Questions tagged [british-english]
for questions specifically related to the English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom.
1,057 questions
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Why does Vocabulary.com list /ɛ/ instead of /æ/ for words like "carry", "marry", and "parry"?
I'm confused about the pronunciation of words like "carry", "marry", and "parry". When checking Vocabulary.com, I see these pronunciations:
parry: US /ˈpɛri/ UK /ˈpɛri/
...
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Does math/maths change grammatical number depending on the local dialect? [duplicate]
American English and British English make a distinction in spelling and pronunciation between math and maths but mean the same thing (as discussed in Which is correct: "math" or "maths&...
bitmask
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Is “counterfoil” considered obsolete or obsolescent in modern English?
With digitalization replacing paper-based transactions, I wonder whether “counterfoil” is fading from use as suggested by this
Ngram.
Wikipedia affirms
The vast majority of British retailers no ...
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Why 'we were doing' in this exchange? A: You wouldn't be being so sarcastic if you were in this bed. B: Depends what we WERE doing
I expected 'Depends (on) what we would be doing.' in this dialogue:
LEE: You wouldn't be being so sarcastic if you were in this bed.
LUCY: Depends (on) what we were doing.
Clip via YouTube: Not ...
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Present progressive for habitual actions: distance from moment of speaking
The present progressive is not used for repeated actions and events which are not closely connected to the moment of speaking. Compare:
Jose 's seeing a lot of Maria these days.
I go to the mountains ...
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Requests can't be formed as negative questions
Negative statements with question tags are used in informal requests:
You couldn't give me a light, could you?
I don't suppose you could, could you? (very polite)
However, negative questions are not ...
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"She'd got him by the collar." — Is using "had got" natural to you here?
from an answer on english.stackexchange.com:
When "have" is being used as a main verb, you can replace it with "have got", but only in the present tense:
(1a) I have got three ...
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Strange anteposition of direct object
I recently came across the following:
Ferdinand and Isabella appointed Nicolás de Ovando as Governor of the Indies, sending him out in a fleet of thirty sail carrying 2,500 more colonists. Columbus ...
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2
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Do American people sometimes (not always) pronounce /æ/ as /e/?
In Cambridge Dictionary,
If you click US /bæd/ (the word "bad"), you hear exactly /æ/ which is the combination of /a/ and /e/.
If you pronounce /æ/ as /e/ for the word "bad", it ...
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Irregular plural of 'bureau' in BrE?
What's the common plural of 'bureau' in British English? Does it follow the French plural form, "bureaux"? OED tells me that 'bureaus' is AmE.
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Do we say "I signed up my son for a course" in British English?
Oxford dictionary seems to focus more on British English usage.
When looking for the phrase **sign up**, I found 2 entries
1-sign on/up | sign somebody on/up
to sign a form or contract which says ...
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She looked as if she would be sick
The past subjunctive, which for will is would, appears in subordinate clauses, referring to an unreal or improbable present or future event / state.
She looked as if she would be sick
https://...
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Collective-nouns in British English
I'm only asking about British English. Often with collective nouns we can use either "is" or "are".
The team is/are playing well -Am I right that it doesn't really change the ...
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Is it still common to express surprise with “why ⟨…⟩ should”?
A structure with why followed by should can suggest surprise:
I wonder why she should want to go out with me.
Swan, M. (2005:616). Practical English Usage 3rd edition. OUP.
Hasn't this should already ...
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Which dictionary gives the most reliable/common pronunciation in British and American English? [closed]
For example, the pronunciation of the word 'schedule' varies from dictionary to dictionary:
https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/schedule
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/...
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