Although there are more varieties of the English language, the British and the American one are mostly the only ones we learn at school. Since none of the varieties is the right one, what is important is to stick to the use of the variety of your choice, which isn’t always easy.
What is wrong with the sentence ‘The color of the orange is also its flavour’? Well, nothing in particular really, but the author used two different varieties of English in the same sentence – American and British. How can we tell? From the spelling. ‘Color’ without the ‘u’ is American spelling, while ‘colour’ is British. Accordingly, the British spell ‘flavour’ with the ‘u’, while Americans spell it as ‘flavor’.
Here are some general spelling differences between British and American English:
Words ending in -or/-er are American (color, humor, flavor, center)
Words ending in -our/-re are British (colour, humour, flavour, centre)
Words ending in -ize are American (recognize, economize)
Words ending in -ise are British (recognise, economise)
Double -l in an unstressed syllable is British (travelling, installment)
Single -l in an unstressed syllable is American (traveling, instalment)
American spelling is usually simpler, because it tends to correspond more closely to the pronunciation. If using a PC, the best way to ensure consistency in our spelling is to choose the preferred variety of English in our Language Settings and use the spell-checker. There are really very few differences between standard British English and standard American English, the major ones being in the choice of vocabulary and pronunciation.
British and American English speakers use different words to relate to the same thing. For example, you probably know that while you have to hail a cab in New York, in London you need to get a taxi.
Here are some more examples of British English terms and their American and Croatian equivalents. Complete the table with the appropriate word or words.
