Big Commerce Station writes:

Well this is a very interesting article. I am a writer from India {Age-19} and I have been writing articles since the last three years. I met various new Indian writers and I too found much mistakes from Indian writers. I request you to please add some tips for the Indian writers too…

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J Chase writes:

Very good. I go through this every day since my better half is British! lol

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Patricia Anne McGoldrick writes:

Interesting!
As a Canadian writer, it is a daily challenge to select between the British and American spellings and styles. We are somewhere in the middle for usage of both!

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Graham writes:

There is only one correct way to spell, the clue is in the name “English”

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Jan Smith writes:

LOL Graham…..this made me laugh….

I am ‘English’ of (or should that be a double f?) the Aussie variety and I also struggle between the choices.

Actually, my spell-check struggles too because it seems spell-checks vary between sites. I notice this a lot when blog commenting. Anyone else notice this too?

February 24, 2012 at 3:49 PM

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Donna Stevenson writes:

As a Canadian writer, spell check drives me crazy! I often get frustrated when it highlights my use of double letters or words with re instead of er.
Sometimes I just succumb to the American preference of Microsoft Word and accept its’ recommended change. Other times I refuse to submit.
But when all is said and done, I realize this is not such a big deal – minor compared to actually creating and writing the article.
For some reason, thinking about the use of language recalled to me Kurt Vonnegut’s famous phrase, “So it goes.”

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LA Reddon writes:

Patricia’s right. It’s very Canadian of us to try to accommodate everybody, EH?

Canadian usage tends to FAVOUR being true to its historical linguistic roots, as does British. For example, favour, honour, colour, etc. reflect the French ending “eur”. However, Canadians adopt US spellings for organize, realize, etc.

Certain words vary according to their function in both British and Canadian usage. “Licence” and “practice” are nouns while “license” and “practise” are verbs. This distinction is gradually being lost, though, and is rarely recognized in US usage.

One of the reasons we started adopting US over British usage is because of typography. In general, US words have fewer letters or characters so they take up less space in newspapers, catalogUEs and programMEs!!!

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Debs Williams writes:

Interesting article; but as always, where the English language is concerned, it’s not quite as clear cut as your article suggests :)

For example:

Meter -v- metre: in Britain we also use “meter”, when we’re talking about something which measures the use of something else (for example, an electricity meter, gas meter, etc). “Metre” refers to the unit of measurement, and I believe it’s a borrowed word from French (don’t quote me on it though!)

Licence/license: we do use “license” – but only as a verb :) The use of an ‘s’ or a ‘c’ – along with context – helps us know whether it’s a verb or a noun.

Canceled/cancelled: the double-L is used in British English in lots of other words too, where (I think, but I could be wrong) it’s not used in American English: travelled, marvelled, marvellous, etc

We write ‘enrol’ but ‘enrolled’ – just to confuse things further :)

Cheque and manoeuvre – I could be wrong, but aren’t these words borrowed from French?

English has so many crazy rules. I feel sorry for anyone having to learn it as a second language!

Happy Friday!

Debs :)

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Susan Leigh writes:

I was going to write these comments too Debs. Meter and metre are completely different words, as are practice and practise.
Also some words are correctly used but come up on article submission as incorrect, like secondment, unwaged, hypnotherapist.

February 24, 2012 at 5:53 PM

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Debs Williams writes:

@Big Commerce Station:

Top tip for Indian writers is to use British English :P

Debs :)

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Cyndi writes:

Toward (American) vs Towards (British)

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Jacqui writes:

US: “I will write Joe” vs UK: “I will write to Joe”

US: “One hundred twenty steps” vs UK: “One hundred and twenty steps”

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Peter writes:

This is a problem that can cause serious problems. I am from the UK and write in British English. The spelling differences are not a real problem as most people seem to understand the differences.

Even the example given regarding students at university are accepted by most readers.

