Sidewalk, elevator, railroad, liquor: there are hundreds of words we recognise as belonging to our cousins across the pond. But unless your company is writing a film noir set in Chicago, the US copy you’re writing or checking on an average day at the office is likely to be full of much less obvious Americanisms.
When a brain programmed to British English is asked to proofread an American English text, it’s easy to let UK spellings slip through the net. We can’t help but think of ‘colour’ and ‘centre’ as correct spellings even though they’re actually misspellings in the States.
Here are our top tips for making the copy you’re writing or proofreading sound as American as a marching band on the fourth of July. (Or, if you’re a US English writer looking to make your copy pass muster at Buckingham Palace, the same rules apply, just the other way around.)
-
Words ending in -re
These often end in -er in American English
e.g. centre and litre (UK) vs. center and liter (US). -
Words ending in -our
These often end in -or in American English
e.g. labour and neighbour (UK) vs. labor and neighbor (US). -
Words ending in -ise / -isation
Many of these end in -ize or -ization in American English
e.g. organise and organisation (UK) vs. organize and organization (US). -
Words ending in -yse
These often end in -yze in American English
e.g. analyse (UK) vs. analyze (US). -
Words ending in a vowel followed by -l
In British English verb conjugations, the -l is doubled when it follows a vowel and precedes a verb ending. In US English, the -l is not doubled
e.g. fuelled and fuelling (UK) vs. fueled and fueling (US). -
Words ending in -ce or -se
In British English some words end in -ce or -se depending on whether the word is a noun or a verb, such as ‘practice’ vs. ‘practise’ and ‘licence’ vs. ‘license’. In American English these end in -se whether the word is a noun or a verb.
