American and British English Differences

1. Spelling of words ending in "our" in British English are "or" in American English.
A representative list of such words is:
British American British American British American British American
arbour arbor armour armor candour candor colour color
ardour ardor clamour clamor enamour enamor behaviour behavior
favour favor fervour fervor flavour flavor fervour fervor
harbour harbor honour honor humour humor labour labor
odour odor parlour parlor rancour rancor rumour rumor
tumour tumor valour valor

2. Many American words ending in "or" also end in "or" in British English.
Some examples of this are:
actor anchor captor censor debtor decor donor
error factor jailor manor minor pallor pastor
razor sector terror tremor tutor victor visitor

3. The spelling of some American words ending in "er" such as center are spelled with "re" such as "centre."
Some examples of this are:
British American British American British American British American
fibre fiber centre center theatre theater calibre caliber
metre meter louvre louver lustre luster litre liter
sabre saber

4. But beware of some French words that end in "re" that are the same in both British and American English.

5. Also beware of some Spanish words such as "hombre" and "padre" which are also exceptions to the rule.

6. The French word "cadre" requires special attention. It is a word that means the nucleus of a group that is intended to form a larger group. For many years the Chinese have pronounced it a "cotter." It is correctly pronounced as "ka dray."

7. One word that deletes the "o" and changes and the "re" is "manoeuvre" in British English and "maneuver" in American English.

8. Some other spelling differences are as follows:
British American British American British American British American
cheque check plough plow storey story behove behoove

9. The use of articles is different in the two languages. The American rules for the use of the articles "a," "an" and "the" and British English is somewhat different and allows the following "The man went to hospital to see nurse." American English would require the following "The man went to a/the hospital to see a/the nurse." The choice of "a" and "the" would depend on whether he wanted to see a particular nurse at a particular hospital or any nurse at any hospital.
10. Many British words ending in "ize" also appear as ending as "ise."

Both are accepted as correct in British English while the "ize" is only acceptable in American English.
A small representative sample is shown below.
I have only included a small sample starting with the letters "a" through "g."
apologize atomize authorize barbarize bastardize brutalize cannibalize canonize capitalize
carbonize categorize cauterize centralize characterize civilize collectivize colonize conceptualize
containerize emphasize epitomize equalize familiarize finalize formalize fossilize galvanize

11. British English has some vocabulary differences from American English.
Some representative examples are:
British American British American British American British American British American
lorry truck lift elevator biscuit cookie petrol gasoline flat apartment
post mail ring call packet present pillion seat crisp potato chip
holiday vacation hired rented waggon wagon