Spelling Variants: Why Are They Important?

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Have you ever written about the ‘Colors’ of the rainbow or how friendly your ‘Neighbour’ is and got poor marks because of so many spelling mistakes?

Did your spell checker ever show a word spelled wrong which you can swear is spelled exactly how you learnt in school? Well, you are not the only one.

Spelling variants, also known as alternate spellings of words, is an issue for both teachers and students while learning spelling. Students, especially ESL students who are unaware of the variations of the new language they are learning, often face difficulty in learning the language because of it. Even native speakers go through many problems for not knowing how the other country spells some words.

Occurrences like this can not only confuse the learner but hamper their confidence as well. That is why you must teach your students or children about the spelling variations for certain words. In this article, we will discuss spelling variants and their effects. If you are a student, this article would be of great help to you as we would be providing examples as well.

Let’s get started!

Why Spelling Variants Exist?

Before starting, we should answer one basic question- why do these spelling variants exist? Well, to answer this question, we need to take a look at history.

The spread of the former British Empire and British colonization holds immense importance in World history. They conquered a vast area of the world and spread their culture and language in those regions. English was introduced in numerous parts of the world by the British.

Over the centuries, the English language used in those parts has significantly changed from the original form, the ‘British English’. For example, what the Americans call ‘Gas Station’ is called ‘Petrol Station’ by the British and ‘Servo’ by the Australians. The same goes for Candy (the USA), Sweets (The UK) and Lollies (Australia).

Like the usage, the spelling of the words varies too. Many of us already dealt with the problem of ‘Color’ and ‘Colour’, ‘Jewelry’ and ‘Jewellery’ etc. And not just spelling, grammar, date formats and many other things differ from region to region.

Why Do We Need to Learn About Spelling Variants?

Well, even if these spelling variants exist, why do we need to know about them? Schools often use a globally accepted variant, so why is it important to know other variations?

Avoid Confusion

The main reason why it is required to learn about other variants is to avoid confusion. In this modern age, you would frequently see contents that use other variants. It is natural to be confused and judge the creator if you don’t know about the spelling differences. Reading books and articles from other countries might be troublesome. So, having a clear idea about the spelling variations is necessary.

For Appropriate Writing

If you are writing your statement of purpose for a British university, it is convenient that you will use British English. Similarly, if the majority of your readers are American, you should use American English to make your blogs reach more people. Knowing and using the variant appropriate for a particular region is kind of a norm. It also makes you be treated better by the natives.

Mixing Up Spelling Variants

If you are not familiar with the variations, you might mix the variants in your writing which is not tolerated anywhere. You need to have profound knowledge about the rules and patterns in each variant before using them. If you are writing about your ‘Enrollment’ in a course, you have declared that you are using American English; therefore, the course can never be your ‘Favourite’.

Why Spell Checkers Aren’t Reliable

Spelling variants are one of the main reasons why spell checkers are not always effective. Some spell checkers have options to choose which variant you want to choose but most of them follow only one.

Proofreading

If you want to build a career in proofreading, it is mandatory for you not just know about the spelling variants but to master them. You also need to know about grammar variations, vocabulary differences etc.

Do you want to learn vocabulary acquisition strategies? Check out this blog now!

How Many Spelling Variants Are in English?

So, do we need to know about all the spelling variants across the world? And can I make my own spelling variation? Sounds tempting, but no, we can’t. The variations that are accepted globally originated from English-Speaking countries other than the UK. And while other non-English-speaking countries can accept all the spelling variants, one English-speaking country might not be so tolerant towards the variations of another country.

There are mainly two spelling variants accepted globally- American and British English. British English is obviously the most widespread and accepted variant, but the popularity of American English cannot be ignored. One of the main reasons American English Spelling being so popular is that it often omits unnecessary letters from words such as ‘Neighbor’ (British: Neighbour), Catalog (British: Catalogue) etc.

