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5.21.2013

British and American English


There are some well-known spelling differences between British English and American English. Many of these spelling differences result from French influence on English. British English has a tendency to keep the spelling of many words of French origin. Americans try to spell words more closely to the way they sound phonetically and they tend to omit some letters.
The general spelling differences between British and American English are listed below.

British -our vs. American-or difference
armourarmor
behaviourbehavior
colourcolor
favouritefavorite
flavourflavor
harbourharbor
honourhonor
humourhumor
labourlabor
neighbourneighbor
rumourrumor
savioursavior



British -se vs. American -ze difference*
analyseanalyze
apologiseapologize
appetiserappetizer
catalysecatalyze
civilise, civilisationcivilize, civilization
colonise, colonisationcolonize, colonization
criticisecriticize
emphasiseemphasize
organiseorganize
popularise, popularisationpopularize, popularization
priseprize
realiserealize
recogniserecognize
British -l vs. American -ll difference
enrolmentenrollment
fulfilfulfill
instalmentinstallment
skilfulskillful

British -ll vs. American -l difference
counsellorcounselor
fuelledfueled
travellingtraveling
parallelledparalleled
quarrellingquarreling

British -ogue vs. American
-og difference
analogueanalog
cataloguecatalog
dialoguedialog
monologuemonolog

British –ence vs. American
-ense difference
defence*defense
licence(noun)
license(verb)
license (both
noun and verb
)
offence*offense
pretencepretense

*But note: defensive,offensive

*Additional notes:

:: British English uses both "-ise" and "-ize" forms but tends to prefer -ise (-isation) form.

:: Verbs in British English that can be spelled with either "-ize" or "-ise" at the end are always spelled with -ize in American English.

:: Verbs in British English that end in "-yse" (e.g. analyse) are always spelled "-yze" in American English (analyze).
British -dge/-gue vs. American -dg/-gu)
judgementjudgment
arguementargument


British -que vs. American
-k/–ck difference
banquebank
cheque (money)check
British -gramme vs. American -gram difference
programme (noun)
(TV/radio programme or programme of events - plans, conferences, a theatre programme etc.)
program
programme (verb) (to instruct)program (-mm-)
program (programme)
(computer program)
program
gram (gramme)gram
kilogram (kilogramme)kilogram
British -re vs. American -er
difference
amphitheatreamphitheater
centimetrecentimeter
centrecenter
fibrefiber
kilometrekilometer
litreliter
lustreluster
louvrelouver
manoeuvremaneuver
metremeter
spectrespecter
theatretheater
British -ae/-oe/-oeu vs. American
-e/-o/-eu difference
archaeologyarcheology
gynaecologygynecology
leukaemialeukemia
manoeuvremaneuver
mediaevalmedieval
mementoesmementos
oestrogenestrogen
orthopaedicorthopedic
paediatricpediatric
palaeontologypaleontology
toxaemiatoxemia



















































































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