We have updated our writing tools. Spelling poses a major problem in English because it is not phonetic and because the rules that can be formulated nearly always have significant exceptions. In addition, there are hundreds of words that have variant spellings in different parts of the English-speaking world, the principal cleavage being between the United Kingdom and the United States.
Partly as a result of our historical links with Britain and our proximity to the United States, Canadian spelling has tended to waver between the forms used in these two countries, so that, to this day, there is no clearly established Canadian standard. While a list of words that have variant spellings in British and American practice would run into the hundreds and still not be exhaustive, the great majority of them fall into a few well-defined classes, as listed below.
The British variants are given in the left-hand column, the American in the right-hand column:. The recommended spelling authority is a reliable Canadian dictionary such as the Canadian Oxford or Gage Canadian Dictionary.
It is important to choose one and use it consistently. Both publications are based on research into Canadian usage, contain specifically Canadian terms and reflect the usage of most federal government departments and agencies more closely than do American or British dictionaries.
When they list two spellings for a word in the same entry, choose the one entered first. When two spellings are given separate entries, choose the primary spelling, which is the one followed by the definition the variant simply refers the reader to the primary entry. In light of these recommendations, use the following variant spellings: endings in ize, ization, our, re , single l as in instil and ce ; single l in words such as enrolment ; ll in travelled , etc.
Respect the official spelling of names of U. Department of Defen s e, Cent er for Disease Control. The rules and lists of words given in this chapter are intended to supplement, not replace the use of the spelling authority you choose.
The important point with respect to spelling is to be consistent in your written work unless a good reason exists for using variant or archaic spellings. Spell-checking functions are now included in word-processing programs for use with computers. They can help you eliminate, at the proofreading stage, most of the spelling and typographical errors in a document. Especially useful are the "search" feature, which can instantly locate a specific combination of letters, and the "search-and-replace" feature, which can find all instances of a misspelled word or variant spelling and replace them with the correct or preferred form.
Also, for any of the examples above, spell all words within the same category the same way throughout the entire manuscript. Spelling is tricky! I hope you found this tip helpful. Also Britain switches between -se verbs and -ce nouns as well, not just Canada. Thanks Alessandro Lancia. Thanks for catching my error.
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So — what are the differences? And finally, miscellaneous other words that are spelled differently: American British check cheque grey gray program programme learned learnt while whilst spelled spelt mustache moustache aluminum aluminium buses busses jewelry jewellery licorice liquorice Once again, Canadians use some American spellings and some British spellings. Which version s do you prefer to use? Alessandro Lancia on March 16, at pm.
The rules and lists of words given in this chapter are intended to supplement, not replace the use of the spelling authority you choose. The important point with respect to spelling is to be consistent in your written work unless a good reason exists for using variant or archaic spellings.
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