English in 5 minutes! - British or American English - Know the difference! #1 - In British English, people use the present perfect to speak about a past action that they consider relevant to the present. The present perfect can be used in the same way in American English, but people often use the past simple when they consider the action finished. This is especially common with the adverbs already, just and yet. #2 - to get - got - got / gotten - In British English, the past participle of the verb get is got. In American English, people say gotten. #3 - In British English, a singular or plural verb can be used with a noun that refers to a group of people or things (a collective noun). We use a plural verb when we think of the group as individuals or a singular verb when we think of the group as a single unit. In American English, a singular verb is used with collective nouns. #4 - In British English, the verbs have and take are commonly used with nouns like bath, shower, wash to speak about washing and with nouns like break, holiday, rest to speak about resting. In American English, only the verb take (and not the verb have) is used this way. #5 - In British English, people often use Shall I ...? to offer to do something and/or Shall we ...? to make a suggestion. It is very unusual for speakers of American English to use shall. They normally use an alternative like Should/Can I ...? or Do you want/Would you like ...? or How about ...? instead. Book an Italki lesson with Rachel: https://teach.italki.com/teacher/1394345