Wash in American English?

Andrew M.A2Kwiziq community member

Wash in American English?

As an American, I'm noticing that using "wash" as a transitive verb is tripping me up a little. It sounds ungrammatical to me ear to use it transitively. I'm guessing this could be a difference between American and British English, maybe (if a British speaker says it sounds fine).

I can say, "I wash up every morning" or "I'm wash myself every morning," but "I wash every morning" doesn't say what I'm washing, so it sounds like an incomplete sentence.

Reading the Kwiziq lessons has been great. They're both thorough and concise, which is impressive. Thanks!

Asked 4 hours ago
Anne D.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Brit here - it’s a difference between American and British English. "I wash every morning" is fine as a complete sentence and taken to mean you wash yourself. Whereas "I wash up every morning" pretty much always means "I did the washing up" to us, ie you washed the dishes. Confusing, eh?

Andrew M. asked:

Wash in American English?

As an American, I'm noticing that using "wash" as a transitive verb is tripping me up a little. It sounds ungrammatical to me ear to use it transitively. I'm guessing this could be a difference between American and British English, maybe (if a British speaker says it sounds fine).

I can say, "I wash up every morning" or "I'm wash myself every morning," but "I wash every morning" doesn't say what I'm washing, so it sounds like an incomplete sentence.

Reading the Kwiziq lessons has been great. They're both thorough and concise, which is impressive. Thanks!

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