In the early 18th century, English spelling was inconsistent. These differences became noticeable after the publication of influential See more

-our, -or
Most words ending in an unstressed ‑our in British English (e.g., behaviour, colour, favour, flavour, harbour, honour, humour, labour, neighbour, rumour, splendour) end in ‑or in American English (behavior, color, See more

-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)
Origin and recommendations
The -ize spelling is often incorrectly seen in Britain as an … See more

British English sometimes keeps a silent "e" when adding suffixes where American English does not. Generally speaking, British English drops it in only some cases in which it is needed to show pronunciation whereas American English only uses it where … See more

ae and oe
Many words, especially medical words, that are written with ae/æ or oe/œ in British English are written with just an e in American English. The sounds in question are /iː/ or /ɛ/ (or, unstressed, /i/, /ɪ/ or /ə/). Examples (with non … See more

The plural of the noun bus is usually buses, with busses a minor American variant. Conversely, inflections of the verb bus usually double … See more

A "c" is generally soft when followed by an "e", "i", or "y". One word with a pronunciation that is an exception in British English, "sceptic", is spelled "skeptic" in American English. See Miscellaneous spelling differences below. See more