Has your spelling checker ever confused you by suggesting that “practise” should be “practice” or that “realize” should be “realise” – or vice versa? That can happen according to which proofing language your word processor (e.g. Microsoft Word) is set to – British or American.
Why do British and American spelling sometimes differ?
The introduction to the Spelling section in English Toolkit explains that a lot of our words are derived from Latin and Greek. The “ize” endings that we have in many words come from the Greek suffix izo. That is why the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) prefers to use “z” in words such as organize, realize, privatize rather than organise, realise, privatise.
In French, which is a sibilant language (full of “s” sounds), the equivalents of such words are spelt with an “s” – organiser, realiser, privatiser. According to linguists, a drift to using “ise” endings began in the late Nineteenth century because French became fashionable…(and perhaps the sibilant sounds were less harsh on the ear.) That fashion did not extend to America!
It is ironic that a lot of institutions in Britain, Canada and Australia have opted to use “ise” endings in the mistaken belief that “ize” is just an American convention, given that American spelling is in line with OED preferred spelling!
The chart below indicates some OED preferences (based on etymology) and the popular trends in countries as indicated. While “ise” endings have become commonplace in Australia and the UK (and to some extent in Canada), many academics prefer to use the “ize” endings. Spelling in the U.S.A. is the most uniform. While “ize” endings are usual in Canada, “ise” is also not uncommon. The main thing about style in any text is to be consistent.
| Oxford Dictionary Preference | Colloquial UK | Australia | Canada | U.S.A. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| apologize | apologise | apologise | apologize | apologize |
| baptize | baptise | baptise | baptize | baptize |
| categorize | categorise | categorise | categorize | categorize |
| criticize | criticise | criticise | criticize | criticize |
| exercize | exercise | exercise | exercize | exercize |
| organize | organise | organise | organize | organize |
| specialize | specialise | specialise | specialize | specialize |
| theorize | theorise | theorise | theorize | theorize |
While similar differences occur in words such as “licence” and “license”, where the use of the endings “ce” and “se” may cause a little confusion, the chart below shows that there is a lot of consistency, with all countries except the USA using “ce” for nouns but “se” for verbs. America uses “se” for both nouns and verbs – except, confusingly, for “practice”, which is used as both a noun and verb!
| UK | Australia | Canada | U.S.A. |
|---|---|---|---|
| licence (n) license (v) |
licence (n) license (v) |
licence (n) license (v) |
licence (n & v) |
| offence (n) | offence (n) | offence (n) | offense (n) |
| defence (n) | defence (n) | defence (n) | defense (n) |
| pretence (n) | pretence (n) | pretence (n) | pretense (n) |
| practice (n) practise (v) |
practice (n) practise (v) |
practice (n) practise (v) |
practice (n & v) |
So what do we do if we need to use one of these words as an adjective?!
In English, many nouns can also function as adjectives: school bus, mountain bike, movie studio, finger painting. Once we understand this, we know that if we need an adjective from the table above, we use the noun.
Thus we have a licence plate, a defence strategy, a music practice room. (So whether musicians are practicing in America or practising in Australia…they will have a practice session in a practice room!)