Spelling - BrE & AmE

Spelling differences between British English and American English

British/American

Spelling

-our/-or

Unstressed syllables, AmE tends to spell -or instead of -our.

BrE AmE
armour armor
behaviour behavior
colour color
endeavour endeavor
favour favor
flavour flavor
glamour glamor, glamour
harbour harbor
honour honor
humour humor
labour labor
neighbour neighbor
rigour rigor
rumour rumor
saviour savior, saviour
vigour vigor

-re/-er

BrE AmE
centre center
fibre fiber
litre liter
metre meter
sabre saber
spectre specter
theatre theater

Special cases

BrE AmE
acre acre
cadre cadre
genre genre
lucre lucre
massacre massacre
mediocre mediocre
ogre ogre
timbre timbre

-l/-ll

Unstressed syllables

Base BrE AmE
jewel jeweller jeweler
travel traveller, travelled, travelling traveler, traveled, traveling
wool woollen woolen

Stressed syllables

BrE AmE
appal appall
enrol enroll
distil distill
fulfil fulfill
skilful skillful

Special cases

BrE AmE
install install
expel expel
repel repel
until until

-ise/-ize ?

BrE AmE
apologise or apologize apologize
authorise or authorize authorize
characterise or characterize characterize
emphasise or emphasize emphasize
minimise or minimize minimize
organise or organize organize
recognise or recognize recognize
specialise or specialize specialize
stabilise or stabilize stabilize

Special cases

BrE AmE
advertise advertise
advise advise
arise arise
chastise chastise
exercise exercise
revise revise
rise rise
supervise supervise
surprise surprise
televise televise

-yse/-yze

BrE AmE
analyze
breathalyze
paralyze

ae, oe/e

BrE AmE
paediatrician pediatrician
paedophile pedophile
aesthetic esthetic
encyclopaedia, encyclopedia encyclopedia

Special cases

BrE AmE
paella paella

Others

BrE AmE Explanation
analogue analog
axe ax
catalogue catalog
cheque check

Vocabulary

BrE AmE Explanation
crisps chips 薯片
chips (French) fries 薯條
plaster Band-Aid 止血貼
chemist drugstore pharmacy
bonnet hood the front of the car.引擎罩,引擎蓋
boot trunk the back of the car.車尾箱
trainer sneaker 波鞋
gherkin pickle (醃)小黃瓜
rubbish bin trash can 쓰레기통
cinema movie theater
shopping centre mall
high street main street 購物街
skipping rope jump rope 跳繩
fish fingers fish sticks 魚柳條
starter appetizer 開胃菜,前菜
biscuit cookie 小甜餅
lift elevator 升降機,𨋢
reception kindergarten 學前班(5~6歲)
nursery( school), kindergarten preschool 幼兒園(2~5歲)
primary school elementary school 小學
N/A middle school, junior high school 初中
secondary school high school 高中
university college 大學
college N/A sixth form, last 2 years of high school.學院,技校(16歲之後)
underground, tube subway
noughts and crosses tic-tac-toe 井字棋
courgette zucchini 小胡瓜
aubergine eggplant 矮瓜,茄瓜
car park parking lot 停車場
full stop a period 句號
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