I have had problems with book reviewers providing poor reviews that have had seriously affected sales.
My crime was spelling a word incorrectly because the American reviewer was not aware of the word and believed it was spelt incorrectly.

British and American English versions do have words that do not exist in each of the different versions of English.

Being British I believe that the Americans are wrong because it is English and I am English so we must be right. ;-)

Of course being English, I have little confidence so I could be wrong. I was wrong once before.

Seriously though. The different versions of the language will always be present.
Providing we stay true to one type of English, we will be understood. We are all different in many ways. Language is only one of the many ways.

The problem for writers who are not mainstream British and American writers is that they may not get through the EzineArticles review process.

Peter

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Maya Middlemiss writes:

We Brits invented the language… but you yanks invented/dominated web content and search. So I write in the ironically named ‘US English’ for most online purposes!

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a-spiritual-journey-of-healing writes:

Thank you so much for the article and for all the useful comments.

As someone has said, the problem for us Brits is that we risk being judged as bad spellers by those in the USA when we are adhering to our own rules. It is lovely to have it confirmed that EzineArticles accept both sets of spelling.

As a writer on spirituality and psychology, saviourm behaviour, and practise (as a verb) are the three that crop up the most. Oh it is so tempting to just always spell practice with a c and I am sure the majority of Brits would be fine with that.

Aside from the language differences, there are – I believe – differences in use of quotation marks, though that is unlikely to come up much in articles.

And then…oh the fun of cultural references.
I mentioned I was having fish fingers to an American friend yesterday. She thought that was hilarious and was desperate to know what they were!

With thanks,

Katherine

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Kieran Gracie writes:

Sorry – what do Americans call fish fingers?

February 29, 2012 at 5:42 AM

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a-spiritual-journey-of-healing writes:

I don’t know. Do they have them? The friend didn’t seem to recognise my description. I suspect the name was hilarious as she was visualising a fish with fingers! Can anyone from the USA help? Fish fingers are rectangular pieces of cod in a breadcrumb coating!

February 29, 2012 at 6:26 AM

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

I can’t speak for everybody here in the USA, but in the state of Wisconsin we typically call them “fish sticks” or simply “deep-fried cod”. Ironically, we have something called “chicken fingers” here, so it’s interesting that that particular nomenclature hasn’t been applied to fish as well.

- Marc

February 29, 2012 at 8:50 AM

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Marie A. Jones writes:

According to several sources, American English is in fact closer to the original English language…

Consider this:

“From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call “Americanisms” are in fact original British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies).” – Excerpt taken from EnglishClub.com/english-language-history.htm

And even the BBC cites:

“Across the Atlantic, the deluge of settlers from all over the British Isles influences the development of different American accents. The early settlers come from the west of England; the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ from Norfolk. Even to this day, remnants of these accents can be discerned in these particular areas.

“Many so-called ‘Americanisms’ today are actually remnants of Middle English that crossed the Atlantic at this time: for example, ‘I guess’ for ‘I think’, ‘gotten’ for ‘got’, ‘mad’ for ‘angry’, ‘fall’ for ‘autumn’.” – Excerpt David Crystal, The Ages of English, http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/lang_gallery_07.shtml

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Sherilyn Siegmund-Roach writes:

I especially liked the final list of words, and now I know why I have trouble spelling those words in particular.

I appreciate the insights as to the differences in spellings. Most I knew, but some I learned from this post. Thank you.

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Dee H. Dodgson writes:

If you are a British author, I’d strongly advise not to have your book reviewed in America!
I was advised to have my book professionally edited; it had been!

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Sharon writes:

I was going to mention Canadian writers, as well. We seem to side mainly with the British in terms of spelling (colour, favour, travelling, etc.) but there are notable exceptions, such as where we use ‘z’ where they use ‘s’, as in organization.
As a former journalist, I tend to go with CP style, but not everyone around me agrees with that philosophy!

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CH James writes:

I’m glad to see consistency as the emphasis of this article and not what’s correct or incorrect.

