American and British English Differences -- Page 5

14. American English uses many compound words spelled as a single word where British English uses them hyphenated or as two words.
Some representative examples are:

British American   British American   British American   British American   British American
proof-reader proofreader   class work classwork   non-smoking nonsmoking   kind-hearted kindhearted   under-nourish undernourish
tight-lipped tightlipped   shop-worn shopworn      
 

15. American English has some words ending in "ense" such as defense where British English ends in "ence" and spells them as defence.
Some representative examples are:

British American   British American   British American   British American   British American
defence defense   licence license   nonsence nonsense   offence offense   pretence pretense
 
16. A Motion to place on the table (often simply "table"):
British   American
Is a proposal to begin consideration of a proposal   Is a proposal to suspend consideration of a pending motion.
 
17. Periods and Commas and Quotation Marks
British   American
In British English, punctuation is only placed within quotation marks if it is part of what is being quoted or referred to.   Periods and commas go inside quotation marks regardless of logic.

On to Page 6        Back to Page 4     Back to Clear English Choices    Back to Home Page