Winston Churchill in his memoirs discusses a rather animated debate with his American counterparts in the heart of World War Two. A disagreement arose in the discussion of a particularly sensible wartime matter, which when the British side argued it should be tabled, the American delegation insisted most strongly it should not. Mutual antagonism continued for a good amount of time until it become clear that the American word ‘to table’ means to ‘leave on the table’, i.e. to defer the matter, while the British word means to ‘bring to the table’, i.e. to discuss the matter.

Misunderstandings in written English across the Atlantic divide do not often lead to diplomatic incidents, but on certain occasions, particularly foreign speakers of the language can be left confused as to exactly which form of a word is correct. American English developed on its own trajectory when the immigrants arrived on the East Coast in the 17^th Century. As more disparate immigrants arrived from far flung Chinese and Mexican places, the standard British language diverged further from its original roots. Nowadays, pronunciation and slang are perhaps the two most obvious differences between the two major forms of English. More subtle grammar and spelling variations however are those which stump journalists, students and professors alike. Here is a selection of some of the most often confused.

Recognise/ Recognize

In spelling of words from a Latin root, the British tend to use the spellings which stay closest to their original French, while the Americans, through the myriad of influences on their language, have altered come words to better mirror their English pronunciation The British standard spelling is therefore to use an ‘s’, while the Americans replace it with a ‘z’ in many verbs which use the sound ‘eyeze’. These include words such as ‘analyse/analyze’, ‘organise/organize’, or ‘popularisation/popularization’.

However just when you thought you could use a firm rule, the irregularities crop up. For example Americans would not spell the verb ‘advise’ as ‘advize’  and British would never spell ‘size’ as ‘sise’. To complicate things even further, while Americans would ‘win a prize and ‘prize open a coffin’, the British ‘win a prize’ but ‘prise open’.

Counsellor/Counselor, Enrolment/Enrollment

The use of the ‘double l’ is one of the most misunderstood differences between British and American spelling. The rule is that in British English, verbs which end ‘vowel + l’, such as ‘counsel’ or ‘travel’ will usually double that ‘l’ when ‘ed’ or ‘ing’, ‘er’ or ‘or’ are added. British writers would usually spell ‘counselling’ and ‘counsellor’, or ‘travelling’ and ‘traveller’. Americans keep the single ‘l’, so would spell ‘counselor’ and ‘traveling’.

However in a number of cases the British choose not to double but the Americans do double the ‘l’. These cases tend to be followed by consonants, and ‘-ment’ or ‘-ful’, examples including ‘enrolment’ as opposed to ‘enrollment’, ‘skilful’ rather than ‘skillful’, and more incongruously, ‘fulfil’ instead of ‘fulfill’.

Practice/Practise

Many British writers universally use the spelling ‘practice’ for both verb and noun. This, however, is an American trait gradually seeping into British culture. While Americans would say ‘That is an unusual practice’ and British would agree, Americans would ‘practice under a tree’, while it is correct in British English to ‘practise under a tree. In other words, in British English the verb should be ‘to practise’ and the noun ‘practice’, a distinction which has been erased across the Atlantic.

Learnt/Learned

The past tense of some verbs is different in British and American English. Usually, if there is a form which the past tense could use both ‘-ed’ and ‘t’, then British English would use the ‘-t’ while American English the ‘-ed’. These differences originate in pronunciation. An American would say for example ‘I dreamed that I burned his face’, while a Briton would say ‘I learnt that I had spilt my gravy’. Yet again these differences are not completely universal, as all British people would say ‘I worked in a Delicatessen’ and most Americans that ‘I knelt under the sink’.

Dived/Dove

The above spelling differences refer to the past tense, and American English has developed in a number of cases to allow more irregular forms. The two most common are ‘dove’ and ‘snuck’. In British English, although some dialects allow, it is more accepted to say ‘he dived into the river and sneaked out onto the bank’. In American English however, it is more accepted to say ‘I dove under the car and snuck into a corner, although such use is not standardised.

Gotten

The past tense again springs up in the verb ‘to get’, which is often used in America as ‘have gotten’, but treated with disdain in British circles. In American English therefore it is often used to take the place of ‘acquired’ and became’. Therefore an American could say that ‘He’s gotten a new knife’ or ‘I’ve gotten very fond of his sister’, but a British speaker would refer back to ‘He has got a new knife’. However as the use of ‘got’ itself is frowned upon in written English, the use of ‘gotten’ is better used in informal and oral language

These examples are just a selection of the subtle areas which differentiate the spelling and grammar of American and British English, and give a taste of the confusions which can result for learners of the language and native speakers alike. It is most important to stay consistent in the use of American or British forms.