There are also Australian and Canadian variants, but they are only a few and not widespread either. Below are some examples of spelling differences in British, American, Canadian and Australian English:

British	American	Canadian	Australian
Centre	Center	Centre	Centre
Analyse	Analyze	– Analyze	Analyze
Defence	Defense	Defence	Defence
Travelling	Traveling	Travelling	Travelling
Programme	Program	Program	Program
Ageing	Aging	Ageing	Ageing
Grey	Gray	Grey	Grey

As you can see from the words above, Canadian and Australian English use both American and British English for spelling. So, in this article, we will mainly focus on British and American spellings.

Spelling Variations Examples

Spelling differences between American and British English can be categorized in different sectors. In this article, we would talk about:

Adding letters
Removing letters
Changing letters
Changing places of letters in a word etc.
Multiple spelling of a word in one variant

Removing Letters

The main difference between the two spelling variants is that American English often omits silent letters. This way, it is easy to remember the spelling.

Do you want to know an interesting fact? British Spelling is mostly close to French Spelling. So, if you are a French ESL student, it would be easier for you to learn the British variant.

Here are some examples for you to understand better:

Change	British	American
-our to -or	Behaviour, Colour, Favour, Neighbour	Behavior, Color, Favor, Neighbor
-ll to -l	Travelling	Traveling
-gue to -g	Analogue, Catalogue, Dialogue	Analog, Catalog, Dialog
-ae to -e	Aesthetic, Archaeology	Esthetic, Archeology
-lle to -l	Jewellery	Jewelry
-mme to -m	Programme	Program

Adding Letters

In some spelling, American English adds a word. For example:

Change	American	British
-l to -ll	Enrollment, Fulfill	Enrolment, Fulfil
-p to -pp	Worshipped	Worshiped
Adding an e	Acknowledgement	Acknowledgement

Changing Letters

Instead of reducing or adding letters, some letters are replaced with another one. For example:

Change	British	American
-ce to -se	Defence, Offence	Defense, Offense
-se to -ze	Categorise, Realise	Categorize, Realize
-sa to -za	Personalisation, Realisation	Personalization, Realization
-ey to -ay	Grey	Gray
-lt to -led	Learnt, Spelt	Learned, Spelled

Changing The Place of Letters

In the American spelling rule, -re is often replaced with -er. For example,

British	American
Centre	Center
Sombre	Somber
Litre	Liter
Fibre	Fiber
Theatre	Theater

Multiple Spelling of a Word

In British English, there are multiple spellings of a word depending on the usage of the word (Noun, Verb) while American English has only one. This is important to remember the variation while using them in a sentence. Below are some examples of such words:

British	Distinction	American
Licence	Noun	License
License	Verb	License
Practice	Noun	Practice
Practise	Verb	Practice
Check	Verb	Check
Cheque	Noun	Check

However, some words have different spellings in both spelling variants such as Advice (Noun) and Advise (Verb).

There are also other words that are spelled differently in each variant such as:

Barbeque- Barbecue
Disc- Disk
Whiskey- Whisky etc.

Learning about spelling variants can be a good addition to your spelling club activities. Learn more about other activities now!

How To Teach Spelling Variants in The Classroom?

Rather than in kindergarten, spelling variants should be taught to advanced level students, possibly in high school. Beginners might find them confusing and that will hamper the learning process. As these variations would matter greatly in higher studies or in professional life, high school students should have great knowledge about this.

Introducing the variants is a sensitive issue; therefore, teachers should be careful while teaching it. Here are some tips:

Encourage the students to read articles or chapters in novels that include the alternate spellings. Seeing them for the first time might make the students uncomfortable and curious and that would be your cue to introduce the spelling variants.
Teach them about the necessities of knowing the spelling variations so that they become serious.
Give them a list of words that has multiple spellings. This way, they will have a clear idea about which words to look out for.

If you are looking for some spelling words lists with American Spelling for practice, check out SpellQuiz Printable Word lists that are divided into grades and there are multiple lists for each grade. SpellQuiz uses American English Spelling for all the tests, exercises, and other contents. You can print them to use in your class or hang them on your wall to always keep them near hand. There are separate lists for Spelling Bee Competition for intense practice.

You can also practice your spelling in SpellQuiz Spelling Practice to see your progress before taking any test. This will help you improve quicker and boost your confidence.

Happy Spelling!