Skype English School

A complete list of all the spelling variations would be very long and not very useful. It would also have to take into account hyphenation of words. The difficulties arising from hyphenation also illustrate the complexity of the subject in general, for not only do variant spellings exist for many words on both sides of the Atlantic, often the authorities in each country-i.e. the dictionary makers -are in disagreement as to which spelling of a word is to be preferred over other possibilities.

1. The color / colour group.

Most GB words ending in -our end in -or in the US. This difference is also apparent in derivatives.

2. The center/centre group.

Most GB words ending in -tre, usually deriving from French, end in -ter in the US. This difference is also apparent in derivatives.

3. The realize / realise group.

In this group, differences between GB and US spelling are far from systematic.

Some verbs, regardless of the country, can only have -ize (capsize, seize) while in others only -ise is possible (advertise, advise, surprise). Dictionaries in both countries prefer the suffix -ize in words such as apologize, legalize and realize. Many Britons, however, (not to mention the spelling checkers of popular word-processing programs) do not agree with the dictionary-makers and in GB these words are still usually written with -ise.

4. The edema / oedema group.

In words of Greek origin, GB English has oe- where US English has e- or less commonly oe-. Similarly, words with an ae combination in GB English (orthopaedics, anaesthesia)'are spelt without the a in US English.

5. The fulfill/fulfil group.

A certain number of disyllabic verbs stressed on the second syllable are written in British English with a single but in American English with -II. This affects the spelling of derivatives.

In American spelling, when you add a suffix like -ing, -ed, or -er to a word, you double the final consonant only if the stress falls on the second syllable of the root word. Thus, as in British English, the verb 'pat-rol' gives 'patrolling' and 'patrolled'. On the other hand, the verb 'trav-el' becomes 'traveling', 'traveled', 'traveler' (GB 'travelling', 'travelled', 'traveller').

6. One letter differences.

An interesting group is comprised of words which are spelt with a single different or additional letter. The difference affects pronunciation. US – aluminum (a-loom-in-um) GB – aluminium(a-lyoo-min-yum) US –check (banking) GB – cheque US – Mom GB – Mum

Lesson Review

Which words are spelt in an American way and which are spelt in the British way?

Behaviour Metre Color Fibre  Emphasize Odour  Liter  Manoeuvre Paeolithic

Real Life Example This can be so confusing! I lived somewhere once where American and British spellings were used at the same time. It was not uncommon to see center and centre within a few blocks of one another.