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A guide to the differences between UK and US English
Author : Catie Holdridge
Posted : 10 / 05 / 11
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According to playwright George Bernard Shaw, the UK and the US are ‘two countries divided by a common language’. We may not need translators to converse, but you can save potential embarrassment or confusion by learning some of the writing differences.
Most UK-English speakers know that ‘colour’ (not ‘color’) and ‘centre’ (not ‘center’) are correct, but should it be ‘benefited’ or ‘benefitted’, ‘travelling’ or ‘traveling’, ‘recognise’ or ‘recognize’? You may not be able to rely on the spell check for the answer.
Our UK and US English guide reveals the main differences between our use of punctuation, grammar, some vocabulary and spelling. Use it to discover what to do when the rules are not clear cut.
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