UK vs US spelling   Specific Americanisms to avoid   Collective nouns   Academic titles   Additional references


In this section, you will find

• a very general overview of some of the main differences between British and American spelling
• some important differences between American and British educational terminology
• exceptions to the general ‘UK English only at AU’ rule

UK vs US spelling 

In administrative and official AU texts, use British spelling unless you have a legitimate reason for following another spelling convention.

In academic texts, use British or US English spelling and punctuation as noted in the style guidelines of the publisher in question.

And before you do anything else, remember to adjust your spellcheck language settings!

See  Language settings for a guide to spellcheck settings in different programs.

NOTE: We deviate from standard British usage where common sense dictates. In some cases, we prefer a non-British term on the grounds that it is more comprehensible to an international audience (which, after all, AU is). This applies to ‘invigilator’ (UK English) vs ‘exam supervisor’ (international). In other cases, we use non-British terminology because it more accurately describes our institutions and practices. For example, we use the American translation for Danish ‘semester’ (‘semester’) rather than ‘term’, because even though the length of a term varies from school system to school system, there are always two semesters – and two only – in an academic year. 

Specific spellings

–ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)

 Use the –ise spellings in AU texts.

–yse,-yze

Use the –yse ending in AU texts.

-ogue, -og

Use the –ogue ending in AU texts.

-our, -or

 Use the –our ending in AU texts.

-amme, -am

Use the –amme ending in AU texts (but note exception below).

-re, -er

Use the –re ending in AU texts.

-ce, -se

Many words spelt with the –se ending in US English are spelt with the –ce ending in UK English. Follow UK practice in AU texts.

-ae

Words beginning with ane- are spelt anae- in UK English.

''l' vs 'll'

In UK English, the ‘l’ before a suffix beginning with a vowel is usually doubled (‘ll’). Doubling is used before all inflections of verbs (-ed, -ing, -est) and before the noun suffixes -er and -or. In US English, these words are normally spelt with a single ‘l’.

Conversely, there are words in which British writers prefer a single ‘l’ and Americans a double ‘ll’. (But when adding inflections or noun suffixes to these words, the above rule for British doubling still applies: fulfilled, enrolled, skilled, installed.)

Specific Americanisms to avoid

Major

in the sense “designating or a field of study in which a student specialises and receives a degree” (Collins online):

 He read history at AU.
 He studied history at AU.
 He did history at AU.
 He majored in history at AU.­

Fall

for the season between summer and winter:

 The programme starts in the autumn.
 The programme starts in the fall.

Faculty

in the sense “all the teachers of a school, college or university or of one of its departments or divisions” (Collins):

 These rules apply to academic staff (members) at the Department of Bioscience.
 These rules apply to faculty at the Department of Bioscience.

Grade

in the sense “a mark or rating on an examination, in a school course, etc” (Collins):

 He received a high mark on his exam paper.
 He has a high average mark.

 He received a high grade on his exam paper.
 He has a high grade average.

 Note: The ministry’s translation of the Karakterskalabekendtgørelse  (the Grading Scale Order) uses ‘grade’, which makes it difficult to insist on ‘mark’ in many contexts.

Exceptions

Semester

 semester (US) 
 term (UK)

Proctor (eksamensvagt)

 Do not use invigilator (UK)
 use exam supervisor (universally comprehensible).

Collective nouns

What are collective nouns?

A collective noun is a noun that describes a group – a number or collection of people or things taken together and spoken of as one whole.

Examples: board of studies, group (of people), committee, jury, family, team, orchestra, couple, audience, school, cast, company, press, class, firm, government, the public.

UK vs US usage

In British English, most collective nouns may be followed by either a singular or plural verb, depending on whether you perceive the group as one unit, in which case it will be singular, or as a number of individuals, in which case it will be plural.

American English, however, normally takes collective nouns to be singular units. A sentence that starts ‘The government have…’ would be corrected to ‘the government has…’ by an American English teacher or proofreader.

 My family consists of my two brothers, my mum and me. (singular)
 My wife’s family are major table tennis fans. (plural)
 Before the recession, my wife's family were quite well off, but now they are hard up. (plural)
 The government have said they will give more money to hospitals and schools. (plural)
 The government is going to invest in sustainable energy. (singular)
  

Additional points

Countries and institutions

Use singular verbs for names of countries and institutions.

  Aarhus University is…
  Scotland is having a referendum this autumn.

Consistency

Be careful not to mix up singular and plural subjects and verbs in the same sentence, paragraph or piece of writing. If you write ‘the senior management team have’ (plural verb) in the beginning of a paragraph, don’t write ‘the senior management team is’ (singular verb) later on.

 The government have said it will give more money to hospitals and schools.
 The government has said they will give more money to hospitals and schools.

Academic titles

Use the titles prescribed in the memorandum Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities (Notat om stillingsstruktur 2013 for videnskabeligt personale ved universiteter). See AU Dictionary for titles not listed here.

Note: The 2013 version of the memo has ‘professor with specific responsibilities’, while both the Danish and the English versions of the 2007 memorandum have ‘professor with special responsibilities’, which is the translation in use at AU. We have chosen to retain ‘professor with special responsibilities’.

At Aarhus University Hospital, the official translation for specialtandlæge is ‘dental specialist’, not ‘postgraduate fellow in odontology’.

We have corrected various spelling and usage errors in the memo.

Additional references

For a more detailed discussion of differences between British and American English, see:

• Wikipedia
• Oxford Dictionaries