1

UNIVERSITAS MUSLIM INDONESIA

FAKULTAS SASTRA
ALAMAT: JALAN URIP SUMOHARJO KM 05 TELP 0411 5040407 MAKASSAR
SAP
NAMA MATA KULIAH
: WRITING 1
NOMOR KODE MK
:2
SKS
: 2 (DUA)
1.
Deskripsi Sajian
Writing exposures covering
a. Sentence building
b. Mechanics in writing
c. Cohesion
2.
Tujuan Umum Perkuliahan
The students are expected
a. To have a good mastery of various types and function of English sentences
b. To be familiar with mechanics in writing, spelling, punctuation
c. To be acquanted with cohesion in writing
- Grammatical connective
- Logical connective
3.
Tujuan Innstruksional khusus
The students ability
a.
To write word in correct spelling
b.
To use capitalisation and puctuation marks
c.
To make reproduction of text read or listened to
d.
To build sentences based on situations and functions provided
e.
To extend sentences using connectives
f.
To identify connectives (grammatical, syntactical, and logical in text)
4.
Pokok Bahasan
(1)
Simple sentence
(2)
Complex sentence
(3)
Sentence function
(4)
Dictation
(5)
Reproduction
(6)
Puntuation marks, syllabication, capitalisation
(7)
Grammatical connective, syntactical connective, logical connective
5.

Materi Perkuliahan
Minggu
(1)
a. Spelling
b. Word cutting (syllabication)
(2)
a. Spelling/dictation
b. Punctuation marks
(3)
a. Spelling/game
b. Simple sentence and compound sentence and complex sentence
(4)
a. Coordination

(5)

6.

7.

8.

a. Model essay
b. Outlining
(6)
a. Listening and writing
b. Discussion and writing
(7)
a. Sentence building
(8)
Mid test
(9)
Sentence extension using coordination, subordination
(10) a. Logical connective, additive, adversative, causal
b. Text and cohesion
(11) Outlining text
(12) Reproduction on cohesion
(13) Free writing
(14) Final text
Strategi
(1)
Penjelasan
(2)
Drills
(3)
Demonstration
(4)
Tutorial/tugas
(5)
Aplikasi
Media
(1)
lcd
(2)
Board
Evaluasi
(1)
Test Objective
(2)
Completion/fill-in-blank
(3)
Matching
(4)
Pengamatan

Minggu 1
Different spellings for different pronunciations
In a few cases, essentially the same word has a different spelling that reflects a different
pronunciation. However, in most cases the pronunciation of the words is the same.
As well as the miscellaneous cases listed in the following table, the past tenses of some irregular
verbs differ in both spelling and pronunciation, as with smelt (UK) versus smelled (US) (see
American and British English differences: Verb morphology).
UK

US

Notes

aeroplane airplane

Aeroplane, originally a French loanword with a different meaning, is the older

spelling.[83] The oldest recorded uses of the spelling airplane are British.[83]
According to the OED,[84] "[a]irplane became the standard American term
(replacing aeroplane) after this was adopted by the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics in 1916. Although A. Lloyd James recommended
its adoption by the BBC in 1928, it has until recently been no more than an
occasional form in British English." In the British National Corpus,[85]
aeroplane outnumbers airplane by more than 7:1 in the UK. The case is
similar for the British aerodrome[86] and American airdrome,[87] although both
of these terms are now obsolete. Aerodrome is used merely as a technical
term in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The prefixes aero- and air- both
mean air, with the first coming from the Ancient Greek word (r). Thus,
the prefix appears in aeronautics, aerostatics, aerodynamics, aeronautical
engineering and so on, while the second occurs invariably in aircraft, airport,
airliner, airmail etc. In Canada, airplane is more common than aeroplane,
although aeroplane is not unknown, especially in parts of French Canada
(where it is, however, used only in English the French term is avion, and the
French word aroplane designates 19th-century flying machines).[88]

aluminium aluminum

The spelling aluminium is the international standard in the sciences according

to the IUPAC recommendations. Humphry Davy, the element's discoverer,
first proposed the name alumium, and then later aluminum. The name
aluminium was finally adopted to conform with the -ium ending of metallic
elements.[89] Canada uses aluminum and Australia and New Zealand
aluminium, according to their respective dictionaries.[90]

arse

In vulgar senses "buttocks" ("anus"/"wretch"/"idiot"); unrelated sense

"donkey" is ass in both. Arse is very rarely used in the US, though
understood.

ass

4
UK

US

behove

behoove

Notes
The 19th century had the spelling behove pronounced to rhyme with
move.[91] Subsequently, a pronunciation spelling was adopted in America,
while in Britain a spelling pronunciation was adopted.

bogeyman boogeyman
or
boogerman

It is pronounced /boimn/ BOH-gee-man in the UK, so that the American

form, boogeyman /bimn/, is reminiscent of the 1970s disco dancing
"boogie" to the British ear. Boogerman /bmn/ is common in the
Southern US and retains the association with the slang term for Nasal mucus
while the mainstream American spelling of boogeyman does not.

brent

For the species of goose.

brant

carburettor carburetor

UK: /krbrtr/; US: /krbretr/.

charivari

shivaree,
charivari

In America, where both terms are mainly regional,[92] charivari is usually

pronounced as shivaree, which is also found in Canada and Cornwall,[93] and
is a corruption of the French word.

coup

coupe

For a two-door car; the horse-drawn carriage is coup in both (meaning

"cut"); unrelated "cup"/"bowl" is always coupe. In the United States, the "e"
is accented when it is used as a foreign word.

eyrie

aerie

This noun (not to be confused with the adjective eerie) rhymes with weary
and hairy respectively. Both spellings and pronunciations occur in America.

fillet

fillet, filet

Meat or fish. Pronounced the French way (approximately) in the US; Canada
follows British pronunciation and distinguishes between fillet, especially as
concerns fish, and filet, as concerns certain cuts of beef. McDonald's in the
UK use the US spelling "filet" for their Filet-O-Fish.

furore

furor

Furore is a late 18th-century Italian loan-word that replaced the Latinate

form in the UK in the following century,[94] and is usually pronounced with a
voiced e. The Canadian the same as the American, and Australia has both.[95]

grotty

grody

Clippings of grotesque; both are slang terms from the 1960s.[96]

haulier

hauler

Haulage contractor; haulier is the older spelling.[97]

jemmy

jimmy

In the sense "crowbar".

5
UK

US

Notes

moustache mustache

In America, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the

American Heritage Dictionary, the British spelling is an also-ran, yet the
pronunciation with second-syllable stress is a common variant. In Britain the
second syllable is usually stressed.

mum(my) mom(my)

Mother. Mom is sporadically regionally found in the UK (e.g. in West

Midlands English). Some British dialects have mam,[98] and this is often used
in Northern English, Irish English, and Welsh English. In the American region
of New England, especially in the case of the Boston accent, the British
pronunciation of mum is often retained, while it is still spelled mom. In
Canada, there are both mom and mum; Canadians often say mum and write
mom.[99] In Australia and New Zealand, mum is used. In the sense of a
preserved corpse, mummy is always used.

navety

navet

The American spelling is from French, and American speakers generally

approximate the French pronunciation as /niv()te/, whereas the British
spelling is nativised, as also the pronunciation /niv()ti/. In the UK,
navet is a minor variant, used about 20% of the time in the British National
Corpus; in America, naivete and naivet are marginal variants, and naivety is
almost unattested.[100][101]

pyjamas

pajamas

The 'y' represents the pronunciation of the original Urdu "py-jma", and in
the 18th century spellings such as "paijamahs" and "peijammahs" appeared:
this is reflected in the pronunciation /padmz/ (with the first syllable
rhyming with "pie") offered as an alternative in the first edition of the Oxford
English Dictionary. Both "pyjamas" and "pajamas" are also known from the
18th century, but the latter became more or less confined to the US.[102]
Canada follows British usage; the spelling "pajamas" is virtually unknown.

pernickety persnickety

Persnickety is a late 19th-century American alteration of the Scots word

pernickety.[103]

quin

quint

Abbreviations of quintuplet.

scallywag

scalawag

In the United States (where the word originated, as scalawag),[104] scallywag

is not unknown.[105]

sledge

sled

speciality

specialty

In British English the standard usage is speciality, but specialty occurs in the

6
UK

US

Notes
field of medicine,[106] and also as a legal term for a contract under seal. In
Canada, specialty prevails. In Australia both are current.[107]

titbit

tidbit

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest form was "tyd bit", and
the alteration to "titbit" was probably under the influence of the obsolete
word "tit", meaning a small horse or girl.

whilst

while

Penguin Working Words recommends while only, and notes that whilst is oldfashioned. Cambridge Guide to English Usage and M-W's Webster's Guide to
English Usage comment on its regional character, and note that it is rare in
American usage. It is thus safer to use only while in international English. (See
the article While for further sources deprecating the use of whilst, and
cautioning about uses of while.)

[edit] Miscellaneous spelling differences

In the table below, the more common spellings are on top.
UK

US

Remarks

ache

ache,
ake[108][109]

acre

acre,
aker[110]

adze

adz,
adze

annexe

annex

To annex is the verb in both British and American usage; however,

when speaking of an annex(e) the noun referring to an extension of a
main building, not a military or political conquest, which would be an
annexation the root word is usually spelled with an -e at the end in
the UK, but in the US it is not.

artefact

artifact

In British usage, artefact is the main spelling and artifact a minor

variant.[111] In American English, artifact is the usual spelling. Canadians
prefer artifact and Australians artefact, according to their respective
dictionaries.[112] Artefact reflects Arte-fact(um), the Latin source.[113]

7
UK

US

Remarks

artisan

artisan,
artizan

axe

ax,
axe

brasier

brasier,
brazier[115][116]

camomile,
chamomile

chamomile,
camomile

The word derives, via French and Latin, from Greek ("earth
apple"). The more common British spelling "camomile", corresponding
to the immediate French source, is the older in English, while the
spelling "chamomile" more accurately corresponds to the ultimate
Latin and Greek source.[117] In the UK, according to the OED, "the
spelling cha- is chiefly in pharmacy, after Latin; that with ca- is literary
and popular". In the US chamomile dominates in all senses.

cheque

check

In banking. Hence pay cheque and paycheck. Accordingly, the North

American term for what is known as a current account or cheque
account in the UK is spelled chequing account in Canada and checking
account in the US. Some American financial institutions, notably
American Express, prefer cheque, but this is merely a trademarking
affectation.

chequer

checker

As n chequerboard/checkerboard, chequered/checkered flag etc. In

Canada as in the US.[118]

chilli

chili,
chile

The original Mexican Spanish word is spelled chile.[118][119] In MerriamWebster's Collegiate Dictionary, chile and chilli are given as also
variants.

