I'm am American living in England whats the difference between being British an being English?

Question

im confused it sounds like the same exact same thing

Answer 1

Great Britain is made up of 3 countries - Scotland, Wales and England.

If you live in Scotland you are Scottish or British or European
If you live in Wales you are Welsh or British or European
If you live in England you are English or British or European

It's like - North America is, geographically, Canada and the Northern states of the USA - but you wouldn't like to be called Canadian would you?

It's like - Spain and France are in Europe - so you can be Spanish and European or French and European.

Believe me - call a Scots or Welsh person English and you will be corrected very quickly :-))

England is only one of the 3 countries that make up Great Britain.

Add Northern Ireland and you have the United Kingdom.

Answer 2

It seems weird to me that the Americans find it so hard to distinguish between the UK / British nationalities considering that most Americans are directly descended from Scots, English, Welsh and Irish and they like everybody to know about it.
If you were to call me English I would be offended. I am Scottish and proud to be Scottish. I do not consider myself to be British or European and I would expect the Welsh and English to react in the same way if you called them anything else.
Up until 1707 Scotland and England / Wales were still regarded as separate counties. The Act of Union changed this.
The Union flag comprises of the Crosses of St Andrew (The Saltire), St David and St George with the St Andrews cross being the more dominant blue and white.
Hopefully in 2007 we will start the process of becoming an in dependant country once again.

PS and comments like Ed Snows, even if it is tongue in cheek is the reason that the other Nationalities in the UK do not like the English.

Answer 3

that's all politics and semantics yet some human beings take it truly heavily. i replaced into born in England and stay in England besides the shown fact that I classification myself as British. I see myself as patriotic of the completed uk which incorporates the different countries besides as England. If certainly one of the different countries have been to be invaded with the help of an aggressive stress, i might do my bit to assist preserve their united states. there are lots of people who will say "i'm English, no longer British." they certainly do in contrast to being lumped in with the different countries (likewise there are Scottish, Welsh and Irish who likewise do in contrast to being linked with England). there continues to be loads of animosity between the countries and England nevertheless has some regulations approximately having the flexibility to shoot a Welsh-guy with a bow and arrow after night fall. on the plus section, a minimum of the IRA have stopped attempting to blow us up for now;) Now that's in basic terms the fundamentalist Islamic terrorists.

Answer 4

`If you were English you would also be British. If you were British you might be English as well but alternatively you may be one of our closer Ally's like Scots, Irish or Welsh.

To put it another way, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are all countries, collectively they are called Great Britain.

Answer 5

I class myself as English. I dont like to think of myself as British. I am not scottish, not Welsh and not from Northern Ireland. I was born in England therefore I am English. Ask someone from scotland or wales what they class themselves as and they would say scottish or welsh. We dont have a British football team (sorry soccer to you) we have an English team.

Answer 6

Well being English means you class yourself as a citizen from England. Being British means that you accept you are a part of the Union which is Scotland, Wales, N/Ireland and England. Me personally i am Scottish and i dont class my self as British as i dont agree that we are ruled from England and i don't beleive in the union. FREEDOM!!!. Hope that helps.

Answer 7

Scots, Welsh, English and Northern Irish are British, but only people from England are English.

Answer 8

England , Scotland and Wales make up great Britain.
Some people have included Ireland, they are wrong.
Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain, it is part of the UK.
All English people are technically British, but all British people are not English.

Answer 9

The difference is that English is if you are from England and British is if you are form Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales).

I hope this helps :)

Answer 10

Britain consists of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. So anyone from anyone of those countries are considered British.

An English person is from England.