Cleveland Terrace, in the City of Westminster, an inner borough in the area known as Greater London.

Lower Broadway in downtown Manhattan, part of New York City.

There are many differences between the English used in the United Kingdom versus the United States.

·      Referring to the UK photo shown above, we see what a British speaker would call a white lorry.

·      Referring to the US photo, we see what an American would call a yellow truck.

They are one and the same, but the word is different depending on where you are.

Again referring to these photos, in the United Kingdom one might say

The white lorry was in Cleveland Terrace.

while in the United States one might say

The yellow truck was on Broadway.

Also, in the United Kingdom, the raised area at the edge of the street that separates the road from the sidewalk is called a kerb. In the United States this would be known as a curb.

While a great deal of material adheres to US English conventions, there are many instances where adherence to UK English is required. There are also instances when Australian English is requested. 

To compile a complete and definitive list would be a huge undertaking, but here are some common examples showing some of the differences between US/UK/Australian English. These examples have been edited for consistency, style, and content.

UK / Australian                       US

diarrhoea                                diarrhea

oestrogen                                estrogen

foetus                                       fetus

manoeuvre                             maneuver

mementoes                             mementos

anaemia                                  anemia

caesarean                                cesarean

gynaecology                            gynecology

leukaemia                               leukemia

paediatric                                pediatric

These guidelines are specifically intended to point out the differences between Australian English and the US/UK varieties.

“or” versus “our”

Australian English follows UK conventions for words such as these:

labour, honour, rumour, flavour

The US spellings would be 

labor, honor, rumor, flavor

“er” versus “re”

Similarly, Australian English follows UK conventions for words such as these:

theatre, calibre, fibre, kilometre

The US spellings would be

 theater, caliber, fiber, kilometer.

(Note: In the United States, “theatre” is occasionally used: Microsoft Word doesn’t even flag “theatre” as a misspelling.)

“ize” versus “ise,” and “yze” versus “yse”

Australian English also follows UK conventions for words such as these:

realise, authorise, capitalise

analyse, catalyse, electrolyse, paralyse

The US spellings would be

realize, authorize, capitalize

analyze, catalyze, electrolyze, paralyze

Double Consonants

Here are the UK conventions concerning double consonants:

focussed, targetted

Australian English generally follows US conventions for these:

focused, targeted

Serial Commas

Australian and UK English prefers no use of a serial comma:

The colors in the flag are red, white and blue.

Notice there is no comma after “white.”

While US English generally prefers the use of a serial comma:

The colors in the flag are red, white, and blue.

Quotation Marks

UK and US English use different conventions for quotation marks. Australian English tends to follow UK conventions.

·      Single quote

Australian English uses single quotes for emphasis, as in UK English. 

·      Quote within quote

Australian English uses double quotes in single quotes:

‘There are no “green” apples in the basket.’

·       Punctuating quotations

In US English, the punctuation mark (i.e., the full stop or comma) always comes before the closing quotation mark, but in UK and Australian English, the punctuation mark will usually come after the closing quotation mark, unless the quotation is also a complete sentence. 

Here are examples of UK/Australian usage:

The dogwood is a deciduous shrub. ‘It stores the water in its stem, so it is a naturally competent plant.’

The dogwood is a deciduous shrub. As water is stored in its stem, it is ‘naturally competent’.

Here are the US equivalents:

The dogwood is a deciduous shrub. “It stores the water in its stem, so it is a naturally competent plant.”

The dogwood is a deciduous shrub. As water is stored in its stem, it is “naturally competent.”

It would be inappropriate and impractical to try and provide a complete exhaustive list of all of the distinctions between the three varieties. 

Considering that there are many different dictionaries available for US and UK English, always be sure to use a preferred dictionary. At Virtus, we recommend Merriam-Webster. (This is the free version; there is also a subscription-based version: Merriam-Webster Unabridged.)

For Australian English, the dictionary of choice tends to be the Macquarie dictionary:

https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/resource/6/

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