EMEA and APAC audiences, both highly relevant target markets for INFUSE, adopt British English standards. Therefore, our assets are created in two versions: U.S. English and UK English. For more guidance on this process, refer to the Creative Briefing Guide.
This section serves as a cheat sheet for the most commonly occurring terms that are spelled differently for each of these standards. Remember that derivative words should receive the same treatment: as “realize” becomes “realise,” “realizing” must also be changed to “realising,” for example.
Additionally, running text searches for similar variations is essential to cover terms possibly absent from this list.
U.S. English words losing an “E”
Some U.S. English words are spelled without an E that is still present in their British counterpart.
Search query: For this rule, searching for the individual words is more efficient
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
acknowledgment
acknowledgement
aging
ageing
judgment
judgement
movable
moveable
sizable
sizeable
Words ending with “-ense”
British spelling sometimes changes this root to “-ence.”
Search query: ense
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
defense
defence (note that the adjective is still spelled “defensive”)
license
licence (this applies to the noun form, while the verb remains “license”)
offense
offence (similarly, the adjective form remains spelled “offensive”)
pretense
pretenсe
Words ending with “-er”
Some radicals ending in “-er” are changed to “-re” for their British variations.
Search query: er
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
caliber
calibre
center, centered
centre, centred
fiber
fibre
liter
litre
luster, lackluster
lustre, lacklustre
meager
meagre
meter, kilometer, centimeter
metre, kilometre, centimetre
specter
spectre
theater
theatre
Words with “L”
These words, written with a single L in American English require the letter to be doubled in their British counterparts.
Search query: For this rule, searching for the individual words is more efficient
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
canceled
cancelled
counselor, counseling
counsellor, counselling
dialing
dialling
equaling
equalling
fueled, fueling
fuelled, fuelling
labeling
labelling
marveled
marvelled
modeling
modelling
paralleled
parallelled
quarreled, quarreling
quarrelled, quarrelling
signaling
signalling
traveled, traveling
travelled, travelling
Words with “LL”
Conversely, some words lose one L in their UK English counterparts.
Search query: ll
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
enrollment
enrolment
fulfill
fulfil
installment
instalment
skillful
skilful
Words ending with “-og”
British English will often add “-ue” to the end of these words.
Search query: og
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
dialog
dialogue
analog
analogue
catalog
catalogue
Words ending with “-or”
Some words with radicals ending in “-or” often change to “-our” in UK English.
Search query: or
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
armor
armour
behavior
behaviour
color
colour
demeanor
demeanour
endeavor
endeavour
favor, favorite
favour, favourite
flavor
flavour
harbor
harbour
honor
honour
humor
humour
labor
labour
neighbor
neighbour
rumor
rumour
savior
saviour
vigor
vigour
Verbs ending with “-ize”
Most verbs ending with “-ize” in U.S. English should be written with “-ise” for UK English.
Search query: ize
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
analyze
analyse
apologize
apologise
criticize
criticise
customize
customise
emphasize
emphasise
finalize
finalise
legalize
legalise
mobilize
mobilise
organize
organise
patronize
patronise
prioritize
prioritise
realize
realise
recognize
recognise
summarize
summarise
theorize
theorise
Verbs ending with “z”
Similar to the rule above, but for nouns and other word classes.
Search query: z
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
appetizer
appetiser
civilization
civilisation
colonization
colonisation
customization
customisation
organization
organisation
British spellings with “ae,” “oe,” and “oeu”
These vowel encounters have been long phased out in U.S. English, but remain in use in the UK variation.
Search query: For this rule, searching for the individual words is more efficient
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
medieval
mediaeval
mementos
mementoes
maneuver
manoeuvre (see the “-er” rule above)
gynecology
gynaecology
pediatric
paediatric
Other words
Despite not fitting into any of the categories previously discussed, these words are also spelled differently in British English.
Search query: Search for the individual words
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
airplane
aeroplane
aluminum
aluminium
artifact
artefact
check, checkbook
cheque, chequebook
gray
grey
mold
mould
practice (verb)
practise (verb)
skeptic
sceptic
tire
tyre
Quote punctuation
British English utilizes single quotation marks in place of doubles, which are reserved in this variation only for nested quotes. Additionally, its rules for punctuation nearing quote marks differ slightly from the American standard. When quotes are followed by a comma or a period, the punctuation must be outside of the quotation marks.
Search query: .” | ,”
Examples:
AMERICAN ENGLISH
BRITISH ENGLISH
“The true power of brand-to-demand lies in its adaptability,” said Alex.
‘The true power of brand-to-demand lies in its adaptability’, said Alex.