American and British English Spelling Differences - Past Tense Differences

Past Tense Differences

In Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand it is more common to end some past tense verbs with a "t" as in learnt or dreamt rather than learned or dreamed. However, such spellings are also found in North America.

Several verbs have different past tenses or past participles in American and British English:

• The past tense of the verb "to dive" is most commonly found as "dived" in British and New Zealand English. "Dove" is usually used in its place in American and Canadian English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect.
• The past participle and past tense of the verb "to get" is most commonly found as "got" in British and New Zealand English. "Gotten" is also used in its place in American, Canadian and Australian English as a past participle, though "got" is widely used as a past tense. The main exception is in the phrase "ill-gotten", which is widely used in British and New Zealand English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect.
• Several verbs use the same form for both past tense and past participle in British English, but maintain separate terms in American English. These include shrink/shrunk (shrink/shrank/shrunk) and drink/drank (drink/drank/drunk). The use of the præterite in lieu of the past participle in British, Australian, and New Zealand English is nearly standard for many verbs, but is usually considered incorrect American English.