Both the noun and verb. The word comes from Old English x. In the
US, both spellings are acceptable and commonly used. The Oxford
English Dictionary states that "the spelling ax is better on every ground,
of etymology, phonology, and analogy, than axe, which became
prevalent in the 19th century; but it ["ax"] is now disused in Britain".[114]

cipher, cypher cipher

cosy

cozy

dyke

dike

In all senses (adjective, noun, verb).

8
UK

US

Remarks

domicile

domicile,
domicil[120]

doughnut

doughnut, donut In the US, both are used, with donut indicated as a variant of
doughnut.[121] In the UK, donut is indicated as an American variant for
doughnut.[122]

draught

draft

British English usually uses draft for all senses as the verb;[123] for a
preliminary version of a document; for an order of payment (bank
draft), and for military conscription (although this last meaning is not as
common as in American English). It uses draught for drink from a cask
(draught beer); for animals used for pulling heavy loads (draught
horse); for a current of air; for a ship's minimum depth of water to
float; and for the game draughts, known as checkers in America. It uses
either draught or draft for a plan or sketch (but almost always
draughtsman in this sense; a draftsman drafts legal documents).
American English uses draft in all these cases, including draftsman
(male or female) (although in regard to drinks, draught is sometimes
found). Canada uses both systems; in Australia, draft is used for
technical drawings, is accepted for the "current of air" meaning, and is
preferred by professionals in the nautical sense.[124] The pronunciation
is always the same for all meanings within a dialect (RP /drft/,
General American /drft/). The spelling draught is older; draft
appeared first in the late 16th century.[125]

gauge

gage

Both spellings have existed since Middle English.[126]

gauntlet

gauntlet, gantlet When meaning "ordeal", in the phrase running the ga(u)ntlet, some
American style guides prefer gantlet.[127] This spelling is unused in
Britain[128] and less usual in America than gauntlet. The word is an
alteration of earlier gantlope by folk etymology with gauntlet
("armored glove"), always spelled thus.

gazelle

gazelle,
gazel[129][130]

glycerine

glycerin,
glycerine

Scientists use the term glycerol, but both spellings are used sporadically
in the US.

grey

gray

Grey became the established British spelling in the 20th century, pace

9
UK

US

Remarks
Dr Johnson and others,[131] and it is but a minor variant in American
English, according to dictionaries. Canadians tend to prefer grey. The
non-cognate greyhound was never grayhound. Both Grey and Gray are
found in proper names everywhere in the English-speaking world. The
two spellings are of equal antiquity, and the Oxford English Dictionary
states that "each of the current spellings has some analogical
support".[132]

hearken

harken

jail,
gaol

jail

In the UK, gaol and gaoler are used sometimes, apart from literary
usage, chiefly to describe a medieval building and guard. Both spellings
go back to Middle English: gaol was a loanword from Norman French,
while jail was a loanword from central (Parisian) French. In Middle
English the two spellings were associated with different pronunciations.
In current English the word, however spelt, is always given the
pronunciation originally associated only with the jail spelling (/del/).
The survival of the gaol spelling in British English is "due to statutory
and official tradition".[133]

kerb

curb

For the noun designating the edge of a roadway (or the edge of a
British pavement/ American sidewalk/ Australian footpath). Curb is the
older spelling, and in the UK and US it is still the proper spelling for the
verb meaning restrain.[134]

(kilo)gram,
(kilo)gram
(kilo)gramme

(Kilo)gramme is used sometimes in the UK but never in the US.

(Kilo)gram is the only spelling used by the International Bureau of
Weights and Measures.

liquorice

licorice

The American spelling is nearer to the Old French source licorece, which
is ultimately from Greek glykyrrhiza.[135] The British spelling was
influenced by the unrelated word liquor.[136] Licorice prevails in Canada
and it is common in Australia, but it is rarely found in the UK. Liquorice
is all but nonexistent in the US. ("Chiefly British", according to
dictionaries).[137]

mollusc

mollusk, mollusc The related adjective is normally molluscan in all forms of English.

mould

mold

In all senses of the word. The American spelling is the older of the
two.[138] In Canada, both words have wide currency.[139] When speaking

10
UK

US

Remarks
of the noun describing a form for casting a shape, the US will also use
the "mould" spelling, but defaults to "mold" when referring to the
fruiting bodies of tiny fungi.

moult

molt

neurone,
neuron

neuron

omelette

omelet,
omelette

The omelet spelling is the older of the two, in spite of the etymology
(French omelette).[140] Omelette prevails in Canada and in Australia.

opaque

opaque,
opake

The opake spelling has existed since Middle English and was used in
Webster's dictionaries.[141][142]

partisan

partisan,
partizan

phantasm

phantasm,
fantasm[143][144]

phantom

phantom,
fantom[145][146]

The fantom spelling is the older of the two and has existed since Middle
English.[147][148]

phoney

phony

The American spelling is the older of the two.[149] The word originated
in America and made its widespread appearance in Britain during the
Phoney War. Phony is famously used often in The Catcher in the Rye.

plough

plow

Both spellings have existed since Middle English. The OED records
several dozen variants. In the UK, plough has been the standard
spelling for about 300 years.[150] Although plow was Noah Webster's
pick, plough continued to have some currency in the US, as the entry in
Webster's Third (1961) implies. Newer dictionaries label plough as
"chiefly British". The word snowplough/snowplow, originally an
Americanism, predates Webster's reform and was first recorded as
snow plough. Canada has both plough and plow,[151] although
snowplough is much rarer there than snowplow. In the US, "plough"
sometimes describes a horsedrawn kind while "plow" refers to a
gasoline (petrol) powered kind.

11
UK

US

rack and ruin wrack and ruin

Remarks
Several words like "rack" and "wrack" have been conflated, with both
spellings thus accepted as variants for senses connected to torture
(orig. rack) and ruin (orig. wrack, cf. wreck)[152] In "(w)rack and ruin",
the W-less variant is now prevalent in the UK but not the US.[153]

rhyme

rhyme,
rime[154][155]

sceptic (-al, ism)

skeptic (-al, ism)

The American spelling, akin to Greek, is the earliest known spelling in

English.[156] It was preferred by Fowler, and is used by many Canadians,
where it is the earlier form.[157] Sceptic also pre-dates the European
settlement of the US, and it follows the French sceptique and Latin
scepticus. In the mid-18th century, Dr Johnson's dictionary listed
skeptic without comment or alternative, but this form has never been
popular in the UK;[158] sceptic, an equal variant in the old Webster's
Third (1961), has now become "chiefly British". Australians generally
follow the British usage (with the notable exception of the Australian
Skeptics). All of these versions are pronounced with a hard "c", though
in French that letter is silent and the word is pronounced like septique.

smoulder

smolder

The American spelling is the older of the two and has existed since
Middle English.[147]

stead(fast)

stead(fast),
sted(fast)[159][160]

storey

story

sulphate

sulfate,
sulphate

sulphur

sulfur,
sulphur

Level of a building. The plurals are storeys and stories respectively. The
letter "e" is used in the UK and Canada to differentiate between levels
of buildings and a story as in a literary work.[161] Story is the earlier
spelling. The Oxford English Dictionary states that this word is
"probably the same word as story [in its meaning of "narrative"] though
the development of sense is obscure.[162]

Sulfur is the international standard in the sciences (IUPAC), and it is

supported by the UK's RSC.[163] During the Middle English period the
word was spelt with an f.[147] However, sulphur was preferred by Dr
Johnson. It is still used by British and Irish scientists, and it is still

12
UK

US

Remarks
actively taught in British and Irish schools. It prevails in Canada and
Australia, and it is also found in some American place names (e.g.
Sulphur, Louisiana and White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia). American
English usage guides suggest sulfur for technical usage, and both
sulphur and sulfur in common usage and in literature.[164][165] The
variation between f and ph spellings is also found in the word's ultimate
source: Latin sulfur, sulphur.[166]

telegram,
telegramme

telegram

through

through,
thru[167]

throughout

throughout,
thruout[168]

towards,
toward

toward,
towards

tyre

tire

The outer portion of a wheel. In Canada as in the US. Tire is the older
spelling, but both were used in the 15th and 16th centuries (for a metal
tire). Tire became the settled spelling in the 17th century but tyre was
revived in the UK in the 19th century for rubber / pneumatic tyres,
possibly because it was used in some patent documents,[169] though
many continued to use tire for the iron variety. The Times newspaper
was still using tire as late as 1905. For the verb meaning "to grow
weary" both American and British English use only the tire spelling.

vice

vise, vice

The two-jawed workbench tool. Americans and Canadians retain the

very old distinction between vise (the tool) and vice (the sin, and also
the Latin prefix meaning a "deputy"), both of which are vice in the UK
and Australia.[170] Thus, Americans have Vice-Admiral, Vice-President,
and Vice-Principal, but never Vise- for any one of these.

vineyard

vineyard,
vinyard[171]

visor

visor,
vizor[172]

Telegramme is used sometimes in the UK but never in the US.

13
UK

US

woe(ful)

woe(ful),
wo(ful)[173]

yoghurt,
yogurt

yogurt,
yoghurt

Remarks

Yoghurt is an also-ran in the US, as is yoghourt in the UK. Although the

Oxford Dictionaries have always preferred yogurt, in current British
usage yoghurt seems to be prevalent. In Canada, yogurt prevails,
despite the Canadian Oxford preferring yogourt, which has the
advantage of being bilingual (English and French).[174] In Australia as in
the UK. Whatever the spelling is, the word has different
pronunciations: in the UK /jt/ or /jot/, only /jort/ in
America, Ireland, and Australia. The word comes from the Turkish
language word yourt.[175] The voiced velar fricative represented by in
the modern Turkish (Latinic) alphabet was traditionally written gh in
romanizations of the Ottoman Turkish (Arabic) alphabet used before
1928.

