AMERICAN SPELLING

There are a number of differences between the spellings of words in American English and that of British English. Some of the most important of these are listed below: 1. Some verbs ending in l and p which in British English double their final consonant before !ing "ed and !er #"or do not do so in American English: for e$ample British English travelling %idnapped e&ualled counsellor but American traveling %idnaped e&ualed counselor. This difference applies to certain nouns and ad'ectives also: for e$ample the normal American spellings carburetor (British carburettor) and woolen (British woollen). *. +ith verbs that ma, be spelt !ise or !i-e Americans prefer !i-e. .ost words which in British English end in !our end in !or in American English e.g. color humor. Saviour and glamour are e$ceptions. /. .an, words which in British English end in !re are spelt !er b, Americans: center theater fiber specter meager. E$ceptions to this are generall, words ending in !cre or !gre: acre massacre agre are correct in both British and American English. 0. Among the other words which are spelt differentl, in American English are a$e (Amer. A$) catalogue (Amer. 1atalog) che&ue (Amer. 1hec%) plough (Amer. 2low) programme (Amer. 2rogram) sceptic (Amer. S%eptic) t,re (Amer. Tire).

British Spellings
+riters who grow up in England 1anada the Barbados or an, place where spelling habits conform to British preferences will be perple$ed when the word colour comes bac% from an American instructor with a slash mar% through the u. +hen 3aniel +ebster started putting his dictionar, together he

thought it would be a good idea to simplif, some English spelling and that -our was one ending he thought Americans could do without. Standard American spelling ever since then has been sometimes different from British and it e$tends to other words as well. A good dictionar, even a good American dictionar, should account for these differences. 4nstructors should also be e&uipped to account for them if not to allow for them.

U.K Spelling Archaeolog, A$e

Behaviour 1ancellation 1atalogue 1entre 1he&ue 1olour 3efence Enc,clopaedia Enrol Epilogue E&ualled 5avour 5ulfil 6aol 6oodb,e 6re, 8umour 9erb :abour :itre .etre ;eighbour <ffence 2lough

U.S Spelling
Archeolog, A$ Behavior 1ancelation 1atalog 1enter 1hec% 1olor 3efense Enc,clopedia Enroll Epilog E&ualed 5avor 5ulfill 7ail 6oodb, 6ra, 8umor 1urb :abor :iter .eter ;eighbor <ffense 2low

2retence 2rogramme 2rologue 2,'amas Sceptic S%ilful Theatre Traveller T,re +aggon

2retense 2rogram 2rolog 2a'amas S%eptic S%illful Theater Traveler Tire +agon