Good morning!
I had so many of you Anglophiles writing to me yesterday about other words that are spelled differently between American and British English, I decided to send you the remainder of this article today rather than stringing you along for an extra day. I somehow misplaced the link for the list below, but for similar information on British and American spellings, click here and here.
British and American Spelling
Words ending in -yse
Verbs in British English that end in -yse are always spelled -yze in American English:
| British | US |
| analyse | analyze |
| breathalyse | breathalyze |
| paralyse | paralyze |
Words ending in a vowel plus l
In British spelling, verbs ending in a vowel plus l double the l when adding endings that begin with a vowel. In American English, the l is not doubled:
| British | US |
| travel | travel |
| travelled | traveled |
| travelling | traveling |
| traveller | traveler |
| fuel | fuel |
| fuelled | fueled |
| fuelling | fueling |
Words spelled with double vowels
British English words that are spelled with the double vowels ae or oe are just spelled with an e in American English:
| British | US |
| leukaemia | leukemia |
| manoeuvre | maneuver |
| oestrogen | estrogen |
| paediatric | pediatric |
Note that in American English, certain terms, such as archaeology, keep the ae spelling as standard, although the spelling with just the e (i.e. archeology) is usually acceptable as well.
Nouns ending with –ence
Some nouns that end with -ence in British English are spelled -ense in American English:
| British | US |
| defence | defense |
| licence | license |
| offence | offense |
| pretence | pretense |
Nouns ending with –ogue
Some nouns that end with -ogue in British English end with either -og or -ogue in American English:
| British | US |
| analogue | analog or analogue |
| catalogue | catalog or catalogue |
| dialogue | dialog or dialogue |
The distinctions here are not hard and fast. The spelling analogue is acceptable but not very common in American English; catalog has become the US norm, but catalogue is not uncommon; dialogue is still preferred over dialog.
Miscellaneous
| British | American |
| aeroplane | airplane |
| aluminium | aluminum |
| axe | ax |
| cosy | cozy |
| kerb (edge of road) | curb |
| furore | furor |
| grey | gray |
| carat | (gold) karat |
| liquorice | licorice |
| moustache | mustache |
| nought | naught |
| pyjamas | pajamas |
| sceptic | skeptic |
| phial | vial |
| whisky | whiskey |
Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773
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