Issues with using American Grammar?

Hello all,

I plan on studying abroad next year in Belfast, and will be moving to N.Ireland in 2011.

As my major in America is extremely writing-intensive (Media Studies, minoring in English), I worry a lot about if I'm going to be criticized for using American Grammar (I assume this will be a 'yes').

I'm just wondering if any of you have had experiences with having papers being torn apart for using incorrect grammar, etc.

Also, if you have adapted to British grammar, how did you learn? Did you take a class? Read a book? Suggestions?

Cheers,
Brittany

can you explain what you mean by American grammar?  I haven't noticed a difference. 

Now if you were talking about spelling, that's a different matter and of course you'll be expected to use British spelling and any different punctuation quirks.

edit: I suppose you could consider spelling/punctuation a part of grammar, but that's not the first thing I think of...hence the question!

I just needed to get in the habit of using U's and S's instead of Z's and no U's. Ie ColoUr and OrganiSe. No biggie really. It'll come to you. My boss and I have a laugh about it, esp. because my version of Word will not switch to UK spell check, will only do US! (even after I manually change it!!) And if you have word over here, it will fix it. I've had no complaints about my punctuation.

In my experience with grammar, British English uses a lot more commas (making many sentences seem, to my AE ears, like run-ons). There are differences with prepositions, have vs. have got, the present perfect, and of course spelling and vocabulary.

I'm thinking about this some more and there are some differences to the way I word things now which are influenced by the way people in Britain say them- but it just comes naturally now after living here for two years.  I never conciously decided to change anything about the way I wrote besides the obvious spelling/vocab stuff, which was fine as far as my university studies went.

I don't think there's all that much difference in punctuation and grammatical rules, to be honest, so it's really the spellings you'll have to worry about (I know that there are a couple of punctuation differences, but I don't think they're major enough for people to take much notice of - the odd comma here and there, perhaps).

As Stephx86 mentioned just now, as long as you have access to a word processor that has a UK English grammar/spellcheck facility, you should be fine .

I studied in the US for a while and just made sure that I changed my spelling for papers and assignments... no one mentioned anything about grammar differences to me - although, granted I was a Physics major and Physicists generally don't have a great track record with spelling/grammar - my well-respected Quantum Physics professor had no idea of the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'... he kept using the wrong one!

I'm also in the humanities (philosophy and theology) and haven't had a problem yet.  However, my programme is odd in that the majority of doctoral students are international students (and many from North America) and my supervisor is German born (and US educated).  As you have noticed, I have started using some British spelling, but it isn't a constant...and the grammar isn't much of an issue.  Also, my program used Chicago Manual of Style which has its own grammatical requirements, so that may be an issue as well.

The thing I discovered was that I caught on fairly quickly just based on all the reading I was doing in British books.  I suppose it will depend on your lecturers, but we used the Harvard system of referencing and we were reminded to be careful with grammar, but as long as things made sense and weren't obviously misspelled, it had no consequences.  I had one paper come back with a couple of words circled and the word 'grammar?' written in red in the margin, but my mark was good...

I also had one lecturer who reminded us that American spellings are becoming more common, aside from the fact that the sources we were expected to use could come from anywhere in the world.  For instance, on the subject of 'globalisation', he reminded us to look for it with a 'z' in it because that's the more common spelling.

So, no ripping apart of papers for me...hopefully, you won't take any flak for your usage since you probably won't be the only 'foreigner' in your program, and possibly there will be other non-native-English speakers in the course as well...

Thanks a lot for the help, everyone. My boyfriend (Northern Irish) is constantly saying things that seem...off...to me. And I'll point them out to him and he'll say "No, that's right.  It's your Americanese that's wrong."  And maybe it is...

One of the most obvious things I've noticed is subject-verb agreement. Ex: I would say "Oasis is a good band." and he'd say "Oasis are a good band."  I don't know if that's a regional thing, as I haven't been anywhere else in the UK, just N.I.

It's just slightly worrying since I will most likely have a career in writing, but I suppose I'll just have to write a lot and have people edit it until I catch on on my own.  I just don't want to be heavily reliant on MS Word.

  Also, my program used Chicago Manual of Style which has its own grammatical requirements, so that may be an issue as well.

I've used Chicago to write most of my Philosophy, Theology, and Media papers at university in America.  Does it depend on the topic of the paper over there, like it does in the States?  Have you ever been asked to use MLA instead?

Thanks again everyone!

One of the most obvious things I've noticed is subject-verb agreement. Ex: I would say "Oasis is a good band." and he'd say "Oasis are a good band."  I don't know if that's a regional thing, as I haven't been anywhere else in the UK, just N.I.

There was a discussion on 'is' vs. 'are' here on the board a few weeks ago . I (British citizen) would usually say 'Oasis are a good band', but there was quite a bit of discussion about which one should be used when and it seems to depend on the context: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=47303.0

I've used Chicago to write most of my Philosophy, Theology, and Media papers at university in America.  Does it depend on the topic of the paper over there, like it does in the States?  Have you ever been asked to use MLA instead?

Not here.  When I was in Denver, I was once asked to use APA format for a psych of religion course.  Typically, the format is a department-wide decision.  Most humanities subjects now use Chicago.  English lit typically uses MLA.

Someone I knew at a Scottish university wrote her MA dissertation in American English, because she felt most comfortable with it.  She even mentioned this in her front matter, so she must have gotten permission from her supervisor to do so.

Personally, I used British English because I felt that as I was at a UK university I should follow UK guidelines.  But I also know that even when I thought I was typing in a British manner, I still put in American spellings on occasion.  So I'd suggest getting a British person to proofread for you, if you're worried. 

Personally, I used British English because I felt that as I was at a UK university I should follow UK guidelines. 

I feel the same way, but at the same time...I know I'm a pretty decent writer using American grammar.  And if they're willing to accept American grammar usage, it might be to my advantage.  To me, being correct and consistent would be more important than adopting the habits of those around me.  At the same time, however, I don't want to be disrespectful or unwilling to conform.

Thanks for the reply!

I feel the same way, but at the same time...I know I'm a pretty decent writer using American grammar.  And if they're willing to accept American grammar usage, it might be to my advantage.  To me, being correct and consistent would be more important than adopting the habits of those around me.  At the same time, however, I don't want to be disrespectful or unwilling to conform.

It's probably worth asking your professors/department when you arrive in NI what they'd prefer you to use... it may be perfectly fine for you to continue using US spellings and grammar, in which case you have nothing to worry about, or they may say that they want UK spellings/grammar used by all their students and so you'll need to adopt the UK style .

Personally I tried to excise all my American grammar in writing.  Most Brits don't notice this, but I am very self concious about "sticking out".  Also, it has been a sort of a game for me, to actively notice how many differences there actually are.  I guess I have gone a bit overboard, because most Americans say I sound funny these days.

There are a few spellings I struggle with though.  I came across one today.  American = enrollment - British = enrolment.  I have excised most of the "ize" from my spellings.

Then there is the third language which is between me and my partner, where it is mostly British grammar, but both of us tend to be somewhere in the middle when it comes to accents and lots of added words that have slightly derived meanings due to common experiences.  My partner sounds a like less British when he speaks to me then when he speaks to anyone else.  Also, if you heard the two of us on the phone to each other, you could easily tell.