BE Spelling Game Answers
How many misspelled words did you catch? There should have been 71. Here's the corrected text for the enamoured travelling haematologist:
A haematologist pedalled along on his bicycle to a well-known jewellery shop - it was rumoured to be the best in the country - his chiselled muscles straining as he laboured up a gruelling hill, dishevelled hair flapping in the breeze. He somewhat rivalled Fabio in appearance and had even done some modelling before practising haematology. He was briefly mesmerised by a couple quarrelling across the street, who were disturbing the tranquillity of the peaceful road with their violent behaviour, cudgelling each other in the cruellest way. The haematologist dialled the police and signalled to a traffic officer, then continued on his way to fulfil his mission.
He entered upon the jeweller in his shop, who swivelled in his chair, skilfully unravelling a 10-metreRemember: this spelling depends on context ribbon. The haematologist recognised the jeweller as a next-door neighbour he had had some years ago, a former orthopaedic surgeon who had some practiceNo difference here! The noun is spelled practice in US and BE in snorkelling as well. He then explained that he had travelled many kilometres to reach this shop, in search of a piece of jewellery unequalled in beauty and elegance, something that would behove his beloved fiancée.
The jeweller, who specialised in rare jewels and artefacts, disappeared up a spiralling staircase, ploughing through stacks of disorganised grey boxes to reach the third storeyRemember: this spelling depends on context, where he shovelled a handful of bright, colourful necklaces into a bag. He then returned and displayed them before the traveller. The enamoured haematologist meticulously scrutinised the jewellery until he discovered, in the exact centre of the selection, the most dazzling and marvellous of them all. Upon realising that the bejewelled necklace would certainly enthral his betrothed, he wrote a handsome chequeRemember: this spelling depends on context to the jeweller - it was no meagre sum - and thanked him.
Having succeeded in the fulfilment of his endeavour, the travelling haematologist hopped back on his bike for his return journey, manoeuvringManoeuvring has two spelling differences! What are they? around the still-duelling couple as the authorities attempted to harmonise between them. He pedalled along with vigour, yodelling in triumph all the way home.
Explanation of Corrected Text
Z Becomes S
One of the most well-known differences between US and Commonwealth countries is the use of S versus Z in many common verbs. Note that, at TranscribeMe, we go with the S spellings and not Z, although Oxford often lists the Z spelling as the main entry and Grammarly DOES NOT correct these spellings. There were 7 of these words in our passage; what were they?
| mesmerised | recognised | specialised | disorganised |
| scrutinised | realising | harmonise |
Double Those Ls!
For phonetic reasons, words ending in a single consonant often double said consonant when a suffix (such as -ed, -ing, -er) is added to it (e.g. pet/petting, regret/regretted). In BE, L follows this same rule. I count 27 unique instances (i.e., not counting repeats) of double-L words in the corrected BE passage where the US counterpart has only one L. Can you find them all? Grammarly does - woo!
| pedalled | jewellery | chiselled | gruelling |
| dishevelled | rivalled | modelling | quarrelling |
| tranquillity | cudgelling | cruellest | dialled |
| signalled | jeweller | swivelled | unravelling |
| snorkelling | travelled | unequalled | spiralling |
| shovelled | traveller | marvellous | bejewelled |
| travelling | duelling | yodelling |
Single L? What!?
For some words, in contrast, BE drops an L where the US has two (or, I suppose, the US added an L where BE has but one). This is a tricky category and one that spell-checks tend to miss. What were 4 such words in this passage?
| fulfil | skilfully | fulfilment | enthral |
Did you get skilfully? Grammarly doesn't (but LanguageTool does)! Skilful, skilfully, fulfil, fulfilment, enthral, enthralment (but enthralled with two Ls wherever you go), distil, distilment (but always distilled), etc. Watch yer Ls!
-er Becomes -re
Many words that end in -er in US English end in -re in British English. Note that the spelling can also depend on context (e.g., metre/meter - look it up!). There were 5 such words in our text - what were they? (Hint: one of them's a bit tricky because of a suffix…)
| metre* | kilometres | centre | meagre |
| manoeuvring** |
* The spelling metre depends on context: when talking about the measurement, it's metre. But the machine used to measure parking time is a parking meter.
** Manoeuvre drops its E when adding the -ing suffix: manoeuvre --> manoeuvring.
-or Becomes -our
Ah, one of my favourite spelling differences! The US has dropped the U in most instances, while BE retains it. There were 8 such spelling changes in the text; what were they?
| rumoured | laboured | behaviour | neighbour |
| colourful | enamoured | endeavour | vigour |
Add a Vowel Before That E!
Brits like their vowels, that's all I can say (or perhaps Americans are lazy? haha). Many of the oe and ae words have their etymological roots in Latin which have been retained in BE, whereas the vowel - either O or A - before the E has been dropped in US spellings. Most of these words (though not all) have to do with scientific and/or medical terminology. There were 4 such words in this text; what were they?
| haematologist | haematology | orthopaedic | manoeuvring |
Note that the roots of the medical terms apply to all variations. Hem- versus haem-, for instance, applies to haematology, haemoglobin, haemophilia, haemorrhage, haemorrhoids, etc. Paed- (as opposed to ped-) will then apply to orthopaedic, paederast, paediatric, paedophile, encyclopaedia (although that's probably a different root…), etc. Remember, when in doubt, consult Oxford! (and go with the British spelling, when applicable)
Practice or Practise? THERE'S A DIFFERENCE?!?
Ah, one of the trickiest differences of all - unless you know my handy dandy, never-fail, tried-and-true secret to differentiating the two! Practice and practise (as well as licence and license) in BE behave the same as advice and advise - the noun form has a C and the verb an S. So if you can't decide whether to use practice or practise, exchange the word with "advice" or "advise" (or its derivatives: advising, advised, etc.) and see which one fits!
Tip: In BE it will ALWAYS be practising and practised, NEVER practicing and practiced. For practice/practise or practices/practises, it depends on context. Is it a noun or a verb?
- "I need some practi?e." ← Advice or advise? Advice with a C, so practice with a C. "I need some practice."
- "He has two medical practi?es," ← He has two advises or advices? It'd be advices (although that sounds awkward because the noun advice doesn't use a plural). So, "He has two medical practices."
- "He practi?es every day." ← He advises every day (verb, so S), so he practises every day. I practise every day.
Using this tip, what should the sentences in our passage be?
- "...before practicing/practising haematology." ← We have -ing, so always an S: practising!
- "...who had some practice/practise in snorkelling." ← Who had some advise or advice? Advice, so we keep the C, practice.
Different Spellings Based on Context
Some words are spelled differently based on context. Did you catch the ones in this passage? Grammarly doesn't!!! Look 'em up in Oxford! **What's the difference?**
| storey / story | cheque / check |
Miscellaneous
Other differences, which Grammarly does, thankfully, catch (usually) don't really fit any specific category:
| behove | grey | artefact | plough |