List of American vs.

British Spelling
by Susan Jones
http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwesl/egw/jones/spelling.htm

As any student of English knows very well, there is an amazing variety of

spelling (lexicon), meaning (morphology), pronunciation (phonetics), useage
(syntax), and even punctuation in the English language amongst the many
people who use English, either as their first or as an additional language. For
non-native speakers of English, these differences can be both difficult to
comprehend and confounding when trying to learn the language.

This page is meant to clarify some of the issues around spelling differences
between American and British English. While these are by no means the only
two types of English used around the world, most varieties of English take their
lead from one of these two.

Issues of morphology and syntax are infinitely more complicated than spelling,
and there is much greater variety around the world, so those issues will not be
covered in detail here. I have included a list of common words which are
different between British and American English, but only as an introduction.
There is also a list of links for anyone who is interested in learning more about
American and British English.

Spelling differences between American and British English

-or vs. -our -ze vs. -se

American British American British
color colour analyze analyse
favorite favourite criticize criticise
honor honour memorize memorise
-ll vs. -l -er vs. -re
American British American British
enrollment enrolment center centre
fulfill fulfil meter metre
skillful skilful theater theatre
og vs. -ogue -e vs. -oe or -ae
American British
American British
encylopedia encylycopaedia
analog analogue
maneuver manoeuvre
catalog catalogue medieval mediaeval
dialog dialogue
 -ck or -k vs. -que
American British
bank banque
-dg vs. -dge (or -g vs. -gu)
check cheque
American British
checker chequer
aging ageing
-ense vs. -enze
argument arguement
American British judgment judgement
defense defence Other
license licence 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 differences 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.