Spelling differences between American and British English

Spelling differences between American and British English

-or vs. -our
American	British
color	colour
favorite	favourite
honor	honour

-ze vs. -se
American	British
analyze	analyse
criticize	criticise
memorize	memorise

-ll vs. -l
American	British
enrollment	enrolment
fulfill	fulfil
skillful	skilful

-er vs. -re
American	British
center	centre
meter	metre
theater	theatre

-og vs. -ogue
American	British
analog	analogue
catalog	catalogue
dialog	dialogue

-e vs. -oe or -ae
American	British
encylopedia	encylycopaedia
maneuver	manoeuvre
medieval	mediaeval

-ck or -k vs. -que
American	British
bank	banque
check	cheque
checker	chequer

-dg vs. -dge (or -g vs. -gu)
American	British
aging	ageing
argument	arguement
judgment	judgement

-ense vs. -enze
American	British
defense	defence
license	licence

Other
American	British
jewelry	jewellery
draft	draught
pajamas	pyjamas
plow	plough
program	programme
tire	tyre

In British English, words that end in -l preceded by a vowel
usually double the -l when a suffix is added,
while in American English the letter is not doubled.
The letter will double in the stress is on the second syllable.

Base Word	American	British
counsel	counseling	counselling
equal	equaling	equalling
model	modeling	modelling
quarrel	quarreling	quarrelling
signal	signaling	signalling
travel	traveling	travelling
excel	excelling	excelling
propel	propelling	propelling

Spelling of verbs

This is related to formation of the past participle for verbs. For a complete list of irregular verb spellings, see Susan Jones' Complete List of English Irregular Verbs at this web site. Below is a sampling of the three main categories of differeneces with verbs.

-ed vs. -t

The first category involves verbs that use -ed or -t for the simple past and past participle. Generally, the rule is that if there is a verb form with -ed, American English will use it, and if there is a form with -t, British English uses it. However, these forms do not exist for every verb and there is variation. For example, both American and British English would use the word 'worked' for the past form of 'to work', and in American English it is common to hear the word 'knelt' as the past tense of 'to kneel'.

Base form	American	British
to dream	dreamed	dreamt
to leap	leaped	leapt
to learn	leareded	learnt

base form vs. -ed

The second category of difference includes verbs that use either the base form of the verb or the -ed ending for the simple past.

Base form	American	British
to fit	fit	fitted
to forecast	forecast	forecasted
to wed	wed	wedded

irregular vs. -ed

The third category of difference includes verbs that have either an irregular spelling or the -ed ending for the simple past.

Base form	American	British
to knit	knit	knitted
to light	lit	lighted
to strive	strove	strived

So what does tall his mean for learners of English? In the beginning, unfortunately, it means a lot of memorization (or memorisation) and of course, a few mistakes. For spoken English, the differences are barely audible, so forge ahead and don't be too concerned with whether a word is spelled 'dwelled' or 'dwelt'. With written English, however, if you are unsure about the spelling, better to ask your teacher or look the word up in the dictionary and see what the experts say.

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