Dreamt or Dreamed?

Differences Between US and UK Grammar #1 - Dreamt vs. Dreamed?

Is it “I dreamt a dream” or “I dreamed a dream”?

The answer is…

Both dreamt and dreamed are past tense forms of the verb dream. Here are is the key difference.

Dreamt: used in British English 🇬🇧(UK)

Dreamed: used in American English 🇺🇸(US)

Both words have the same meaning but are used in different regions of the world. If you are an international student studying at a university in the UK, you should use the British dreamt in any written work you turn in. If you are a reporter writing an article for a US news outlet, you would probably want to use the American dreamed.

However, speakers of both British and American English will most likely understand both variants, so when speaking, you can feel free to use either dreamt or dreamed.

Example sentences

In the following example sentences, dreamt and dreamed can be used interchangeably.

I dreamt about pizza and wings last night.

In the above example, you could freely replace dreamt with dreamed to your liking.

I heard she dreamed about an earthquake a day before the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

In this sentence, you can also use dreamt and dreamed interchangeably.

He dreamt of becoming a pilot until he found out he was colour blind.

Notice that with the British variant dreamt, we also used the British spelling of colour for consistency. When using one variant over the other, make sure the rest of your writing is consistent with your choice. If you choose to use dreamed instead, you should use color, the American spelling.

Grandpa Bill dreamed of going on a vacation to Peru before he died.

Here, we used the American dreamed along with the American a vacation. The British equivalent would be dreamt and holiday. Be sure to be consistent in writing.

Other English-speaking countries

Australia and New Zealand, although they have their own variants of English, tend to follow British English more closely than American English. Hence, dreamt is used over dreamed in these two Oceanian countries. Other members of the Commonwealth of Nations also tend to follow British English much more closely than American English.

However, with the Internet and Hollywood, people from different English-speaking countries are starting to mix different variants of English in their daily speech. Hence, there are no hard-set rules on which you should use when speaking.

Words like dreamt and dreamed

You may be wondering if there are other words like dreamt and dreamed. In fact, there are! Here is a list of some common past-tense verbs that end with -t in British English and -ed in American English.

dwelt, dwelled
knelt, kneeled
leapt, leaped
learnt, learned
smelt, smelled
spelt, spelled
spilt, spilled

When in doubt

If you are a non-native speaker in an English-speaking country and unsure whether you should use dreamt or dreamed in your writing, first, look up if the country you are in is a part of the Commonwealth of Nations. If so, you probably would want to use dreamt.

Countries that prefer and teach American English include the US, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Israel, and Brazil. However, the Philippines borrow some aspects of British English when speaking and writing English.

Generally, British English is more commonly used in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and South Asia, while American English is more prevalent in Latin America, Central America, and East Asia. There are, of course, exceptions, so you should check with your company or instructor in school to see if there is a preferred variant of English.

The AI-powered English proofreader Engram can recognize both British and American English styles. So, you can freely to choose your English style on Engram and see the best result of the proofread!