Spelling
Spelling
Even within the English language, there is a big split between UK (British) and US (American) English. Australia primarily uses UK English, meaning U.S spelling will be considered incorrect unless using U.S English has been a deliberate choice, such as where an American place would be spelled in U.S spelling, e.g. San Diego Convention Center (not centre).
Make sure the language in Word/Pages is set to English (Australia) or English (British). However, due to the reach of US culture American spelling or grammar may sometimes look more familiar than UK conventions.
If you’re preparing English writing for an overseas publication, you’ll have to check whether that country uses US or UK English. For example, Singapore, Australia and Germany use UK English. Whereas, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines use US English.
The Oxford comma is not commonly used in UK English unless the sentence is confusing without it. You'll notice in US English spelling the contrast is often exhibited in the use of ‘z’.
SUFFIXES
-
-ise
-ae
-our
-gramme
-ence
-
-ize
-e
-or
-gram
-ense
conventions
-
UK
Period/comma outside quotation marks
USA
Period/comma inside quotation marks
-
UK
Without periods, UN, GPS, Mrs
USA
With periods U.N., G.P.S, Mrs.
-
UK
Singular (Australia has won)
USA
Plural (Australia have won)
-
UK
Rarely used, unless omitting would create confusion
USA
Almost always used
-
UK
Colon used (1:30pm)
USA
Colon used (1:30pm)
Miscellaneous
spelling
differences
-
Aluminium
Behoves
Cheque
Cypher
Draught
Tyre
Yoghurt
Judgement
-
Aluminum
Behooves
Check
Cipher
Draft
Tire
Yogurt
Judgment
JANUS
WORDS
A janus word is a word that can have opposite meanings depending on context. There’s a few words that carry opposite meanings in the UK versus the US.
-
UK
up for debate
USA
not worth debating
-
UK
to take something up
USA
to put something to rest
-
UK
not
USA
very
-
UK
cosy
USA
plain
-
UK
success
USA
failure
-
UK
winning (strike oil)
USA
losing (strike out)
