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Differences Between British and American Spelling

By , About.com Guide

Most dictionaries include both spellings and will make note of the two spellings. Usually the differences are noted in one of two ways:

In many US dictionaries the difference is included in the headword with the variation in parentheses:

For example colo(u)r

In British Dictionaries, the Dictionary makes note of the difference in brackets immediately after the headword:

For example watch, plural watches; glass, plural glasses

The table provides a list of the main differences between British and American spelling:

British American
-our (honour) -or (honor)
-re (centre) -er (center)
-ogue (dialogue) -og (dialog)
-ence (defence) -ense (defense)
-ise 1 (recognise) -ize (recognize)
American English spelling sometimes does not double the consonant at the end of a word, while British English spelling does, especially when the consonant is an 'l'.

For example travel, traveller, travelling (British) and travel, traveler, traveling (American)

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