Compounds and hyphens

British English often prefers hyphenated compounds, such as counter-attack, whereas American
English discourages the use of hyphens in compounds where there is no compelling reason, so
counterattack is much more common.[citation needed] Many dictionaries do not point out such
differences. Canadian and Australian usage is mixed, although Commonwealth writers generally
hyphenate compounds of the form noun plus phrase (such as editor-in-chief).[176] Commander-inchief is dominant in all forms of English.

any more or anymore: In sense "any longer", the single-word form is usual in North America and
Australia but unusual elsewhere, at least in formal writing.[177] Other senses always have the
two-word form; thus Americans distinguish "I couldn't love you anymore [so I left you]" from "I
couldn't love you any more [than I already do]". In Hong Kong English, any more is always two
words.[178]
for ever or forever: Traditional British English usage makes a distinction between for ever,
meaning for eternity (or a very long time into the future), as in "If you are waiting for income tax
to be abolished you will probably have to wait for ever"; and forever, meaning continually,
always, as in "They are forever arguing".[179] In contemporary British usage, however, forever
prevails in the "for eternity" sense as well,[180] in spite of several style guides maintaining the
distinction.[181] American writers usually use forever regardless of which sense they intend
(although forever in the sense of "continually" is comparatively rare in American English, having
been displaced by always).
near by or nearby: Some British writers make the distinction between the adverbial near by,
which is written as two words, as in, "No one was near by"; and the adjectival nearby, which is
written as one, as in, "The nearby house".[182] In American English, the one-word spelling is
standard for both forms.

14

Acronyms and abbreviations

Proper names formed as proper acronyms are often rendered in title case by Commonwealth
writers, but usually as upper case by Americans: for example, Nasa / NASA or Unicef /
UNICEF.[183] This does not apply to most pure initialisms, such as US, IBM, or PRC (the
People's Republic of China). However, it is occasionally done for some in the UK, such as Pc
(Police Constable).[184]
Contractions, where the final letter is present, are often written in British English without full
stops/periods (Mr, Mrs, Dr, St, Ave). Abbreviations where the final letter is not present generally
do take full stops/periods (such as vol., etc., i.e., ed.); British English shares this convention with
the French: Mlle, Mme, Dr, Ste, but M. for Monsieur. In American and Canadian English,
abbreviations like St., Ave., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., and Jr., always require periods. Some initials are
usually upper case in America but lower case in Britain: liter/litre and its compounds ("2 L or
25 mL" vs "2 l or 25 ml");[185][186] and ante meridiem and post meridiem (10 P.M. or 10 PM vs
10 p.m. or 10 pm).[187][188][189] Both AM/PM and a.m./p.m. are acceptable in American English,
though AM/PM is more common.

Historical origins
In the early 18th century, English spelling was not standardised. Differences became noticeable
after the publishing of influential dictionaries. Current British English spellings follow, for the
most part, those of Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), whereas
many American English spellings follow Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English
Language (1828).[1]
Webster was a strong proponent of English spelling reform for reasons both philological and
nationalistic. Many spelling changes proposed in the United States by Webster himself, and in
the early 20th century by the Simplified Spelling Board, never caught on. Among the advocates
of spelling reform in England, the influences of those who preferred the Norman (or AngloFrench) spellings of certain words proved to be decisive. Subsequent spelling adjustments in the
United Kingdom had little effect on present-day American spellings and vice-versa. In many
cases, American English deviated in the 19th century from mainstream British spelling, but it has
also retained some older forms.
The spelling systems of most Commonwealth countries and Ireland, for the most part, closely
resemble the British system. In Canada, however, the preferred spellings include some American
forms and some British,[2] and Canadians are somewhat more tolerant of foreign forms.[3]

Latin-derived spellings
-our, -or

Most words ending in an unstressed -our in British English (e.g. colour, flavour, honour,
neighbour, rumour, labour, humour) end in -or in American English (cf. color, flavor, honor,

15

neighbor, rumor, labor, humor). Wherever the vowel is unreduced in pronunciation, this does
not occur: e.g. contour, velour, paramour and troubadour are spelled thus the same everywhere.
Most words of this category derive from Latin non-agent nouns having nominative -or; the first
such borrowings into English were from early Old French and the ending was -or or -ur.[4] After
the Norman Conquest, the ending became -our in Anglo-French in an attempt to represent the
Old French pronunciation of words ending in -or,[5] though color has been used occasionally in
English since the 15th century.[6] The -our ending was not only retained in English borrowings
from Anglo-French, but also applied to earlier French borrowings.[4] After the Renaissance, some
such borrowings from Latin were taken up with their original -or ending; many words once
ending in -our (for example, chancellour and governour) now end in -or everywhere. Many
words of the -our/-or group do not have a Latin counterpart; for example, armo(u)r, behavio(u)r,
harbo(u)r, neighbo(u)r; also arbo(u)r meaning "shelter", though senses "tree" and "tool" are
always arbor, a false cognate of the other word. Some 16th- and early 17th-century British
scholars indeed insisted that -or be used for words of Latin origin (e.g. color[6]) and -our for
French loans; but in many cases the etymology was not completely clear, and therefore some
scholars advocated -or only and others -our only.[7]
Webster's 1828 dictionary featured only -or and is generally given much of the credit for the
adoption of this form in the United States. By contrast, Dr Johnson's 1755 dictionary used the our spelling for all words still so spelt in Britain, and others where the u has since been dropped:
ambassadour, emperour, governour, perturbatour; inferiour, superiour; errour, horrour,
mirrour, tenour, terrour, tremour. Johnson, unlike Webster, was not an advocate of spelling
reform, but selected the version best-derived, as he saw it, from among the variations in his
sources: he favored French over Latin spellings because, as he put it, "the French generally
supplied us".[8] Those English speakers who began to move across the Atlantic would have taken
these habits with them and H L Mencken makes the point that, "honor appears in the Declaration
of Independence, but it seems to have got there rather by accident than by design. In Jefferson's
original draft it is spelt honour."[9] Examples such as color, flavor, behavior, harbor and
neighbor scarcely appear in the Old Bailey's court records from the 17th and 18th century,
whereas examples of their -our counterparts are numbered in thousands.[10] One notable
exception is honor. Honor and honour were equally frequent until the 17th century;[11] Honor
still is, in the UK, the normal spelling as a person's name.
Derivatives and inflected forms

In derivatives and inflected forms of the -our/or words, in British usage, the u is kept before
English suffixes that are freely attachable to English words (neighbourhood, humourless,
savoury) and suffixes of Greek or Latin origin that have been naturalised (favourite, honourable,
behaviourism); before Latin suffixes that are not freely attachable to English words, the u may be
dropped (honorific, honorist, vigorous, humorous, laborious, invigorate), may be either dropped
or retained (colo(u)ration, colo(u)rise), or may be retained (colourist).[4] In American usage,
derivatives and inflected forms are built by simply adding the suffix in all environments
(favorite, savory etc.) since the u is absent to begin with.
Exceptions

16

American usage, in most cases, retains the u in the word glamour, which comes from Scots, not
Latin or French. Glamor is occasionally used in imitation of the spelling reform of other -our
words to -or. The adjective glamorous usually omits the first "u". Saviour is a somewhat
common variant of savior in the US. The British spelling is very common for honour (and
favour) in the formal language of wedding invitations in the US.[12] The name of the Space
Shuttle Endeavour has a u in it since this spacecraft was named after Captain James Cook's ship,
HMS Endeavour.
The name of the herb savory is thus spelt everywhere, although the related adjective savo(u)ry,
like savo(u)r, has a u in the UK. Honor (the name) and arbor (the tool) have -or in Britain, as
mentioned above. As a general noun, rigour (/rr/) has a u in the UK; the medical term rigor
(often pronounced /rar/) does not. Words with the ending -irior, -erior or similar are spelt
thus everywhere.
Commonwealth usage

Commonwealth countries normally follow British usage. In Canada -or endings are not
uncommon, particularly in the Prairie provinces. In Australia, -or endings enjoyed some use in
the 19th century, and now are sporadically found in some regions,[7] usually in local and regional
newspapers, though the most notable countrywide use of -or is for the Australian Labor Party,
which was named in hono(u)r of the American labo(u)r movement.[13] Aside from that, -our is
almost universal. New Zealand English, while sharing some words and syntax with Australian
English, follows British usage.
-re, -er

In British usage, some words of French, Latin or Greek origin end with a consonant followed by
-re, with the -re unstressed and pronounced //. Most of these words have the ending -er in the
United States.[14][15] The difference is most common for words ending -bre or -tre: British
spellings calibre, centre, fibre, goitre, litre, lustre, metre, mitre, nitre, reconnoitre, sabre,
saltpetre, sombre, spectre, theatre and titre all have -er in American spelling.
There are many exceptions to the -re spelling in British usage. Many words spelt with -re in
Modern French are spelt with -er in both British and American usage; among these are chapter,
December, disaster, enter, filter, letter, member, minister, monster, November, number, October,
oyster, perimeter (but not "parametre"), powder, proper, September, sober and tender.
The ending -cre, as in acre,[16] lucre, massacre and mediocre, is preserved in American English,
to indicate the c is pronounced /k/ rather than /s/.[citation needed]
After other consonants, there are not many -re endings even in British English: louvre[16] and
manoeuvre after -v; meagre, eagre (but not eager) and ogre after -g; and euchre, ochre and
sepulchre after -ch. In the United States, ogre, ochre, and euchre are standard; manoeuvre and
sepulchre are usually spelt as maneuver and sepulcher; and the other -re forms listed are less
used variants of the equivalent -er form.[citation needed]

17

The e preceding the r is retained in American-derived forms of nouns and verbs, for example,
fibers, reconnoitered, centering, which are, naturally, fibres, reconnoitred and centring
respectively in British usage. Centring is a particularly interesting example, since it is still
pronounced as three syllables in British English (/sntr/), yet there is no vowel letter in the
spelling corresponding to the second syllable. It is dropped for other derivations, for example,
central, fibrous, spectral. However such dropping cannot be regarded as proof of an -re British
spelling: for example, entry derives from enter, which has not been spelt entre for centuries.[17]
The difference relates only to root words; -er rather than -re is universal as a suffix for agentive
(reader, winner, user) and comparative (louder, nicer) forms. One consequence is the British
distinction of meter for a measuring instrument from metre for the unit of length. However,
while "poetic metre" is often -re, pentameter, hexameter etc. are always -er.[18]
Exceptions

Many other words have -er in British English. These include Germanic words like anger,
mother, timber and water and Romance words like danger, quarter and river.
Theater is the prevailing American spelling used to refer to both the dramatic arts and buildings
where stage performances and screenings of films take place (i.e. "movie theaters"); for example,
a national newspaper such as The New York Times uses theater throughout its "Theater",
"Movies" and "Arts & Leisure" sections. In contrast, the spelling theatre appears in the names of
many New York City theatres on Broadway[19] (cf. Broadway theatre) and elsewhere in the
United States. In 2003, the proposal of the American National Theatre, eventually to be founded
and inaugurated in autumn 2007, was referred to by The New York Times as the "American
National Theater"; but the organisation uses "re" in the spelling of its name.[20][21] The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. features the more common
American spelling theater in its references to The Eisenhower Theater, part of the Kennedy
Center.[22] Some cinemas outside New York also use the theatre spelling.[23]
In many instances, places in the United States use Centre in their names. Examples include the
Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco, Texas, the cities of Rockville Centre, New York and
Centreville, Illinois, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and Centre College in Kentucky. Sometimes
these places were named before spelling changes took effect but more often the spelling merely
serves as an affectation. There are also a few cases of the use of Center in the United Kingdom
(e.g. the Valley Centertainment in Sheffield, although this is in fact a portmanteau of centre and
entertainment).
For British accoutre, the American practice varies: the Merriam-Webster Dictionary prefers the re spelling[24] but the American Heritage Dictionary prefers the -er spelling.[25]
More recent French loanwords retain an -re spelling in American English. These are not
exceptions when a French-style pronunciation is used (/r/ rather than /r/), as with doubleentendre, genre and oeuvre. However, the unstressed /r/ pronunciation of an -er ending is used
more or less frequently with some words, including cadre, macabre, matre d', Notre Dame,
piastre, and timbre.

