Jump To Content

Different Spellings- oh no!

Differences in Spelling in US, Canada, and UK

Oh NO! Simple words, like color/colour, are spelled differently in the UK, the US, Canada, and other spots in the world. What do we do now?

Here’s a chart that should help you out:

Word in American Word in Canadian Word in British
Airplane Airplane Aeroplane
Aluminum Aluminum Aluminium
Analyze Analyze Analyse
Behavior Behaviour Behaviour
Canceled Cancelled Cancelled
Catalog Catalogue Catalogue
Center Centre Centre
Check(money) Cheque Cheque
Color Colour Colour
Counselor Counsellor Counsellor
Draft(of air) Draft Draught
Favor Favour Favour
Gray Grey Grey
Honor Honour Honour
Installment Installment Instalment
Judgment Judgement Judgement
Liter Litre Litre
Meter Metre Metre
Mold Mould Mould
Mom Mom Mum
Offense Offence Offence
Plow Plow Plough
Pajamas Pyjamas Pyjamas
Sulfur Sulphur Sulphur
Theater Theatre Theatre
Tire Tire Tyre

Isn’t this freaky?

Try not to forget this sort of stuff when writing those American SATs, or in general when you’re writing international documents.

A complete list can be found on Karen Bond’s Linguistic Issues webpage, right here.

Astha
  • Authority 297
Post Body
Astha said:

This lesson has really freaked me out…don’t know how i’m goin to learn all of them up!!! Do all these spelling ,mistakes really count in the SAT, because I write British English ?

  • Quote
  • Posted 5 months ago.
oLahav
  • Authority 711
Post Body
oLahav said in response to:
Astha
Astha’s post:
Citation Body

This lesson has really freaked me out…don’t know how i’m goin to learn all of them up!!! Do all these spelling ,mistakes really count in the SAT, because I write British English ?

Don’t worry Astha, markers don’t really look for this sort of little things. Writing in British instead of American, or even having a couple of small spelling mistakes won’t affect your mark much.
Keep in mind that markers get a lot of essays to mark in a really short time- they won’t read the entire thing word for word and thoroughly, so they’re likely to miss the little things. It’s better to focus on the big picture when writing- for example, in your essay, it’s more important to have a strong thesis and supporting arguments than no spelling and grammar mistakes.
On that note, it’s a good idea to be aware of the different spelling so that when you encounter these words in the reading and writing sections they don’t confuse you. Also, when writing official international documents, like a visa application, using the right words is fairly important. But don’t try and memorize this entire chart, just read it over and figure out some general patterns and you’ll be ok.

  • Quote
  • Posted 5 months ago.
lechuck
  • Authority 545
Post Body
lechuck said:

Wow, I had no idea that the British spelled the word tire – tyre. It seems Canada and the UK spell a lot of words the same way, more than the US to Canada or the US to UK.

  • Quote
  • Posted 5 months ago.
oLahav
  • Authority 711
Post Body
oLahav said in response to:
lechuck
lechuck’s post:
Citation Body

Wow, I had no idea that the British spelled the word tire – tyre. It seems Canada and the UK spell a lot of words the same way, more than the US to Canada or the US to UK.

I’ve noticed that too… I guess it’s because we were a part of the British Empire and the Commonwealth for so long, we spell things the same way. Plus, the Queen can technically mess things up for us if we don’t do what she wants, so it’s better to be nice to her and spell it colour and not color.

What I found most surprising was “cheque”, spelled check in American. Now I get why I see squiggly red lines under cheque… I actually never knew about that one before.

  • Quote
  • Posted 5 months ago.
  • Your comment will be modifiable for 10 minutes after posted.

Page Author

Avatar
oLahav
Name
oLahav

From Here You Can…

Information

Most Recent Related Content

Published In…

This work is public domain.