Why do the British spell words differently?
The differences often come about because British English has tended to keep the spelling of words it has absorbed from other languages (e.g. French), while American English has adapted the spelling to reflect the way that the words actually sound when they’re spoken.
How do you write meters in British English?
“Metre” is the British spelling of the unit of length equal to 100 cm, and “meter” is the American spelling of the same unit.
Which is correct Centre or center?
Center and centre have the same meaning. Center is the correct spelling in American English, while in British English centre is correct. Notice that center (and centre) can be a noun, adjective, or a verb.
Why do British add u to words?
The U in honour, favourite, and other words was part of the original spelling and has lived on in British countries. In the US, Noah Webster was a spelling reformer. He published a dictionary and took out those U’s because he thought they were unnecessary.
Why do the Brits say Aluminium?
Aluminum = The British pronunciation is a tongue twister. It comes easier after a few tries. But, then you’re in danger of forgetting how to say it in American-English. Sounding it out may help, al-loo-MIN-ee-um … There’s a second “i” in the British form of the word, aluminium, hence the extra syllable.
Is there a difference between Metre and meter?
Metre is the standard spelling of the metric unit for length in nearly all English-speaking nations except the United States and the Philippines, which use meter. Other Germanic languages, such as German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages, likewise spell the word Meter or meter.
Why is meter spelled Metre?
If you think about how this word is pronounced, the ‘r’ sound comes after the ‘e’ sound, so spelling it ‘meter’ means the letters are written in the same order as they are pronounced.
Is Metre the same as meter?
Does Canada use British English?
Most people switch spellings often even in the same sentence. An average Canadian would probably use full American English, but most governmental buildings, documents, etc are in British English because that is the legal standard. Of the Canadians use British spelling.
Is Z American or English?
British spelling comes from wherever it came from, and ‘s’/’z’ accordingly; American spelling changes many of those to the more phonetic ‘z’.
Why do Brits pronounce it leftenant?
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. The lower ranked soldier on the “left” protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term leftenant developed.
Why is the word ‘metre’ used in American English instead of ‘meter’?
In American English, there’s a tidier system and a desire to have spelling match pronunciation more closely, so words with French origins get assimilated into the American style: ‘theatre’ becomes ‘theater’, and ‘colour’ becomes ‘color’, and – you guessed it – ‘metre’ becomes ‘meter’ (this one actually isn’t French, but from the Greek ‘metron’).
Is it pronounced meter or centre meter?
‘And the way how the british pronounce “centre metre” is extremely different than how americans pronounce it’. No, metre and meter are pronounced the same. Metre is the official spelling of the measurement, meter is the american spelling of it/. It’s just spellings mate, meter and metre are pronounced the same.
Is it ‘meter’ or ‘litre’?
The first use of ‘litre’ is recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary in 1797, and the spelling was kept consistent with ‘metre’/’meter’ in each variety of English: the US went with -er and the UK went with -re. Phew! Glad we’ve got all that cleared up.
Is it legal to use meter instead of meter?
◊ It is currently legal in the USA to use either spelling of metre or meter. ◊ In 1926, although Webster’s New International Dictionary gave the alternative spellings. meter and metre for music and poetry, this edition still gave the word for a length-measuring unit as meter without the alternative of metre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbW4m7QEORU