18
Commonwealth usage

The -re endings are mostly standard throughout the Commonwealth. The -er spellings are
recognised as minor variants in Canada, due in part to American influences. Proper names,
particularly names incorporating the word Centre/Center, are an occasional source of exceptions,
such as, for example, Toronto's controversially-named Centerpoint Mall.[26]
-ce, -se

American English and British English both retain the noun/verb distinction in advice / advise and
device / devise (where the pronunciation is -[s] for the noun and -[z] for the verb), but American
English has abandoned the distinction with licence / license and practice / practise (where the
two words in each pair are homophones) that British spelling retains. American English uses
license and practice for both meanings.
American English has kept the Anglo-French spelling for defense and offense, which are usually
defence and offence in British English; similarly there are the American pretense and British
pretence; but derivatives such as defensive, offensive, and pretension are always thus spelled in
both systems.
Australian[27] and Canadian usage generally follows British.
-xion, -ction

The spelling connexion is now rare in everyday British usage, its employment declining as
knowledge of Latin declines,[28] and it is not used at all in America: the more common
connection has become the standard internationally. According to the Oxford English Dictionary
the older spelling is more etymologically conservative, since the word actually derives from
Latin forms in -xio-. The American usage derives from Webster who discarded the -xion in favor
of -ction by analogy with such verbs as connect.[29]
Complexion (which comes from the stem complex) is standard and complection usually is not.[30]
However, the adjective complected (as in "dark-complected"), although sometimes objected to, is
standard in US English as an alternative to complexioned,[31] but is quite unknown in this sense
in the UK, although there is a rare usage to mean complicated.[32]

Greek-derived spellings
-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)
See also: Oxford spelling

American and Canadian[33] spelling accepts only -ize endings in most cases, such as organize,
realize, and recognize.[34] British usage is split between both -ize and -ise (organize / organise,
realize / realise, recognize / recognise),[34] and the ratio between -ise and -ize stands at 3:2 in the
British National Corpus.[35] In Australia and New Zealand -ise spellings strongly prevail: the -ise

19

form is preferred in Australian English at a ratio of about 3:1 according to the Macquarie
Dictionary.
Worldwide, -ize endings prevail in scientific writing and are commonly used by many
international organizations, such as the ISO and the WHO. The European Union switched from ize to -ise some years ago in its English language publications, and this resulted in the
coexistence of the -ize spelling in older legislative acts and the -ise spelling in more recent ones.
Proofreaders at the EU's Publications Office ensure consistent spelling in official publications
such as the Official Journal (where legislation and other official documents are published), but
the -ize spelling may be found in other documents.
The same pattern applies to derivatives and inflexions such as colonisation/colonization.
British usage
British English using -ize is known as Oxford spelling, and is used in publications of the Oxford
University Press, most notably the Oxford English Dictionary. It can be identified using the
registered IANA language tag en-GB-oed. The OED lists the -ise form separately, as "a frequent
spelling of -IZE", and refuses to list the -ise spellings even as alternatives in the individual
entries for words such as realize.[36] It firmly deprecates usage of -ise for words of Greek origin,
stating, "[T]he suffix..., whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek , Latin -izre; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the
special French spelling in -iser should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once
etymological and phonetic." It maintains "... some have used the spelling -ise in English, as in
French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or English from
Latin elements, retaining -ize for those of Greek composition."[37] Noah Webster rejected -ise for
the same reasons.[38]
The Cambridge University Press, on the other hand, has long favoured -ise,[39] as do some other
references, including Fowler's Modern English Usage.[39]
Perhaps as a reaction to the ascendancy of American spelling, the -ize spelling is often
incorrectly viewed in Britain as an Americanism, and -ise is more commonly used in the UK
mass media and newspapers,[34] including The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Economist.
Meanwhile, -ize is used in many British-based academic publications, such as Nature, the
Biochemical Journal and The Times Literary Supplement.
Exceptions

Some verbs ending in -ize or -ise do not derive from Greek -, and their endings are therefore
not interchangeable:

Some words take the -z- form exclusively, for instance capsize, seize (except in the legal phrase
to be seised of/to stand seised to), size and prize (only in the "appraise" sense)

20

Others take only -s-: advertise, advise, apprise, arise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, demise,
despise, devise, disguise, excise, exercise, franchise, guise, improvise, incise, merchandise (noun),
revise, rise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise, and wise.
One special case is the verb prise (meaning to force or lever), which is spelled prize in the US[40]
and prise everywhere else,[41] including Canada,[42] although in North American English it is
almost always replaced by pry, a back-formation from or alteration of prise.[43]

-yse, -yze

The distribution of -yse and -yze endings, as in analyse / analyze, is different from -ise / -ize: -yse
is British and -yze is American. Thus, in British English analyse, catalyse, hydrolyse, and
paralyse, but in American English analyze, catalyze, hydrolyze, and paralyze.
Analyse seems to have been the more common spelling in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
English, but many of the great dictionaries of that period John Kersey's of 1702, Nathan
Bailey's of 1721 and Samuel Johnson's of 1755 prefer analyze. In Canada, -yze prevails, just as
in the United States. In Australia and New Zealand, -yse stands alone.
English verbs ending in -yse or -yze are not similar to the Greek verb, which is l "I
release". Instead they come from the noun form lysis with the -ise or -ize suffix. For
example, analyse comes from French analyser, formed by haplology from the French
analysiser,[44] which would be spelled analysise or analysize in English.
-ogue, -og

Some words of Greek origin, a few of which derive from Greek or , can end either
in -ogue or in -og: analog(ue), catalog(ue), dialog(ue), demagog(ue), pedagog(ue), monolog(ue),
homolog(ue), synagog(ue) etc. In the UK (and generally in the Commonwealth), the -ogue
endings are the standard. In the US, catalog has a slight edge over catalogue[45] (the inflected
forms, cataloged and cataloging v catalogued and cataloguing); analog is standard for the
adjective,[citation needed] but both analogue and analog are current for the noun; in all other cases
the -gue endings strongly prevail,[46] for example monologue, except for such expressions as
dialog box in computing,[47] which are also used in the UK. Finally, in Canada, New Zealand,
and Australia analogue is used, but just as in the US analog has some currency as a technical
term[48] (e.g. in electronics, as in "analog electronics" as opposed to "digital electronics" and
some video-game consoles might have an analog stick).
The dropping of the "ue" is mandatory in forming such related words as "analogy", "analogous",
and "analogist".
Simplification of ae and oe

Many words are written with ae/ or oe/ in British English, but a single e in American English.
The sound in question is /i/ or // (or unstressed //). Examples (with non-American letter in
bold): aesthetics, amoeba, anaemia, anaesthesia, caesium, diarrhoea, encyclopaedia, faeces,
foetal, gynaecology, haemophilia, leukaemia, oesophagus, oestrogen, orthopaedic,

21

palaeontology, paediatric. Oenology is acceptable in American English but is regarded as a

minor variant of enology.
The spelling foetal is a Britishism based on a false etymology.[49] The etymologically correct
original spelling "fetus" reflects the Latin original and is the standard spelling in medical journals
worldwide.[50]
Exceptions to the American simplification rule include aesthetics and archaeology, which
usually prevail over esthetics and archeology, respectively,[51] as well as the stronger case of
palaestra, in which the simplified form palestra is a variant described by Merriam-Webster as
"chiefly Brit[ish]."[52]
Words where British usage varies include encyclopaedia, homoeopathy, mediaeval, and foetus
(though the British medical community, as well as at least one authoritative source,[53] consider
this variant to be unacceptable for the purposes of journal articles and the like, since the Latin
spelling was actually fetus).
The Ancient Greek diphthongs <> and <> were transliterated into Latin as <ae> and <oe>.
The ligatures and were introduced when the sounds became monophthongs, and later
applied to words not of Greek origin, in both Latin (for example, cli) and French (for example,
uvre). In English, which has imported words from all three languages, it is now usual to replace
/ with Ae/ae and / with Oe/oe. In many cases, the digraph has been reduced to a single e
in all varieties of English: for example, oeconomics, praemium, and aenigma.[54] In others, it is
retained in all varieties: for example, phoenix, and usually subpoena.[55] This is especially true of
names: Caesar, Oedipus, Phoebe etc. There is no reduction of Latin -ae plurals (e.g. larvae); nor
where the digraph <ae>/<oe> does not result from the Greek-style ligature: for example,
maelstrom, toe. The British form aeroplane is an instance (compare other aero- words such as
aerosol). The now chiefly North American airplane is not a respelling but a recoining, modeled
after airship and aircraft. The word airplane dates from 1907,[56] at which time the prefix aerowas trisyllabic, often written aro-.
Internationally, the American spelling is closer to the usage in a number of other languages using
the Latin alphabet.[citation needed] For instance, almost all Romance languages (which tend to have
more phonemic spelling) lack the ae and oe spellings (a notable exception being French), as do
Swedish, Polish, and others, while Dutch uses them sometimes ("ae" is rare, but "oe" is the
normal representation of the sound [u], while written "u" represents either the sound [y] or []).
The languages Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and some others retain the original ligatures. In
German, through umlauts, is retained as its equivalent of the ligature, for when written without
the umlaut. These words resemble the British usage (i.e. becomes ae and becomes oe).
Similarly, Hungarian uses "" as a replacement for "ae" (although it becomes "e" sometimes),
and the special character "" (sometimes "") for "oe".
Commonwealth usage
In Canada, e is usually preferred over oe and often over ae as well, just as in the neighbouring
United States.[citation needed] In Australia and elsewhere, the British usage prevails, but the spellings

22

with just e are increasingly used.[57] Manoeuvre is the only spelling in Australia, and the most
common one in Canada, where maneuver and manoeuver are also sometimes found.[58]
This shortening is natural, especially since the Canadian Forces in the air and on the oceans are
frequently involved in joint maneuvers with the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy. In Canada, oe
and ae are used occasionally in the academic and science communities.[citation needed]

Doubled consonants
Doubled in British English

The final consonant of an English word is sometimes doubled in both American and British
spelling when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, for example strip/stripped, which
prevents confusion with stripe/striped and shows the difference in pronunciation (see digraph).
Generally, this occurs only when the word's final syllable is stressed and when it also ends with a
single vowel followed by a single consonant. In British English, however, a final -l is often
doubled even when the final syllable is unstressed.[59] This exception is no longer usual in
American English, apparently because of Noah Webster.[60] The -ll- spellings are nevertheless
still regarded as acceptable variants by both Merriam-Webster Collegiate and American Heritage
dictionaries.

