British American spelling rules

 

There are some spelling differences in American English. In the 1800’s, the US Congress actually called for several changes to make words more phonetic. Look at the following examples:

 

British English

 

  • words ending in -re
  • words ending in -our
  • words ending in -ogue
  • words ending in -ise, -ize
  • final -l doubled after short vowel
  • words ending in -ence

American English

 

  • change to -er
  • change to -or
  • change to -og
  • ending only in -ize
  • -l not always doubled after a short vowel
  • change to -ense

Examples (British – American)

 

  • -re/-er: centre-center; metre-meter; maneuvre-maneuver, theatre-theater
  • -our/-or: colour-color, neighbour-neighbor, honour-honor, splendour-splendor, parlour-parlor
  • -ouge/-og: catalogue-catalog, monologue-monolog,
  • -ise, -ize/-ize: realise, realize-realize, criticise-criticize, maximise-maximize, apologise-apologize, authorise-authorize, dramatise-dramatize, recognise-recognize, summarise-summarize
  • -ll/-l: travelled-traveled; modelling-modeling
  • -ence/-ense: defence-defense; licence-license, pretence-pretense, offence-offense

 

 

Here you will find words which have different meanings or are spelled differently in British and American English.

 

 

 

 

 

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