Regular and irregular verbs: British and American differences
April 9th, 2011 in Words
In American English the verbs burn, dream, lean, learn, smell, spell, spill and spoil are all regular.
Burn / burned / burned
Dream / dreamed / dreamed
Lean / leaned / leaned
Learn / learned / learned
Smell / smelled /smelled
Spell / spelled /spelled
Spill / spilled / spilled
Spoil / spoiled / spoiled
In British English, these verbs are usually irregular with past tenses and past participle forms ending in –t.
Burn / burnt / burnt
Dream / dreamt / dreamt
Lean / leant / leant
Learn / learnt / learnt
Smell / smelt / smelt
Spell / spelt / spelt
Spill / spilt / spilt
Spoil / spoilt / spoilt
Note that regular forms are also used in British English, but they are much less common.
In American English, spit has both spit and spat as past tense and past participle.
Quit and wet are regular in British English.
Quit / quitted / quitted
Wet / wetted / wetted
In American English these verbs are irregular
Quit / quit / quit
Wet / wet / wet
Dive is regular in British English, but can be irregular in American English.
Dive / dived / dived (GB)
Dive / dove / dived (US)
In American English, the past participle of get can be got or gotten.