The British English doubling is required for all inflections (-ed, -ing, -er, -est) and for the noun
suffixes -er and -or. Therefore, British English usage is cancelled, counsellor, cruellest, labelled,
modelling, quarrelled, signalling, traveller, and travelling. Americans usually use canceled,
counselor, cruelest, labeled, modeling, quarreled, signaling, traveler, and traveling.
o The word parallel keeps a single -l- in British English, as in American English (paralleling,
unparalleled), to avoid the unappealing cluster -llell-.
o Words with two vowels before a final l are also spelled with -ll- in British English before
a suffix when the first vowel either acts as a consonant (equalling and initialled; in the
United States, equaling or initialed), or belongs to a separate syllable (British fuelling
and dialled; American fueling and dialed).
British woollen is a further exception due to the double vowel (American:
woolen). Also, wooly is accepted in American English, though woolly dominates
in both systems.[61]
Endings -ize /-ise, -ism, -ist, -ish usually do not double the l in British English; for example,
normalise, dualism, novelist, and devilish.
o Exceptions: tranquillise; duellist, medallist, panellist, and sometimes triallist in British
English.
For -ous, British English has a single l in scandalous and perilous, but the "ll" in marvellous and
libellous.
For -ee, British English has libellee.
For -age, British English has pupillage but vassalage.
American English sometimes has an unstressed -ll-, as in the UK, in some words where the root
has -l. These are cases where the alteration occurs in the source language, which was often
Latin. (Examples: bimetallism, cancellation, chancellor, crystallize, excellent, tonsillitis, and
raillery.)

23

All forms of English have compelled, excelling, propelled, rebelling (notice the stress difference);
revealing, fooling (note the double vowel before the l); and hurling (consonant before the l).
Canadian and Australian English largely follow British usage.[59]

Among consonants other than l, practice varies for some words, such as where the final syllable
has secondary stress or an unreduced vowel. In the United States, the spellings kidnaped and
worshiped, which were introduced by the Chicago Tribune in the 1920s,[62] are common.
Kidnapped and worshipped are the only standard British spellings.
Miscellaneous:

British calliper or caliper; American caliper.

British jewellery; American jewelry. The standard pronunciations (/dulri/)[63] do not reflect
this difference. According to Fowler, jewelry used to be the "rhetorical and poetic" spelling in
the UK. Canada has both, but jewellery is more often used. Likewise, the Commonwealth
(including Canada) has jeweller and the United States has jeweler for a jewel(le)ry retailer.

Doubled in American English

Conversely, there are words where British writers prefer a single l and Americans usually use a
double l. In American usage, the spelling of words is usually not changed when they form the
main part (not prefix or suffix) of other words, especially in newly formed words and in words
whose main part is in common use. Words exhibiting this spelling difference include wil(l)ful,
skil(l)ful, thral(l)dom, appal(l), fulfil(l), fulfil(l)ment, enrol(l)ment, instal(l)ment. These words
have monosyllabic cognates always written with -ll: will, skill, thrall, pall, fill, roll, stall, still.
Cases where a single l nevertheless occurs in both American and British English include
nullannul, annulment; tilluntil (although some prefer "til" to reflect the single L in "until",
occasionally using an apostrophe ['til]); and others where the connection is not transparent or the
monosyllabic cognate is not in common use in American English (e.g. null is used mainly as a
technical term in law, mathematics, and computer science).
In the UK, ll is used occasionally in distil(l), instil(l), enrol(l), and enthral(l)ment, and often in
enthral(l), all of which are always spelt this way in American usage. The former British spellings
instal, fulness, and dulness are now quite rare.[64] The Scottish tolbooth is cognate with toll
booth, but it has a specific distinct sense.
In both American and British usages, words normally spelled -ll usually drop the second l when
used as prefixes or suffixes, for example fulluseful, handful; allalmighty, altogether;
wellwelfare, welcome; chillchilblain.
The British fulfil and American fulfill are never fullfill or fullfil.
Dr Johnson wavered on this issue. His dictionary of 1755 lemmatises distil and instill, downhil
and uphill.[65]

24

Dropped e
British English sometimes keeps silent e when adding suffixes where American English does
not. Generally speaking, British English drops it in only some cases in which it is unnecessary to
indicate pronunciation whereas American English only uses it where necessary.

British prefers ageing,[66] American usually aging (compare raging, ageism). For the noun or verb
"route", British English often uses routeing,[67] but in America routing is used. (The military term
rout forms routing everywhere.) However, all of these words form "router", whether used in the
context of carpentry, data communications, or military. (e.g. "Attacus was the router of the
Huns at ....")

Both forms of English retain the silent e in the words dyeing, singeing, and swingeing[68] (in the
sense of dye, singe, and swinge), to distinguish from dying, singing, swinging (in the sense of die,
sing, and swing). In contrast, the verb bathe and the British verb bath both form bathing. Both
forms of English vary for tinge and twinge; both prefer cringing, hinging, lunging, syringing.

Before -able, British English prefers likeable, liveable, rateable, saleable, sizeable,
unshakeable,[69] where American practice prefers to drop the -e; but both British and American
English prefer breathable, curable, datable, lovable, movable, notable, provable, quotable,
scalable, solvable, usable,[69] and those where the root is polysyllabic, like believable or
decidable. Both forms of the language retain the silent e when it is necessary to preserve a soft
c, ch, or g, such as in traceable, cacheable, changeable; both usually retain the "e" after -dge, as
in knowledgeable, unbridgeable, and unabridgeable. ("These rights are unabridgeable.")
Both abridgment and the more regular abridgement are current in America, only the latter in
the UK.[70] Similarly for the word lodg(e)ment. Both judgment and judgement are in use
interchangeably everywhere, although the former prevails in America and the latter prevails in
the UK[71] except in the practice of law, where judgment is standard. The similar situation holds
for abridgment and acknowledgment. Both forms of English prefer fledgling to fledgeling, but
ridgeling to ridgling.
The word "blue" always drops the "e" when forming "bluish".

Different spellings for different meanings

dependant or dependent: British dictionaries distinguish between dependent (adjective) and

dependant (noun). In the US, dependent is usual for both noun and adjective, notwithstanding
that dependant is also an acceptable variant for the noun form in the US.[72]
disc or disk: Traditionally, disc used to be British and disk American. Both spellings are
etymologically sound (Greek diskos, Latin discus), although disk is earlier. In computing, disc is
used for optical discs (e.g. a CD, Compact Disc; DVD, Digital Versatile/Video Disc), by choice of
the group that coined and trademarked the name Compact Disc, while disk is used for products
using magnetic storage (e.g. hard disks or floppy disks, also known as diskettes).[73] For this
limited application, these spellings are used in both the US and the Commonwealth. Solid-state
devices also use the spelling "disk".
enquiry or inquiry:[74] According to Fowler, inquiry should be used in relation to a formal
inquest, and enquiry to the act of questioning. Many (though not all) British writers maintain this
distinction; the OED, on the other hand, lists inquiry and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that

25

order. Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary,[75] present the two
spellings as interchangeable variants in the general sense, but prefer inquiry for the "formal
inquest" sense. In the US, only inquiry is commonly used; the title of The National Enquirer, as a
proper name, is an exception. In Australia, inquiry and enquiry are often interchangeable, but
inquiry prevails in writing. Both are current in Canada, where enquiry is often associated with
scholarly or intellectual research.
ensure or insure: In the UK (and Australia), the word ensure (to make sure, to make certain) has
a distinct meaning from the word insure (often followed by against to guarantee or protect
against, typically by means of an "insurance policy"). The distinction is only about a century
old,[76] and this helps explain why in (North) America ensure is just a variant of insure, more
often than not. According to Merriam-Webster's usage notes, ensure and insure "are
interchangeable in many contexts where they indicate the making certain or [making] inevitable
of an outcome, but ensure may imply a virtual guarantee <the government has ensured the
safety of the refugees>, while insure sometimes stresses the taking of necessary measures
beforehand <careful planning should insure the success of the party>."[77]
insurance or assurance: In the business of risk transfer, American English speakers will normally
refer to life insurance or fire insurance. In British English, "assurance" refers to risk associated
with certainty, such as covering death (death is inevitable), whereas "insurance" refers to
uncertainty (such as a home insurance policy). In British English "life insurance" is used for a
policy covering uncertainty (for example, a pianist's hands may be covered under "life
insurance"). Canadian speakers remain more likely than US speakers to use assurance.[78]
matt or matte: In the UK, matt refers to a non-glossy surface, and matte to the motion-picture
technique; in the US, matte covers both.[79]
programme or program: The British programme is a 19th-century French version of program.
Program first appeared in Scotland in the 17th century and is the only spelling found in the US.
The OED entry, written around 1908 and listing both spellings, said program was preferable,
since it conformed to the usual representation of the Greek as in anagram, diagram, telegram
etc. In British English, program is the common spelling for computer programs, but for other
meanings programme is used. In Australia, program has been endorsed by government writing
standards for all senses since the 1960s,[80] although programme is also seen; see also the name
of The Micallef Program(me). In Canada, program prevails, and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary
makes no meaning-based distinction between it and programme. However, some Canadian
government documents nevertheless use programme in all senses of the word and also to
match the spelling of the French equivalent.[80]
tonne or ton: in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the spelling tonne refers to the
metric unit (1000 kilograms), whereas in the US the same unit is referred to as a metric ton. The
unqualified ton usually refers to the long ton (2,240 lb.) in the UK and to the short ton (2,000
pounds (910 kg)) in the US (but note that the tonne and long ton differ by only 1.6%, and are
roughly interchangeable when accuracy is not critical; ton and tonne are usually pronounced the
same in speech).

