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British to American / American to British

Use the following drop-down list to find the American English equivalent of these British Expressions.

--- aerial angry anywhere autumn bank note barrister, solicitor biscuit bonnet boot braces caretaker chemist's chips the cinema condom constable cooker corn, wheat cot cotton crash crossroads curtains draughts drawing-pin dual carriageway dummy dust-bin, rubbish-bin dustbin, rubbish-bin dustman dynamo engine engine driver film flat flyover garden gear-lever graduate grill ground floor gumshoes, wellington boots gymshoes, tennis-shoes handbag hoarding holiday hoover ill interval jersey, jumper, pullover, sweater jug lift lorry luggage mackintosch, raincoat mad main road maize maths mean motorway nappy nasty nowhere nursing home oculltist, optician off-license paraffin pavement peep petrol post postbox postman potato crisps pram pub public toilet puncture push-chair queue railway railway carriage reel of cotton return (ticket) reverse charges rise (in salary) road surface roudabout rubber rubbish saloon (car) sellotape shop silencer single (ticket) somewhere spanner staff (of a university) sump sweet sweets tap tap (outdoors) taxi tea-towel term tights timetable tin toll motorway torch tramp trousers turn-ups underground railway underpants verge (of road) waistcoat wardrobe wash your hands windscreen wing zip

American to British

Use the following drop-down list to find the British English equivalent of these American English words.

--- antenna alumnus anyplace apartment attorney baby carriage bar bill billboard blow-out broiler cab call collect can candy checkers closet cookie corn crazy crib cuffs dessert diaper dish-towel divided highway drapes elevator drug store engineer (train) eraser faculty fall faucet fender first floor flashlight freeway french fries garbage, trash garbage can garbage collector gasoline gear-shift generator highway hobo hood (on a car) intermission intersection janitor kerosene line liquor store mad mail mailbox mailman, mail carrier math mean motor movie the movies muffler noplace oil-pan one-way optometrist overpass pacifier panti-hose pants patrolman pavement peek pitcher pocketbook, purse potato chips private hospital purse railroad raincoat raise realtor rest room round trip rubber rubbers schedule Scotch tape sedan semester shorts shoulder (of road) sick sidewalk sneakers someplace spigot spool of thread stingy store stove stroller subway suspenders sweater thread thumbtack traffic circle trash trashcan truck trunk (on a car) turnpike undershirt vacation vacuum cleaner vest wash up wheat windshield wreck wrench yard zipper

How to Tell Time in English

Read the short description below:

I usually get up at a quarter past seven - that's seven fifteen in the morning. I have breakfast at eight o'clock and then take the bus to work at half past eight. I usually arrive at work at a quarter to nine. Sometimes, the bus is late and I arrive at about nine. My morning is usually pretty busy and I like taking a coffee break at twenty to eleven if possible. I then work to lunchtime at noon. In the afternoon, I usually have another break at three fifteen. I usually finish work at a quarter to five and arrive home around six in the evening. At night, I usually go to bed at eleven o'clock.

Look at the rules for telling time in English.

In English we use "past" to say times after the hour until half past, or 30 minutes past the hour.	We use "to" to say times before the hour from 31 minutes until the full hour.
In English we use o'clock only at the full hour. Example: It's eight o'clock	We can also just say the numbers in groups of two.Example: It's seven twenty-five
When speaking about the different times of the day we often use: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening	Be careful! In English we useat night NOT in the night

Tell the times below, click on the arrow to see the possible answers:

-- It's half past ten OR ten thirty in the morning

-- It's quarter past twelve OR twelve fifteen in the afternoon

-- It's quarter to ten OR nine forty five in the evening

-- It's twenty-five past four OR four twenty-five in the afternoon

-- It's five to eight OR seven fifty-five in the morning

-- It's ten past six OR six ten in the evening

Describing Your Family

Read the following description of a family.

Jack is married to Alice. She is his wife and he is her husband. They have a daughter and son. The son's name is Henry and the daughter's name is Lisa. They live next to Alice's parents, Harry and Marjorie. Harry is Alice's father and Marjorie is her mother. Harry is Jack's father-in-law and Marjorie is his mother-in-law. Henry is Harry's grandson and Lisa is Marjorie's granddaughter. Alice has a sister and a brother. Her sister's name is Mary and her brother's name is Frank. Frank has two children, David and Sherrie. Sherrie is Alice's niece and David is Alice's nephew. Alice is their aunt and Jack is their uncle.

Complete the following chart of family relationships using the opposite family members. The first has been done for you. Click on the arrow to see the answer.

husband	wife
son	-- daughter
-- father-in-law	mother-in-law
-- uncle	aunt
nephew	-- niece
grandfather	-- grandmother
-- grandson	granddaughter
father	-- mother
-- brother	sister

Look at the possessive chart. Complete the story above using the correct possessives (my, your, son's, Jack's etc.). The first has been done for you. Click on the arrow to see the answer.

I	my
You	your
He	his
She	her
It	its
We	our
You	your
They	their
Jack	Jack's

Jack is married to Alice. She is his wife and he is -- her husband. They have a daughter and son. The -- son's name is Henry and the -- daughter's name is Lisa. They live next to Alice's parents, Harry and Marjorie. Harry is Alice's father and Marjorie is -- her mother. Harry is Jack's father-in-law and Marjorie is -- his mother-in-law. Henry is -- Harry's grandson and Lisa is Marjorie's granddaughter. Alice has a sister a brother. -- Her sister's name is Mary and her -- brother's name is Frank. Frank has two children, David and Sherrie. Sherrie is Alice's niece and David is Alice's nephew. Alice is -- their aunt and Jack is -- their uncle.

Audio Examples of English IPA Symbols

At the request of a number of visitors to the site, the following pages contain charts of the IPA phonetic symbols with the examples spoken using RealAudio technology. The first page contains vowel and diphthong sounds, with the following page focusing on consonant phonemes.

Suggestions

• First read the words on the chart aloud for yourself.
• After you have read the words aloud, listen to the audio to check your pronunciation.
• Read the words again by yourself.
• Repeat until you feel comfortable with the various sounds.