AMERICAN ENGLISH VS. BRITISH ENGLISH

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AJE BEST PRACTICES SERIES | CASI NEWELL, PHD

AMERICAN ENGLISH VS.

BRITISH ENGLISH

AMERICAN: AMERICAN:

BRITISH: BRITISH:

In a simpler world, English would be written the same

way everywhere. However, when Noah Webster created

an American English dictionary in the early 1800’s, he did

more than just add new words to British English: he also

revised the spelling of many common words to eliminate

what he saw as unnecessary letters. His new spellings were

adopted in the United States but not the UK, and these

spelling diﬀerences remain to this day.

The list below is intended to provide an overview of the

most common spelling diﬀerences between American

and British English. The words beginning each list are

intended to establish overall patterns, whereas the

words in italics toward the end of the lists are examples

of deviations from the rule. If you have questions about

any other terms that aren’t on this list, please contact

us at [email protected]. Best wishes!

-ize/-se (-yze/yse) -or/-our

characterize

prioritize

specialize

analyze

catalyze

size

exercise

behavior

color

favor

contour

characterise

prioritise

specialise

analyse

catalyse

size

exercise

behaviour

colour

favour

contour

American: The products of the catalyzed

reaction were characterized using

specialized equipment.

British: The products of the catalysed

reaction were characterised using

specialised equipment.

American: Because of its decolorization

behavior, this material is favored.

British: Because of its decolourisation

behaviour, this material is favoured.

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AMERICAN:

BRITISH:

-e/(-ae or -oe)

-/e, -og/-ogue

-er/-re

-se/-ce

center

ﬁber

liter

parameter

defense

practice (noun

and verb)

license (noun

and verb)

defensive

advice (noun)/

advise (verb)

ameba

anesthesia

diarrhea

esophagus

leukemia

cesium

aging

acknowledgment

judgment

analog

dialog

dying (die)/

dyeing (dye)

centre

ﬁbre

litre

parameter

defence

practice (noun )/

practise (verb)

licence (noun)/

license (verb)

defensive

advice (noun)/

advise (verb)

amoeba

anaesthesia

diarrhoea

oesophagus

leukaemia

caesium

ageing

acknowledgement

judgement

analogue

dialogue

dying (die)/

dyeing (dye)

American: Five milliliters of the mixture

containing the ﬁbers was pipetted on the

center of the slide.

British: Five millilitres of the mixture

containing the ﬁbres was pipetted on the

centre of the slide.

American: The defense attorney had

practiced law for over thirty years.

British: The defence attorney had

practised law for over thirty years.

American: The leukemia patient was given

anesthesia before the procedure.

British: The leukaemia patient was given

anaesthesia before the procedure.

American: The aging analog-to-digital

converter is slowly dying.

British: The ageing analogue-to-digital

converter is slowly dying.

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We hope that this introduction to diﬀerences in American

and British English will make the process of writing your

next manuscript a little easier! Remember that you can

choose between “English (U.S.)” and “English (U.K.)” in

Microsoft Word when setting the language for your

document. This change allows the spell check to help

catch these diﬀerences in spelling

AMERICAN:

BRITISH:

-l/-ll or -ll/-l

fulﬁll

enroll

skill, skillful

labeled

signaling

propelled

revealing

fulﬁl

enrol

skill, skilful

labelled

signalling

propelled

revealing

American: The skillful student noted that

the drop in enrollment may be signaling a

problem with the study design.

British: The skilful student noted that the

drop in enrolment may be signalling a

problem with the study design.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms. Newell received her BA from Colby College in Chemistry and Russian Language and

Literature and then proceeded directly into a PhD program at MIT. At MIT, she studied acoustic

spectroscopy and physical chemistry, speciﬁcally the use of terahertz radiation to study proton-

coupled electron transfer.

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to academics and researchers worldwide.

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