American vs British English

American and British English Differences

1. Spelling of words ending in “our” in British English are “or” in American English.
A representative list of such words is:

British	American		British	American		British	American		British	American
arbour	arbor		armour	armor		candour	candor		colour	color
ardour	ardor		clamour	clamor		enamour	enamor		behaviour	behavior
favour	favor		fervour	fervor		flavour	flavor		fervour	fervor
harbour	harbor		honour	honor		humour	humor		labour	labor
odour	odor		parlour	parlor		rancour	rancor		rumour	rumor
tumour	tumor		valour	valor

2. Many American words ending in “or” also end in “or” in British English.
Some examples of this are:

actor	anchor	captor	censor	debtor	decor	donor
error	factor	jailor	manor	minor	pallor	pastor
razor	sector	terror	tremor	tutor	victor	visitor

3. The spelling of some American words ending in “er” such as center are spelled with “re” such as “centre.”
Some examples of this are:

British

American

British

American

British

American

British

American

fibre

fiber

centre

center

theatre

theater

calibre

caliber

metre

meter

louvre

louver

lustre

luster

litre

liter

sabre

saber

4. But beware of some French words that end in “re” that are the same in both British and American English.
Some examples of these are:

genre

Notre

Entrée

émigré

cadre

lucre

5. Also beware of some Spanish words such as “hombre” and “padre” which are also exceptions to the rule.
6. The French word “cadre” requires special attention. It is a word that means the nucleus of a group that is intended to form a larger group. For many years the Chinese have pronounced it a “cotter.” It is correctly pronounced as “ka dray.”
7. One word that deletes the “o” and changes and the “re” is “manoeuvre” in British English and “maneuver” in American English.
8. Some other spelling differences are as follows:

British	American		British	American		British	American		British	American
cheque	check		plough	plow		storey	story		behove	behoove

9. The use of articles is different in the two languages. The American rules for the use of the articles “a,” “an” and “the” and British English is somewhat different and allows the following “The man went to hospital to see nurse.” American English would require the following “The man went to a/the hospital to see a/the nurse.” The choice of “a” and “the” would depend on whether he wanted to see a particular nurse at a particular hospital or any nurse at any hospital.
10. Many British words ending in “ize” also appear as ending as “ise.”
Both are accepted as correct in British English while the “ize” is only acceptable in American English.
A small representative sample is shown below.
I have only included a small sample starting with the letters “a” through “g.”

apologize	atomize	authorize	barbarize	bastardize
carbonize	categorize	cauterize	centralize	characterize
containerize	emphasize	epitomize	equalize	familiarize
brutalize	cannibalize	canonize	capitalize
civilize	collectivize	colonize	conceptualize
finalize	formalize	fossilize	galvanize

11. British English has some vocabulary differences from American English.
Some representative examples are:

British	American		British	American		British	American
lorry	truck		lift	elevator		biscuit	cookie
post	mail		ring	call		packet	present
holiday	vacation		hired	rented		waggon	wagon
billy	tin pan		barrister	lawyer		bonnet	hood
reck	care		pub	bar		nil	nothing

British	American		British	American
petrol	gasoline		flat	apartment
pillion	seat		crisp	potato chip
aeroplane	airplane		chaff	tease
football	soccer		handbarrow	wheelbarrow
tyre	tire		snigger	snicker