isn't it, Candy? :-)

In no way am I asking for trouble..... >>

hehehe, of course not :-). And let me give another example - 'England ARE world champions in rugby'! :)

>hehehe, of course not :-). And let me give another example - 'England ARE world champions in rugby'! :)<

Not any longer Candy. ;P

We will get our hands on the world cup mate. Just remember to give the old bugger a last polish before handing it over to us please. We don't want to have banger and marsh stains on it once we receive it.

"'England have...' is correct in British English, when you're talking about a sports team."

Candy, that's interesting because I'm sure I've heard an English cricket commentator alongside his Australian counterparts announcing that "England has won the toss and has sent Australia into bat", though he may have been conforming to the local way of speaking while here. But funnily 'England ARE world champions in rugby' looks right.

No one as yet has explained the meaning of "going on/in a course". I'm wondering if anyone actually knows without some context. Following a course of treatment? Studying?

As for the capitalised High Street/Main Street, this is something I've personally never, ever used. Us urbanites (we) look to the CBDs.

And much of what Joel has indicated accords with AusE except for the bizo about cars.

Actually both forms look valid for any dialect: I've got a car/I have a Ford Escort. I got a car means I recently acquired one.