I feel people sometimes cherry-pick another region’s spelling if they’re unsure which is correct, just because they feel it looks “better” or “fancier.” Gray/grey is one of the major culprits of that here in the US. It always sticks out like a sore thumb, particularly when the audience is nearly exclusively American and no other words in a piece share grey’s across-the-pond lineage.

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Tony Scott writes:

i am a Brit who moved to the US when I was in my mid-40s. and I still struggle with American after a mere 20 years. Not so much the spelling, I change dictionaries in Word depending on whether I’m writing for a US or British audience, and just follow the wavy red lines.

It is more in the patterns, and some of the wrong-way around words – ‘pavement’ is my favorite. In the UK we walk on the pavement, not the sidewalk. In the US you drive on the pavement. so it is safer always to use the “road.”

Now, was that full stop in the right place? Also, my wife tells me I do not know how to properly set out a letter, something I got high marks for in primary (=elementary or grade) school. I’m now learning modern revised Wisconsin, including the imperative force of phrases such as “Would you like to …(e.g. do the dishes)” which apparently can never be answered in the negative.

I think the phrase which gets attributed to Churchill, that we are two nations separated by a common language, maybe had more truth in it than he intended. As it happens I got to the US from the UK by way of Australia, so I have been informed on good authority (i.e. someone with many criminals deep in their genealogy) that however you and I spell each other’s language wrong[ly], only the Australians speak it correctly.

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Michele Keighley writes:

First tip is to select the appropriate Dictionary for your spell checker – otherwise if you write in British English (or should that be English English ;) ) without changing you will be forever correcting the spell checker’s insistence on Americanisms!

Second tip is for the American readers – as others have pointed out, we do use advise and advice and can do so in the same sentence – ‘Let me advise (verb) you that I am prone to giving advice (noun) – both words are pronounced slightly different which gives the listener an accurate understanding of what you are saying.

As an ex-service persona I have always been most frustrated with the use of the word ‘defense’ when the meaning I want is ‘defence’.

Most English words (as opposed to American words) find their spelling in the etymology – cheque from the French, and while I have heard the theory that American words are supposedly closed to the Middle English language, it doesn’t hold true if you read Chaucer in the original.

We are both users of the same branch of an old Germanic language which has been adopted and adapted for our specific cultural requirements.

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Rosie Cottis writes:

I’m interested in what this means in the original post:
“The British can’t tell advise from advice.”

I’m British and we use ‘advise’ for the verb and ‘advice’ for the noun. They are pronounced differently too.

Do you do something different in American English? If so I would like to know because I often write in American English and I thought that particular usage was the same.

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

Rosie -

You’re right, that is probably not the best example. It’s obvious that you recognize the difference between the two spellings, but it’s our experience here at EzineArticles that the British often use only “advise” to represent both the verb and the noun. Americans will sometimes commit this error as well, but more often than not it’s the British who do so.

Sorry for the confusion!

- Marc

February 24, 2012 at 5:22 PM

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Al McCartan writes:

When I was at (the) university, Canberra, Australia, our English (subject) lecturer/tutor emphasised strongly that he would NOT tolerate any essays where the ‘our’ ending (e.g. Flavour) was used. He threatened to downmark any offender. He, was a New Zealander…who can be more British than the Kiwi?

The claim was that ‘OUR’ was a spillover from the twee sets of eighteenth century society who loved to pepper their communications with French spelling and intonations. This prevailed and carried over through Victorian, Edwardian, Georgian and Elizabethan – the current one – literature and other writings. We, in the colonies wore it as part of our British heritage.

I am ‘tween a rock and a hard place ‘cos I use both depending on the style requested by the publisher or medium – it doesn’t matter in radio, as the copy is read vocally. When I wrote classified copy for clients for the Sydney Morning Herald and then the Telegraph, it was British-style spelling, although the Tele was more in favo(u)r of the US-style, as am I.

