Everything English

When editing, I often notice clients switching between American and British spellings. Below, a review of some common differences between American English (AmE) and British English (BrE):

Words ending in “or” (AmE) vs. “our” (BrE)

• Labor, labour
• Favor, favour
• Behavior, behaviour

Words ending in “ce” (AmE) vs. “se” (BrE)

• Offense, offence
• License, licence
• Practice (verb), practise

Words ending in “ise” (AmE) vs. “ize” (BrE)

• Emphasize, emphasise
• Criticize, criticise
• Categorize, categorise
• Realize, realise

Words ending in “er” (AmE) vs. “re” (BrE)

• Center, centre
• Liter, litre
• Theater, theatre

Words ending in “og” (AmE) vs. “ogue” (BrE)

• Dialog, dialogue
• Catalog, catalogue
• Analog, analogue

Single “l” (AmE) vs. double “ll” (BrE)

• Traveling, travelling
• Counseling, counselling
• Parceling, parcelling

Verbs ending in “ed” (AmE) vs. “t” (BrE)

• Learned, learnt
• Burned, burnt
• Dreamed, dreamt

Words ending in “yze” (AmE) vs. “yse” (BrE)

• Analyze, analyse
• Catalyze, catalyse
• Paralyze, paralyse

Make sure you’re consistent!