See also meter/metre, for which there is a British English distinction between these
etymologically related forms with different meanings but the standardised American spelling is
"meter". The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is "metre".[81]
This spelling is also the usual one in most English-speaking countries, but only the spelling
"meter" is used in American English, and this is officially endorsed by the United States.[82]

26

English Spelling Rules

Writing (and therefore spelling) is a representation of the spoken word. The spoken word is not a
representation of writing. Because accents and pronunciation can change easily and quite
quickly, whereas what is written in books and dictionaries remains "fixed" for years, as well as
for various historical reasons, there is often little correspondence between spoken English
(pronunciation) and written English (spelling). English spelling therefore often appears to be
totally illogical. The following rules can help you to decode the mysteries of English spelling.
But remember, even the best rules have their exceptions.

Adding -er/-est
quick, quicker, quickest, happy, happier, happiest, hot, hotter, hottest...

Adding -ing/-ed
work, working, worked, stop, stopping, stopped...

Adding -ly
loud, loudly, happy, happily, terrible, terribly...

Adding -s
dog, dogs, church, churches, wife, wives...

-ible or -able
accessible, visible, dependable, networkable...

-ie- or -eifriend, fiend, feint, freight...

English and American English

colour, color, practise, practice, tyre, tire...

English and American English Spelling

Here are the principal differences in spelling between English and American English.

Final -l is always doubled after one vowel in stressed and

unstressed syllables in English but usually only in stressed
syllables in American English, for example:

English

American
English

rebel >
rebelled
travel >
travelled

rebel >
rebelled
travel >
traveled

27

Some words end in -tre in English and -ter in American English, centre
for example:
theatre

center
theater

Some words end in -ogue in English and -og in American

English, for example:

analog
catalog

analogue
catalogue

Some words end in -our in English and -or in American English, colour
for example:
labour

color
labor

Some verbs end in -ize or -ise in English but only in -ize in

American English, for example:

realize
harmonize

Common Differences
English

American English

all right

all right, alright (disputed)

analyse

analyze

centre

center

cheque

check

colour

color

counsellor

counselor

criticise, criticize

criticize

defence

defense

doughnut

donut

favour

favor

fibre

fiber

flavour

flavor

realise, realize
harmonise,
harmonize

28

fulfil

fulfill

grey

gray

honour

honor

humour

humor

jewellery

jewellery, jewelry

judgement, judgment judgment

kerb

curb

labour

labor

license, licence (verb) license (verb)

licence (noun)
license (noun)
litre

liter

metre

meter

mould

mold

neighbour

neighbor

offence

offense

practise (verb)
practice (noun)

practice (verb)
practice (noun)

pretence

pretense

programme

program

pyjamas

pajamas

29

realise, realize

realize

savour

savor

speciality

specialty

theatre

theater

travelled
travelling

travelled, traveled
travelling, traveling

tyre

tire

valour

valor

Basic Syllable Rules

1. To find the number of syllables:
---count the vowels in the word,
---subtract any silent vowels, (like the silent "e" at the end of a word or the second vowel when two
vowels a together in a syllable)
---subtract one vowel from every diphthong, (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound.)
---the number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables.
The number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word is the same as the number of vowels
sounds heard. For example:
The word "came" has 2 vowels, but the "e" is silent, leaving one vowel sound andone syllable.
The word "outside" has 4 vowels, but the "e" is silent and the "ou" is a diphthong which counts as only
one sound, so this word has only two vowels sounds and therefore, two syllables.
2. Divide between two middle consonants.
Split up words that have two middle consonants. For example:
hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner, and Den/nis. The only exceptions are the consonant
digraphs. Never split up consonant digraphs as they really represent only one sound. The exceptions are
"th", "sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh".
3. Usually divide before a single middle consonant.
When there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it, as in:
"o/pen", "i/tem", "e/vil", and "re/port". The only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has
an obvious short sound, as in "cab/in".

30
4. Divide before the consonant before an "-le" syllable.
When you have a word that has the old-style spelling in which the "-le" sounds like "-el", divide before
the consonant before the "-le". For example: "a/ble", "fum/ble", "rub/ble" "mum/ble" and "this/tle".
The only exception to this are "ckle" words like "tick/le".
5. Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds.
Split off the parts of compound words like "sports/car" and "house/boat". Divide off prefixes such at
"un/happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write". Also divide off suffixes as in the words "farm/er", "teach/er",
"hope/less" and "care/ful". In the word "stop/ping", the suffix is actually "-ping" because this word
follows the rule that when you add "-ing" to a word with one syllable, you double the last consonant and
add the "-ing".

31

Minggu ke 2
Punctuation
This guide provides instruction on the basic rules of using a period, comma, colon, semicolon,
question mark and exclamation point. Each type of punctuation is followed by an explanation
and example sentences for reference purposes.
Period
Use a period to end a complete sentence. A sentence is a group of words containing a subject and
predicate. In British English a period is called a 'full stop'.
Examples:
He went to Detroit last week.
They are going to visit.
Comma
There are a number of different uses for commas in English. Commas are used to:

Separate a list of items. This is one of the most common uses of a comma. Notice that a
comma is included before the conjunction 'and' which comes before the final element of a
list.
Examples:
I like reading, listening to music, taking long walks, and visiting with my friends.
They would like books, magazines, DVDs, video cassettes, and other learning materials
for their library.

Separate phrases (clauses). This is especially true after a beginning dependent clause or a
long prepositional phrase.
Examples:
In order to qualify for your certificate, you will need to take the TOEFL exam.
Although he wanted to come, he wasn't able to attend the course.

Separate two independent clauses that are connected by a conjunction such as 'but'.
Examples:
They wanted to purchase a new car, but their financial situation would not allow it.
I'd really enjoy seeing a film this evening, and I'd like to go out for a drink.

32

Introduce a direct quote (as opposed to indirect speech i.e. He said he wanted to come ...).
Examples:
The boy said, "My father is often away during the week on business trips."
His doctor replied, "If you don't stop smoking, you run the risk of a heart attack."

Separate appositives (a noun, or noun phrase) or non-defining relative clauses.

Examples:
Bill Gates, the richest man in the world, comes from Seattle.
My only sister, who is a fantastic tennis player, is in great shape.

Question Mark
The question mark is used at the end of a question.
Examples:
Where do you live?
How long have they been studying?
Exclamation Point
The exclamation point is used at the end of a sentence to indicate great surprise. It is also used
for emphasis when making a point. Be careful not to use an exclamation point too often.
Examples:
That ride was fantastic!
I can't believe he is going to marry her!
Semicolon
There are two uses for a semicolon:

To separate two independent clauses. One or both of the clauses are short and the ideas
expressed are usually very similar.
Examples:
He loves studying; He can't get enough of school.
What an incredible situation; it must make you nervous.

To separate groups of words that are themselves separated by commas.

33

Examples:
I took a holiday and played golf, which I love; read a lot, which I needed to do; and slept
late, which I hadn't done for quite a while.
They plan to study German, for their travels; chemistry, for their work; and literature, for
their own enjoyment.
Colon
A colon can be used for two purposes:

To provide additional details and explanation.

Examples:
He had many reasons for joining the club: to get in shape, to make new friends, to lose
some weight, and to get out of the house.
She gave notice for the following reasons: bad pay, horrible hours, poor relations with
colleagues, and her boss.

To introduce a direct quote (a comma can also be used in this situation).

Examples:
He announced to his friends: "I'm getting married!"
She cried out: "I never want to see you again!"

Punctuation by Pamela Rice Hahn

Punctuation is a very important part of writing. Punctuation marks tell us when sentences end
and when new ones begin. They break up the grammar of the sentence so that we can quickly
understand the meaning. They give a context to the words we use.
The following punctuation marks are important to writing. Make sure that you understand how to
use them properly and effectively.
An English professor wrote the words, Woman without her man is nothing, on the blackboard
and told his students to add punctuation to the sentence.
The men wrote: Woman, without her man, is nothing.
The women wrote: Woman! Without her, man is nothing.
Author Unknown

34

Serial Comma
Unless you're writing to magazine, newspaper, or Web page guidelines that suggest otherwise,
whenever you have three or more nouns listed in a sentence, use a serial comma to avoid
ambiguity. A serial comma simply means that the comma is repeated in between the nouns:
Tom, Dick, and Harry are my friends.
I bought a shirt, a tie, and a pair of socks.
Historically, the serial comma was used to separate all the nouns. A modern convention, though,
is to omit the last comma from the series, leaving the conjunction to tie them together:
Tom, Dick and Harry are my friends.
I bought a shirt, a tie and a pair of socks.
In the United States, omitting the final comma was for a time considered the modern, preferred
convention, but because the lack of that final comma can often inadvertently distort the meaning
of a sentence, the preference is once again to use the serial comma. Outside the United States,
some places prefer the old-fashioned way of including the final comma in the series. Depending
on which market you're writing for, structure your serial commas accordingly. If you're writing
an article for a magazine published in the United Kingdom, you can save your editors a headache
by writing in their preferred style.
Serial commas can work with other conjunctions, too, so don't think that it's only sentences with
and that you have to worry about. Consider the following:
I want to go to the store with either Tom, Dick, or Harry. (with serial comma)
I want to go to the store with either Tom, Dick or Harry. (without serial comma)
So far, you have seen examples that use three nouns to create the serial comma. If there were
only two, no serial comma would be needed, because a simple conjunction like and would
suffice. But a serial comma can be used with more than three, too:
There are a number of things you will need to bake bread. The necessary ingredients include
yeast, eggs, flour, and water.
If you are using long compound phrases instead of simple nouns, or compound phrases in which
an internal comma is present, then consider using a semicolon instead.
I only have four things left to do. I must go to the store and pick up some candy; stop at the dry
cleaner's; go for an oil change; and buy roses for my wife.
Is a comma the only punctuation mark used in a series?

