American English
American English (AmE) is a variant of the English language, spoken mainly in the United States.
The English language was introduced to North America by British settlers during the colonization period (17th century). It was also influenced by the many different nationalities which settled in the US since then.
The most obvious differences between American English and British English (BrE) are in pronunciation and vocabulary. Other differences include the use of the present perfect tense; the verb have to show possession (have got AmE – have BrE); the past participle of the verb get (gotten AmE – got BrE); the use of some prepositions; spelling (color AmE – colour BrE).
For a list of major differences see English Grammar Variations and English Vocabulary Variations.
Along with British English, American English is one of the main variants taught in most ESL/EFL programs.
