Spelling differences between American and British English abound. One estimate holds that there are over 1,700 such differences. They are thought to result from British spellings keeping more to the original French spellings of many words derived from French. Americans have had a tendency over the years to spell words more phonetically and to drop some letters.

Change -or to -our, -ze to -se, and -er to -re. Words such as "honor" become "honour." "Favorite" becomes "favourite," "color" becomes "colour." "Criticize" and "analyze" change to "criticise" and "analyse." "Center" is converted to "centre," and "theater" to "theatre."

Add an "l" to words that end in one "l" when adding a suffix. "Counseling" becomes "counselling," and "signaling" is "signalling." Other words that, in American English, have two "l's" become words with only one "l," such as is seen in "enrollment" and the British version, "enrolment."

Change -ense to -ence, -og to -ogue, and -ck or -k to -que. When you write a "check," you have written a "cheque." Words like "pretense" become "pretence" and "defense" is now "defence." "Dialog" is converted to "dialogue" and "catalog" is "catalogue."

Change -dg or -gu to -dge or -gue, convert -gram to -gramme and change -e/-o/-eu to -ae/-oe/-oeu. "Judgment" in a court case becomes a "judgement." While you watch your favorite "program" on TV in the States, you'd be watching your favorite "programme" in the U.K. If you weigh 55 "kilograms" in America, you'd weigh 55 "kilogrammes" in England. Convert "encyclopedia" to "encyclopaedia," "archeology" to "archaeology," "maneuver" to "manoeuvre," "medieval" to "mediaeval" and "mementos" to "mementoes."

Watch for other miscellaneous differences in spelling, such as" jewelry" to "jewellery," "pajamas" to "pyjamas" and "tire" to "tyre." Additional examples are listed on the website in the Resources section.