We writers arew mere servants of our readers and thus we must adhere to what is wanted. My advice is be flexible but toe the line where requested.

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Terry writes:

Thank you for bringing this subject into the light. It is something all book and article writers deal with sooner or later. As an Aussie I was educated in English spelling,

I have had emails from US readers correcting my ‘spelling mistakes’. So, for my own peace of mind I now write all my internet articles in US English.

Anyone thought of doing an ebook listing all the differences between US English and English, English? Could be helpful for all writers.

T A Smith

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Sybille writes:

Interesting article – however, the different versions of the English language, as written in different countries around the world, are not dialects.

Just as there are cars (English), there are different manufacturers (different versions of the English language used in various countries around the world), and models (dialects spoken in different regions of the same country).

The Oxford Dictionary defines “dialect” in the following way:

“a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group”

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Trevor Dean writes:

Hi,

Being an Aussie I learnt the British way as well. Having also lived in America for a while the spelling of words was strange. However, what I now do is go with articles is to go with the removal of the red underscore. Except above with learnt. Have fun!

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Marizu Christopher writes:

As an African writer,there had been struggles in my mind each time i chose words to write.You have come up with facts and proves as a peace keeper between America and British English usage.Thanks for your deep observations,
do keep up your review to educate up coming writers.

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Tony writes:

Rivetting al this, isn’t?

American English uses PRACTICE as a verb whereas English English [sic] employs the ‘SE’

They reverse these usages when writing the nouns,
PRACTICE for the Queen’s English and PRACTISE for Americans.

Make fun practice/practise for Finns learning ‘us’.

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Pamela writes:

As A Literacy Specialist Teacher and an Aussie,
I am aware that the English language is the language belonging tot, and that which originated in England.

To say you can read, write and speak English,
you would need to be referring to “The English Language”. There really is only one!

There is no such thing as Aussie or American English.

Can you imagine the Germans or the French allowing a conglomoration of language called American German or American French?

Not likely!

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Sherilyn Siegmund-Roach writes:

Actually, there is French and Canadian French, and even “American French,” although it’s not called that, it’s called Creole.
I’m sure that when you get to other French-speaking countries, some of them have their own title to their French as well.
As for German, there is High German, Low German, and Swiss German as official titles, and they even have titles for their dialects. They are spoken differently and written differently, although they are dialects of the same basic language. And the people who speak those dialects do not always understand each other well, either.

February 28, 2012 at 8:22 AM

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Pamela writes:

The word “aluminium” ….American “a loom in um”
does that mean “lump” is a “loomp”?
How does one get a “oo” sound as in broom from
“um”? BEATS ME!

My guess is that these types of inconsistencies make it very difficult for American children to learn to spell.

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Pamela writes:

Thank you EzineArticles for accepting articles which use either the British or American spelling and grammar.

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Dee H. Dodgson writes:

I have to say I find U.K. English extremely difficult, and I’m British born and bred!
The English language is a difficult one to learn and our spelling is rediculous; U.S spelling is far easier.
So I take my hat off to all those folk across the world that choose English as their second language.
Thank you to everyone who’s left such interesting facts about our language, I’ve learnt a lot.

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tcbernardo writes:

While you’re at it, howcome British writers write “an history”?

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Lalitha Brahma writes:

I studied British English in my School and now I am operating a business serving mostly American clients. This article is an eye-opener. Thanks for this short, but informative post.

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Sheryl McGinnis writes:

Great article. I am an Australian-American and sometimes can’t remember which is the Australian spelling vs. the American spelling – for instance, canceled looks correct to me but so does cancelled. So I have to decide which hat to put on when writing.

Also when saying that someone is “in the hospital” that’s how we say it in America but in Australia we say “in hospital.”

These are the little nuances that can give you a clue as to where the writer is from. Viva la difference! :-)

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Vijay Khosla writes:

@ Debs Williams:

Most of the Indians use British English as they are taught Queens English in their respective school. I am a great admirer of British English, yet succumb to the dictates of my ‘Spell-Checker’ which follows American English!