35

No. Sometimes, you may also come across serial semicolons. Semicolons are sometimes used to
break up bits that are too complex to sustain using commas:

Exclamation Points
An exclamation point is a very powerful form of punctuation. It delivers a real impact! The
overuse of exclamation points, however, clouds writing and makes it look amateurish. Use
exclamation points very sparingly. If you constantly use exclamation points in dialogue, the
results look absurd:
Bob picked up the newspaper. His picture was on the cover! He picked up the phone and quickly
dialed his girlfriend. Bess! You'll never believe it!
I know, I know! I saw it! she said excitedly over the phone. You must be so thrilled!
Congratulations!
There's a reason you never see this kind of exchange in books. You may come across it in comic
books or on the Web or in e-mail where you'll often even see multiple exclamation points
strung together, but in most of the publishing world, this is considered overkill and amateurish.
You don't want your writing to look like the transcript from an online chat room. Sometimes it's
appropriate to use them, but you should never do it all the time. Here's a much cleaner version:
Bob picked up the newspaper and found that his picture was on the cover. He quickly picked up
the phone and dialed his girlfriend. Bess! You'll never believe it.
I know, I know! I saw it, she said excitedly over the phone. You must be so thrilled.
Congratulations!
Now, the emotion of the situation is still conveyed, and the characters sound far less maniacal,
too.
As a rule of thumb, use exclamation points sparingly in dialogue. And never, ever use it in prose
or narrative unless you're very sure it's necessary.
Chances are, however, that with some thought and careful editing, you could improve on that
passage even further and eliminate most of the exclamation points (and the adverb excitedly)
by letting the action conveyed by your verb choice serve as the intended emphasis.

En and Em Dashes
Dashes are also an effective punctuation tool. The names may sound funny, but there's a logical
explanation for them. An en dash is shorter than an em dash. This harkens back to the days of
printing presses; an en dash was simply a dash as long as the letter n, and an em dash was one as
long as an m or roughly double the length of an n.

36

You can use an em dash to break up parts of your sentence like when you're including
something aside from your main point but don't do it very often. If used too often, like the
exclamation point, it loses its emphasis and becomes distracting.
Many word-processing programs fill in the proper dash if you just use a hyphen, normally
located right beside the zero on your keyboard. You can also use alt codes to insert the dashes.
Simply hold down the alt button on your keyboard, and using the numeric keypad, key in the
appropriate four-digit number. You then let go of the alt button, and voil! Your dash appears.
En dash (): alt + 0150
Em dash ( ): alt + 0151
The plus symbol is merely there to show you that you key in the numbers while you're holding
down the alt key you don't actually type that symbol in. And remember that you must do it
using the numeric keypad this trick won't work using the regular top row numbers on your
keyboard.

The Use of Large Letters (Capitals)

Each letter of the English alphabet may be written as a small letter (abc...) or as a large or capital
letter (ABC...). Here is a full list of capital letters.
In English, we do not use capitals letters very much. We use them mainly for the first letter of
sentences, names, days and months as well for some abbreviations. In addition, of course, we
always write the first person pronoun as a capital I.
It is not usual to write whole sentences in capitals. A sentence or paragraph written in capitals is
extremely difficult to read. Did you ever see a book or newspaper written completely in capitals?
Of course not! We cannot easily read large amounts of text in capital letters. Lawyers know that
capital letters are difficult to read. That is why some legal texts are written completely in
capitals.
In this lesson we look at:

When do we Use Capital Letters?

1. Use a capital letter for the personal pronoun 'I':

What can I say?

2. Use a capital letter to begin a sentence or to begin speech:

The man arrived. He sat down.

37

Suddenly Mary asked, "Do you love me?"

3. Use capital letters for many abbreviations and acronyms:

G.M.T. or GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

N.A.T.O. or NATO or Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

4. Use a capital letter for days of the week, months of the year, holidays:

Monday, Tuesday
January, February
Christmas
Armistice Day

5. Use a capital letter for countries, languages & nationalities, religions:

China, France
Japanese, English
Christianity, Buddhism

6. Use a capital letter for people's names and titles:

Anthony, Ram, William Shakespeare

Professor Jones, Dr Smith
Captain Kirk, King Henry VIII

7. Use a capital letter for trade-marks and names of companies and other organizations:

Pepsi Cola, Walkman

Microsoft Corporation, Toyota
the United Nations, the Red Cross

8. Use a capital letter for places and monuments:

London, Paris, the Latin Quarter

the Eiffel Tower, St Paul's Cathedral
Buckingham Palace, the White House
Oxford Street, Fifth Avenue
Jupiter, Mars, Syrius
Asia, the Middle East, the North Pole

9. Use a capital letter for names of vehicles like ships, trains and spacecraft:

the Titanic
the Orient Express, the Flying Scotsman

38

Why Are Capital Letters Difficult?

Why are words written in capitals more difficult to read than words in small letters? There are
two basic reasons:

Firstly, at least for native English speakers, children usually learn to read and write small letters
before capital letters.

Secondly, and more importantly, words written in capital letters have no "shape". Words with
small letters go up and down. Some small letters have "ascenders" (like the letter b). They go up.
Some small letters have "descenders" (like the letter p). They go down. Some small letters have
no ascender or descender. They stay in the middle. So small letters vary in height. But all capital
letters are the same height (BP).
When we read text, especially when we read fast, we do not read each individual letter. Instead,
we read whole words and phrases. And we recognize these words and phrases partly by their
shape.

39

Minggu ke 3
Sentence Types
All of these sentence types further fall into four basic sentence type categories in English.

Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound - Complex

Simple Sentences
Simple sentences contain no conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).
Examples
Frank ate his dinner quickly.
Peter and Sue visited the museum last Saturday.
Are you coming to the party?
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences contain two statements that are connected by a conjunction (i.e., and, but,
or, etc.).
Examples
I wanted to come, but it was late.
The company had an excellent year, so they gave everyone a bonus.
I went shopping, and my wife went to her classes.
Complex Sentences
Complex sentences contain a dependent clause and at least one independent clause. The two
clauses are connected by a subordinator (i.e, which, who, although, despite, if, since, etc.).
Examples
My daughter, who was late for class, arrived shortly after the bell rang.
That's the man who bought our house
Although it was difficult, the class passed the test with excellent marks.
Compound - Complex Sentences

40

Compound - complex sentences contain at least one dependent clause and more than one
independent clause. The clauses are connected by both conjunctions (i.e., but, so, and, etc.) and
subordinators (i.e., who, because, although, etc.)
Examples
John, who briefly visited last month, won the prize, and he took a short vacation.
Jack forgot his friend's birthday, so he sent him a card when he finally remembered.
The report which Tom complied was presented to the board, but it was rejected because it was
too complex.

Sentence Patterns
There are a number of common sentence patterns used to write most sentences in English. The
basic sentence patterns presented in this guide to sentence patterns will help you understand the
underlying pattern in even the most complex English sentences. Parts of speech are put together
to create sentence patterns in English. Quickly, the eight parts of speech are as follows:
Noun
Pronoun
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Conjunction
Preposition
Interjection
Six Sentence Patterns
Sentence Patterns #1 - Noun / Verb
The most basic sentence pattern is a noun followed by a verb. It's important to remember that
only verbs that do not require objects are used in this sentence pattern.
Examples:
People work.
Frank eats.
This basic sentence pattern can be modified by adding a noun phrase, possessive adjective, as
well as other elements. This is true for all the sentence patterns that follow.
Examples:

41

People work. -> Our employees work.

Frank eats. -> My dog Frank eats.
Sentence Patterns #2 - Noun / Verb / Noun
The next sentence pattern builds on the first pattern and is used with nouns that can take objects.
Examples:
John plays softball.
The boys are watching TV.
Sentence Patterns #3 - Noun / Verb / Adverb
The next sentence pattern builds on the first pattern by using an adverb to describe how an action
is done.
Examples:
Thomas drives quickly.
Anna doesn't sleep deeply.
Sentence Patterns #4 - Noun / Linking Verb / Noun
This sentence pattern uses linking verbs to link one noun to another. Linking verbs are also
known as equating verbs - verbs which equate one thing with another such as 'be', 'become',
'seem', etc.
Examples:
Jack is a student.
This seed will become an apple.
Sentence Patterns #5 - Noun / Linking Verb / Adjective
This sentence pattern is similar to sentence pattern #4, but uses linking verbs to link one noun to
its description using an adjective.
Examples:
My computer is slow!
Her parents seem unhappy.
Sentence Patterns #6 - Noun / Verb / Noun / Noun
Sentence pattern #6 is used with verbs that take both direct and indirect objects.

42

Examples:
I bought Katherine a gift.
Jennifer showed Peter her car.

43

Paragraph Writing
In general, the purpose of a paragraph is to express one point, idea or opinion.
For example: Students require more recreational time in order to better focus on lessons in class.
This main idea is expressed through three sections of a paragraph:
1. Beginning - Introduce your idea.
2. Middle - Explain your idea.
3. End - Make your point again, transition to next paragraph.
Here is a paragraph taken from an essay on various strategies required for an overall
improvement of student performance:
Students require more recreational time in order to better focus on lessons in class. In fact,
studies have shown that students who enjoy a recess of more than 45 minutes consistently score
better on tests immediately following the recess period. Clinical analysis further suggests that
physical exercise greatly improves the ability to focus on academic materials. Longer periods of
recess are clearly required to allow students the best possible chances of success in their studies.
Clearly, physical exercise is just one of the necessary ingredients for improving student scores
on standardized tests.
There are four sentence types used to construct a paragraph:
1. Topic sentence
One sentence which states your idea, point, or opinion. This sentence should use a strong
verb and make a bold statement.
For example: Students require more recreational time in order to better focus on lessons
in class.
NOTE: Notice the strong verb 'require' which is a call to action. A weaker form of this
sentence might be: I think students probably need more recreational time ... This weaker
form is inappropriate for a topic sentence.
2. Supporting sentences
Supporting sentences (notice the plural) provide explanations and support for the topic
sentence (main idea) of your paragraph.

44

For example: In fact, studies have shown that students who enjoy a recess of more than
45 minutes consistently score better on tests immediately following the recess period.
Clinical analysis further suggests that physical exercise greatly improves the ability to
focus on academic materials.
NOTE: Supporting sentences provide the evidence for your topic sentence. Supporting
sentences that include facts, statistics and logical reasoning are much more convincing
that simple statements of opinion.
3. Concluding sentence
The concluding sentence restates the main idea (found in your topic sentence) and
reinforces the point or opinion.
For example: Longer periods of recess are clearly required to allow students the best
possible chances of success in their studies.
NOTE: Concluding sentences repeat the main idea of your paragraph in different words.
4. Transitional sentence
The transitional sentence prepares the reader for the following paragraph.
For example: Clearly, physical exercise is just one of the necessary ingredients for
improving student scores on standardized tests.
NOTE: Transitional sentences should help readers logically understand the connection
between your current main idea, point or opinion and the main idea of your next
paragraph. In this instance, the phrase 'just one of the necessary ingredients ...' prepares
the reader for the next paragraph which will discuss another necessary ingredient for
success.
Writing Basics

Sentence Type Basics for English Learners

There are four sentence types in English. The first sentence type is the most common:
Declarative
A declarative sentence "declares" or states a fact, arrangement or opinion. Declarative sentences
can be either positive or negative. A declarative sentences ends with a period (.).
Examples

45

I'll meet you at the train station.

