American vs. British English: Punctuation
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
American vs. British English: Punctuation
During the last several weeks we’ve covered some meaningful ground about the language we share with our friends across the water. For us, it’s been fun to reflect on what we have in common as well as how each dialect varies its voice.
So far, we’ve examined spelling, vocabulary, and points of grammar. We’ll conclude our review with more interesting differences between American and British English, particularly as they concern punctuation.
American and British English Punctuation
British and American English draw from the same well of words, and the dialects continue converging with time. However, some variations in punctuation remain.
The following are a few of the most prevalent differences.
Quotation marks. American English places periods and commas inside double quotation marks. British English places them outside single quotation marks.
Examples:
(U.S.) “We have no time for an extended debate or a decision by committee,” Rory said.
(U.K.) ‘We have no time for an extended debate or a decision by committee’, Rory said.
For questions and exclamations, both U.S. and U.K. punctuation follow logic.
Examples:
(U.S.) “Do we have time for an extended debate or a decision by committee?” Rory asked.
(U.K.) ‘Do we have time for an extended debate or a decision by committee?’ Rory asked.
(U.S.) Do you agree with the statement, “All’s fair in love and war”?
(U.K.) Do you agree with the statement, ‘All’s fair in love and war’?
Quotations within quotations. American English applies double marks (“…”) for an initial quotation and single marks (‘…’) for a quotation within it. British English applies single marks for an initial quotation and double marks for a quotation within it.
Examples:
(U.S.) “We have no time for an extended debate or, as the department head railed against, ‘decision by committee,’ ” Rory said. (GrammarBook.com style supports clarity and identification by including a space between single and double quotation marks.)
(U.K.) ‘We have no time for an extended debate or, as the department head railed against, “decision by committee”‘, Rory said.
Titles. In American English, all abbreviated personal or professional titles have a period (or a full stop in British English). Commonwealth usage does not include a period when a title ends with the same letter as the full version (e.g., Mister, Doctor). It does add the period when the ending letter is different from the full version (e.g., Prof. for Professor).
Examples:
(U.S.) Mr. and Mrs. Malik are going to see Dr. Rabin this afternoon and then Prof. Winningham tomorrow morning.
(U.K.) Mr and Mrs Malik are going to see Dr Rabin this afternoon and then Prof. Winningham tomorrow morning.
Time. American English includes a colon (:) for time. British English applies a full stop (.)
Examples
(U.S.) The Armstrongs will arrive at 3:00 p.m.
(U.K.) The Armstrongs will arrive at 3.00 p.m.
American and British English: More Verb Variety
In American vs. British English grammar, we touched on how American and British English use a singular or a plural verb for collective nouns. The dialects can also differ in other ways concerning verbs.
Simple Past vs. Present Perfect. When describing a recent action, American English often uses the simple past tense. British English will more likely use the present perfect.
Example
(U.S.) I just swam the English Channel.
(U.K.) I’ve just swum the English Channel.
Get. In the U.S., we still use gotten as the past participle of get. In Commonwealth English, gotten is mostly obsolete, and the preferred usage is got.
Example
(U.S.) Has Ernesto gotten his homework back from the dog yet?
(U.K.) Has Ernesto got his homework back from the dog yet?
This concludes our current discussion of American and British English. It’s one that can extend much further, and we may revisit it later. In the meantime, you can always further explore this inspiring subject or simply enjoy a heightened awareness of the wonderful words and expressions that unite and enlighten us from over the pond.
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
Great job of presenting & explaining the differences!
I’ll be using it in my esl classes.
Thank you very much!
Reference your comparison between the different US & UK usage of ‘got’ and ‘gotten’. My English master at my UK High School told us that he hated the word got, I shudder to think what he’d say about ‘gotten’! He impressed on us that there was almost always a better way. Thus ‘I’ve got a new car is better as ‘I have a new car’. Like most people, I find I occasionally use the ‘got’ option but I hate myself for doing it. Reference your comparison between the different US & UK usage of ‘got’ and ‘gotten’. My English master at my UK High School told us that he hated the word got. I shudder to think what he’d say about gotten’! He impressed on us that there was almost always a better way. Thus ‘I’ve got a new car’ is better as ‘I have a new car’. Like most people, I find I occasionally use the ‘got’ option but I hate myself for doing it.
I loved your example with Ernesto getting his homework back from the dog! Who says grammarians have to be stodgy?
On this one- I much prefer the English way. It’s just simple logic: The only thing that should be inside the quotation marks is that which is being quoted.
British punctuation does not use a comma between two independent clauses in a sentence. In addition, it uses question marks at the end of sentences that are not questions: “I wonder if it’s going to rain?”
If writing a manuscript with an American living in England as the main character – would it be ok to use American punctuation but UK spelling?
How would you suggest handling punctuation and spelling?
We recommend keeping the spelling and punctuation consistent. Use either American or British English; however, if the book will be published in the U.S., we would maintain primarily U.S. style.
Single quotation marks are awkward around phrases rather than single words, especially if a word within the phrase contains a possessive apostrophe. I prefer to use single quotation marks around single words, and double quotation marks around phrases. However, this then becomes awkward if the quotation marks are within another quotation.
I have recently re-read LOTR and have the following observations:
1. J.R.R. Tolkien has completely butchered the use of semicolons and commas. or
2. There were punctuation differences between British and American English in the 1940s and 1950s. or
3. There have always been differences in the use of semi-colons and commas between British and American English.
Your thoughts are appreciated.
There have always been differences in the use of semicolons and commas between British and American English.
British English typically has punctuation outside the quotation marks, and the reason “Prof.” includes the period in British English is because the standard only applies to abbreviations that begin and end with the first and last letters of the word, respectively. The serial comma (Oxford comma in the UK) is the rule of whether or not to use a comma before the last item in a list of three or more. American English typically includes it (the serial comma) while British English typically does not.
This is very interesting!
I am a teacher in Liberia.
Please send me more on this topic.
It is really helpful.
Thanks!
Please see the following articles:
American vs. British English: Spelling
American vs. British English: Grammar
American vs. British English: Vocabulary
American vs. British English: Verbs