The differences between the American and the British English!

Spelling has always been a problem in the English language even for native speakers. Most foreigners assume that native speakers always know how to spell a word but that’s not true. You may try to sound it out, but even then you may not get the spelling right . However, the more you read and write in English the easier it will get.

Spelling gets even more confusing if you encounter the differences between the American and the British English.

Below I try to given you some examples of the main differences between American and British English spellings :

• Some words in American English that end often end in -er (e.g. center, fiber, theater) end in British English in -re (centre, fibre, theatre).

• Other words in American English that end in -or (e.g. color, humor) usually end -our with in British English (colour, humour).

• Then verbs in American English that are always spelled with –ize (e.g. recognize)are then spelled in British English with either -ize or -ise at the end (e.g. recognize/recognise).

• On the other hand verbs in British English that end in -yse (e.g. analyse) are then always spelled -yze in American English (analyze).

• While in American English the l is not doubled verbs ending in a vowel (travel, traveled, traveler), in British spelling however, the l doubles when adding endings that begin with a vowel (e.g. travel, travelled, traveller).

• British English words that are spelled with the double vowels ae or oe (e.g. archaeology, manoeuvre) are just spelled with an e in American English (archeology, maneuver).

• Some nouns that end with -ence in British English (e.g. licence, defence) are spelled -ense in American English (license, defense).

· Some nouns that end with -ogue in British English (e.g. dialogue) end with -og in American English (dialog).

I hope that these examples are clearing up some of the confusions you have encountered while learning or reading English. I know we teach our students one spelling (in J.R. American School the American one) and then students ask me why it is suddenly spelled different some where else.