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ismail writes:

If you are a British author, I’d strongly advise not to have your book reviewed in America!
I was advised to have my book professionally edited; it had been.

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Michael lowe writes:

Well i have to say when i first read this i laughed, sorry if it wasn’t meant to be funny.
I have to say that the way British culture is going it won`t make any difference in a few years.
The other day i heard a high ranking police officer using the word homicide and my daughter saying trash..
I rest my case.

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David writes:

Good article, well balanced. Here in Australia we have followed UK English though the influence of US English is strong.
A disturbing trend is the confusion / ignorance (on both sides) of the difference between plural and of possessive case. Book’s is not books. (This is in addition to the its / it’s issue that has existed for ages.)

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Sherilyn Siegmund-Roach writes:

Hear! Hear!

February 28, 2012 at 8:24 AM

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paula dewar writes:

It’s a good thing you didn’t cover Canadian English, because yes, this exists too. Just in the examples mentioned in the article, alone, there are differences! Just so you know… For example we use both “centre” and “center” as well as both “check” and “cheque” but they each have different definitions. In my opinion, our english leans more towards the British. These days depending what spell-checker you use, it can all be very ambiguous as to which to use!

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Bhimarao Sathyanarayanan writes:

There is a great use of American English. You commit any error in English, and then say it is American English.

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JR Mettler writes:

In your article above you state, “Why do British English writers insist on dropping the definite article (e.g. a, an, the, etc.) in phrases with institutional nouns (e.g. university, hospital, prison, etc.)?” Please note that “a” and “an” are not definite articles. “A” and “an” are indefinite articles. There is a big difference between, “I gave you the book,” and “I gave you a book.” The first statement indicates I could tell you which book I gave you. The second statement suggests I gave you a book, but not necessarily which one.

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Marc, Product Marketing Manager writes:

JR -

You’re absolutely right! Thanks for pointing out our error. :-) You’ll note that we’ve updated the blog post to reflect the proper verbiage.

- Marc

February 27, 2012 at 2:37 PM

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Allison Hall writes:

Here in Jamaica, I struggle with the use of American English vs British English. I just have to get use to the spellings. When I type my document, I utilise the select all feature and change it to UK English which is similar to Standard Jamaican English. But the American English seems to be penetrating us fast, as we have a lot of American publications. You just have to get use to it. Language is dynamic and changes with time.

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Kieran Gracie writes:

This is always a fascinating subject, at least for me. I agree with other commentators that English is becoming blurred as far as internet use is concerned. And I don’t think that it really matters – we all seem to understand each other. However, when writing for a specific regional audience, I try to tailor my spelling and grammar as much as possible to make readers more comfortable. This is, of course, limited by my own knowledge of the language and its different usages. That’s why I love blogs like this.

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Michael lowe writes:

There does seem to be a lot of confusion.
I like the point that someone made
“You commit any error in English, and then say it is American English”.
good idea

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Alan Hearnshaw writes:

Being an Englishman living in the US, I have to swap between English and American quite frequently.

Because I’m also pedantic, I find that I most often do one of two things: I either simply use the English spelling, or, if my audience is predominantly American, I end up going to great lengths to avoid using the word altogether!

It’s also why I put up with having tomatoes in my burgers. It’s not worth the hassle trying to tell them I don’t want Tomaydoes. ;-)

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Cuger Brant writes:

In the immortal words of Mark Twain; I don’t give a damn about a man who can only spell a word one way.

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Linda Slasberg writes:

This really made me laugh and nod my head like a thing possessed. I am British and live in the US.

I am an editor, proofreader and typist, helping writers and authors to write understandable English no matter where they are from. I understand and am able to spell both British English and American English very well.

March 14, 2012 at 11:37 AM

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Vijay Khosla writes:

Let me admit that I enjoy reading the comments made by the learned friends. It is always an interesting read.

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