As any student of English knows very well, there is an amazing variety of spelling (lexicon), meaning (morphology), pronunciation (phonetics), useage (syntax), and even punctuation in the English language amongst the many people who use English, either as their first or as an additional language. For non-native speakers of English, these differences can be both difficult to comprehend and confounding when trying to learn the language.

This page is meant to clarify some of the issues around spelling differences between American and British English. While these are by no means the only two types of English used around the world, most varieties of English take their lead from one of these two.

Issues of morphology and syntax are infinitely more complicated than spelling, and there is much greater variety around the world, so those issues will not be covered in detail here. I have included a list of common words which are different between British and American English, but only as an introduction. There is also a list of links for anyone who is interested in learning more about American and British English.

Spelling differences between American and British English

Common words in American and British English

Links to Internet sites with information on British and American English

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