BRITISH AND AMERICAN ENGLISH DIFFERENCES-2

Good morning!

Today we begin to look at the differences between standard US and standard British English. We will start with spelling; below we show a few of the differences between the two varieties.

Many words that end in -our in British English end in -or in US English.

Behaviour (GB) vs. Behavior (US)
Humour (GB) vs. Humor (US)
Neighbour (GB) vs. Neighbor (US)

Many words that end in -tre in British English end in -ter in US English.

Centre (GB) vs. Center (US)
Metre (GB) vs. Meter (US)
Theatre (GB) vs. Theater (US)

Although not totally systematic, many words that end in -ise in British English end in -ize in US English.

Apologise (GB) vs. Apologize (US)
Organise (GB) vs. Organize (US)
Recognise (GB) vs. Recognize (US)

As you can see, none of these differences interfere with communication.

Tomorrow we will look at a few more spelling differences before moving on to grammatical differences.

Have a good day!