Do you know if your spelling is more British or American English? The tables below show some of the the main differences.
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| colour | color |
| flavour | flavor |
| behaviour | behavior |
| neighbour | neighbor |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| theatre | theater |
| metre | meter |
| centre | center |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| analyse | analyze |
| realise | realize |
| memorise | memorize |
| criticise | criticize |
| organise | organize |
| recognise | recognize |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| travelling | traveling |
| traveller | traveler |
| modelling | modeling |
| cancelled | canceled |
| labelled | labeled |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| programme | program |
| kilogramme | kilogram |
| gramme | gram |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| analogue | analog |
| catalogue | catalog |
| dialogue | dialog |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| practise | practice |
| license | licence |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| defence | defense |
| offence | offense |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| learnt | learned |
| dreamt | dreamed |
| got | got/gotten |
| dived | dived/dove |
| British English | American English |
|---|---|
| enquiry | inquiry |
| enquire | inquire |
| ensure | insure |
| yoghurt | yogurt |
| omelette | omelet |
| mum | mom |
| pyjamas | pajamas |
| ageing | aging |
| tyre | tire |
Hello, I’d like to add a couple of corrections to the -ce/-se noun/verb sections. First of all, in British English (and most non-American contexts), “practise” is a verb and “practice” is a countable noun. The same goes for “licence” (noun) and “license” (verb). And “advise” is the verb while “advice” is a non-countable noun in most modern contexts.
In American English, often the same spelling is used for both the noun and the verb. It is typical for Americans to write “license” and “practice”, and use both as nouns and verbs. However, the distinction between “advice” and “advise” still applies and is the same as British English. Generally, if Americans use atypical spellings such as “licence” and “practise”, they conform to British usage, namely, as a noun and verb, respectively.