SPELLING
American vs British Spelling
Paste any text and convert it between American and British English spelling. Every changed word is highlighted with its original shown on hover.
The main spelling differences
American and British English diverged gradually from the 18th century onward — accelerated by Noah Webster's 1828 dictionary, which deliberately simplified many spellings. Most differences fall into six predictable rule families.
-or → -our
Words ending in -or in American English typically end in -our in British English.
-ize → -ise
Verbs ending in -ize in American English usually end in -ise in British English (though -ize is also accepted in some British style guides).
-er → -re
Some nouns ending in -er in American English are spelled -re in British English.
-ense → -ence
A small group of nouns differ in the -ense / -ence ending.
Double consonants
American English often uses a single consonant where British English doubles it before a suffix.
Other patterns
Various other common differences.