Are You Writing English Right? Part 2

byrevansca

166 followers

Updated 4 years ago

Part 1 of this series of posts on the topic of recognizing that we have a global audience can be found at: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/revansca/blog/are-you-writing-english-right/comment/31406349

Part 2: Writing Communicates

The notes I get from my grandchildren communicate to me a lot about my teenage grandsons, an almost Middle School granddaughter, and a third, youngest grandson who is at the beginning of his elementary schooling. I get a pretty clear picture of how their vocabulary, for example, is developing. Often, I encounter a word in a note that causes me to stop and reflect; "Is that the correct spelling?" or, "Is that the correct word?" Even a simple sentence like, 'The sky was gray' makes me stop and think. Yes, for my Californian grandchildren that is the correct spelling, but their English cousin would expect it to be, 'The sky was grey'. Usually 'gray' in England would have a capitalized 'G' because it most likely to be the family name of a person, someone like Richard Gray (who was one of my closest friends in Primary School), as an example. Oh, yes. Another pause-for-thought moment… In England, it's Primary School, but in California, it's Elementary School, but what about the rest of the USA? They’ll understand you if you say ‘Elementary School’ in the UK, but you won’t necessarily be understood immediately in the USA if you say ‘Primary School’. Also, since I am originally from the U.K., I recognize the word 'grey' immediately to be a colour, which, in England, is how the word 'color' in the USA is spelt.

Spelt, or is it spelled? Well, both have been around since the 18th century and earlier in both British English and American English. One reference source, Grammarly, explains: "Spelled and Spelt—Examples. Considering local custom when choosing spelled or spelt can help you to get your point across without unnecessary distraction. In the United States, stick with 'spelled'. Elsewhere, spelt is an acceptable option." Interestingly enough 'spelt' is also a noun, the name given to hulled wheat which is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BC, and you can buy spelt both in the USA and in the U.K., so you’ll be relying on the context to differentiate when using the word ‘spelt’.

Awareness of Your Audience

Choosing to spell color with a 'u', colour, instead of without a 'u' requires awareness as does gray versus grey. Awareness of the most common British/UK English versus American English spelling mistakes can help a lot. Here are a few guidelines - which need to be applied with care because there are almost as many exceptions as there are instances that follow these rules:

First, then, are those words that have a 'u' in them in British English but not in American English: Color/Colour; Favor/Favour; Flavor/Flavour; Humor/Humour; Labor/Labour; Neighbor/Neighbour; Savor/Savour; Savior/Saviour ...

Second on the list are words like Center, Liter, Meter, and Theater, which are all spelled with 'er' at the end in American English, but in British English, they are spelled with 're' at the end: Centre, Metre, Litre, and Theatre. The UK English spelling ‘theatre’ is also sometimes acceptable in the USA, but is likely to be questioned.

Third, on the list are words where the British English spelling has a double 'l' (L), but the American English has only one 'l': Traveler/Traveller, Traveled/Travelled and Traveling/Travelling; Fueling/Fuelling, Fueled/Fuelled, Refueling/Refuelling, Refueled/Refuelled.

Fourth on the list are words where 's' in American English spelling is replaced by 'c' in British English spelling: Defense/Defence, License/Licence, Offense/Offence, Pretense/Pretence.

Fifth on the list are words where 's' in British English is replaced by 'z' in American English: Analyze/Analyse, Analyzing/Analysing, Apologize/Apologise, Breathalyze/Breathalyse, Organize/Organise, Paralyze/Paralyse, Paralyzing/Paralysing, Realize/Realise, Recognize/Recognise. So are you able to recognize which is the American and which is the British version? A clue that I use is to consider the phonetic pronunciation; 'how does the word sound?' Usually, the American spelling is the one that sounds closest to how it's spelled. While you should always use 'ize', in the U.S.A., according to the Oxford English dictionary, the ‘z’ version is sometimes acceptable in the UK, meaning either can be used in the U.K. but be aware it might be questioned.

Sixth on our list are words that have double consonants in UK English but only a single consonant in American English. ‘Program’ is a word that is an example of American English opting for a simplified version of a word as the UK English spelling is Programme.

‘S’ in it in British English, however, it is often spelled with only a single ‘s’ in U.S. English. The spelling in the U.K. is not always ‘focussed’, however, ‘focused’ is at least as common as ‘focussed’ and so it is not a critical word to concern yourself over – but at least you now know that when you see focused spelled with ‘ss’ it is not necessarily a typing error.

Finally, for this blog post, the next word that comes to mind where the spelling is different is the word 'tire'; as in a pneumatic tire, a tire (usually made of rubber) on the wheel of a vehicle. In British English, it is spelled ‘tyre’. “Why is it spelt with a ‘y’?” you ask. The answer is: so that you know whether a vehicle has pneumatic accessories on its wheels; tyred, or it is old, worn out, and should be scrapped (tired)!

In part 3, we will look at more words that have alternative spellings.