The sun rises in the East.
He doesn't get up early.
Imperative
The imperative commands (or sometimes requests). The imperative takes no subject as 'you' is
the implied subject. The imperative form ends with either a period (.) or an exclamation point (!).
Examples
Open the door.
Finish your homework
Pick up that mess.
Interrogative
The interrogative asks a question. In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb precedes the
subject which is then followed by the main verb (i.e., Are you coming ....?). The interrogative
form ends with a question mark (?).
Examples
How long have you lived in France?
When does the bus leave?
Do you enjoy listening to classical music?
Exclamatory
The exclamatory form emphasizes a statement (either declarative or imperative) with an
exclamation point (!).
Examples
Hurry up!
That sounds fantastic!
I can't believe you said that!
Sentence Types
All of these sentence types further fall into four basic sentence type categories in English.

Simple
Compound
Complex
Compound - Complex

46

Simple Sentences
Simple sentences contain no conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).
Examples
Frank ate his dinner quickly.
Peter and Sue visited the museum last Saturday.
Are you coming to the party?
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences contain two statements that are connected by a conjunction (i.e., and, but,
or, etc.).
Examples
I wanted to come, but it was late.
The company had an excellent year, so they gave everyone a bonus.
I went shopping, and my wife went to her classes.
Complex Sentences
Complex sentences contain a dependent clause and at least one independent clause. The two
clauses are connected by a subordinator (i.e, which, who, although, despite, if, since, etc.).
Examples
My daughter, who was late for class, arrived shortly after the bell rang.
That's the man who bought our house
Although it was difficult, the class passed the test with excellent marks.
Compound - Complex Sentences
Compound - complex sentences contain at least one dependent clause and more than one
independent clause. The clauses are connected by both conjunctions (i.e., but, so, and, etc.) and
subordinators (i.e., who, because, although, etc.)
Examples
John, who briefly visited last month, won the prize, and he took a short vacation.
Jack forgot his friend's birthday, so he sent him a card when he finally remembered.
The report which Tom complied was presented to the board, but it was rejected because it was
too complex.

47

Complex Sentence - from Simple Sentence to

Complex Sentence
Combing simple sentences to make complex sentences is an important exercise to help you
advance in your writing abilities. This writing exercise focuses on taking simple sentences and
transforming them into complex sentences which are then combined into a paragraph.
Simple Sentence -> Complex Sentence
Example: Tom is a boy. He is eight years old. He goes to school in Philadelphia.
Complex Sentence: -> Tom is an eight-year old boy who goes to school in Philadelphia.
Here are some simple rules to remember when combining simple sentences into complex
sentences:

Don't repeat words

Change words if necessary
Add words to connect ideas

Complex Sentence Exercise

Combine the following sentences into complex sentences. Remember that a number of answers
may be correct. Click on the following page to compare your answers following page to compare
your answers with two possible paragraphs.

His name is Peter.

He's a famous professional athlete.
He's a baseball player.
He has a large house in Miami.
The house is beautiful.
He often travels around the US.
He plays away games in different cities in the US.
He travels by airplane.
He usually sleeps on the plane.
He stays up late after games.
He is an excellent pitcher.
Fans love his abilities.
Coaches love his abilities.

48

Every week he plays a home game.

The game is played in Glover Stadium.
The game is usually sold out.
Glover Stadium is old.
Glover Stadium doesn't have enough seats for all the fans.
The fans wait in line to buy tickets.
The fans often pay more than $60 dollars for a ticket.
The fans are unhappy about the ticket prices.
The fans love Peter.

Adding Emphasis in English - Special Forms

There are a number of ways to add emphasis to your sentences in English. Use these forms to
emphasize your statements when you are expressing your opinions, disagreeing, making strong
suggestions, expressing annoyance, etc.
Use of the Passive
The passive voice is used when focusing on the person or thing affected by an action. Generally,
more emphasis is given to the beginning of a sentence. By using a passive sentence, we
emphasize by showing what happens to something rather than who or what does something.
Example:
Reports are expected by the end of the week.
In this example, attention is called to what is expected of students (reports).
Inversion
Invert the word order by placing a prepositional phrase or other expression (at no time, suddenly
into, little, seldom, never, etc.) at the beginning of the sentence followed by inverted word order.
Examples:
At no time did I say you couldn't come.
Hardly had I arrived when he started complaining.
Little did I understand what was happening.
Seldom have I felt so alone.
Note that the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject which is followed by the main verb.

49

Expressing Annoyance
Use the continuous form modified by 'always', 'forever', etc. to express annoyance at another
person's action. This form is considered an exception as it used to express a routine rather than
an action occurring at a particular moment in time.
Examples:
Martha is always getting into trouble.
Peter is forever asking tricky questions.
George was always being reprimanded by his teachers.
Note that this form is generally used with the present or past continuous (he is always doing, they
were always doing).
Cleft Sentences: It
Sentences introduced by 'It is' or 'It was' are often used to emphasize a specific subject or object.
The introductory clause is then followed by a relative pronoun.
Examples:
It was I who received the promotion.
It is the awful weather that drives him crazy.
Cleft Sentences: What
Sentences introduced by a clause beginning with 'What' are also used to emphasize a specific
subject or object. The clause introduced by 'What' is employed as the subject of the sentence as is
followed by the verb 'to be'.
Examples:
What we need is a good long shower.
What he thinks isn't necessarily true.
Exceptional Use of 'Do' or 'Did'
You have probably learned that the auxiliary verbs 'do' and 'did' are not used in positive
sentences - for example: He went to the store. NOT He did go to the store. However, in order to
emphasize something we feel strongly these auxiliary verbs can be used as an exception to the
rule.
Examples:

50

No that's not true. John did speak to Mary.

I do believe that you should think twice about this situation.
Note this form is often used to express something contrary to what another person believes.

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Minggu ke 4

Sentence Connectors and Sentences Showing Cause / Effect

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express
yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to
use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas
and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing
style.
Type of
Connector
Coordinating
conjunctions
Subordinating
conjunctions
Conjunctive
adverbs
Prepositions

Connector(s)

Examples

Professionals can sometimes be extremely impatient,

for their positions are at times rather stressful.
Since high level positions are at times rather
stressful, professionals can sometimes be extremely
because, since
impatient.
High level positions are at times rather stressful;
therefore, as a result,
therefore, professionals can sometimes be extremely
consequently
impatient.
because of, due to, as Due to the stressful nature of high level positions,
professionals can sometimes be extremely impatient
a result of
for (cause), so (effect)

Sentence Connectors - Showing Addition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express
yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to
use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas
and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing
style.
Type of
Connector
Coordinating
Conjunction
Conjunctive
adverbs
Correlative
conjunctions

Connector(s)

Examples

High level positions are stressful at times,

and can be harmful to your health.
High level positions are stressful at times;
in addition, additionally,
furthermore, they can be harmful to your
furthermore, moreover, also
health
Not only are high level positions stressful at
not only...but also
times, but they also can be harmful to your
and

52

Prepositional
phrases

health.
in addition to, along with, as Along with being stressful, high level
positions can also be harmful to your health
well as

Sentence Connectors - Showing Opposition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express
yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to
use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas
and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing
style.
Type of
Connector
Coordinating
conjunction

Connector(s)
but

Subordinating
conjunctions

although, despite
the fact that

Conjunctive
adverbs

however,
nevertheless

Prepositional
phrases

despite, in spite of

Examples
High level positions are stressful at times, but
professionals can learn to manage their stress levels.
Despite the fact that high level positions are stressful
at times, professionals can learn to manage their stress
levels.
High level positions are stressful at times;
nevertheless, professionals can learn to manage their
stress levels.
In spite of the stressful nature of high level positions,
professionals can learn to manage their stress levels.

Learn More About Sentence Connectors

Sentence Connectors and Sentences Showing Comparison

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express
yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to
use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas
and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing
style.
Type of Connector Connector(s)
Coordinating
and...too
Conjunction
Subordinating
just as
conjunction

Examples
High level positions are stressful, and can be harmful
to your health too.
Just as high level positions are stressful, they can be
harmful to your health.

53

Conjunctive adverbs

similarly, in
comparison

Prepositions

like, similar to

High level positions are stressful at times; similarly,

they can be harmful to your health.
Similar to other important professions, high level
business positions are stressful at times.

Sentence Connectors - Showing Contrast

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express
yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to
use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas
and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing
style.
Type of
Connector

Connector(s)

Coordinating
conjunction

but

Subordinating
conjunctions
Conjunctive
adverbs
Prepositions

Examples

High level positions are stressful at times, but the

financial rewards make these positions very desirable
indeed.
While high level positions are stressful at times, the
financial rewards make these positions very desirable
whereas, while
indeed.
High level positions are stressful at times; on the other
in contrast, on the
hand, the financial rewards make these positions very
other hand
desirable indeed.
Unlike the undesirable stress of high level positions, the
financial rewards make these positions very desirable
unlike
indeed.

Sentence Connectors - Showing Condition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express
yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to
use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas
and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing
style.
Type of
Connector
Subordinating
conjunctions
Conjunctive

Connector(s)

Examples

If you consider the financial rewards of high level

if, unless, only if,
positions, the stressful nature of these positions becomes
even if
less important.
You should remember the financial rewards of high level
otherwise

54

adverb

positions; otherwise, you might find the stressful nature of

these positions too demanding.

What are Conjunctions?

Question: What are Conjunctions?
Conjunctions are used to join two sentences into one sentence by showing a relationship between
the two. There are a number of conjunctions used in English including co-ordinating
conjunctions and subordinate conjunctions. Each type of conjunction is explained below, as well
including a discussion of FANBOYS as a means of helping you remember important
conjunctions.
Answer:
Conjunctions are used to link two clauses together. In other words, if you have two separate
sentences you can join them by using a conjunction. Here are some examples with conjunctions
highlighted in bold.
He was interested in joining the team, but he couldn't come to practice.
Peter bought a new TV because his old one broke.
Let's go to a restaurant or get something quick and easy to cook.
Notice how the conjunctions in the above examples also define the relationship between the two
clauses.
He was interested in joining the team, but he couldn't come to practice.
But shows that the first part of the sentences 'He was interested in joining the team' was not
possible because of the second part of the sentence 'he couldn't come to practice'.
Peter bought a new TV because his old one broke.
In this sentence the second clause gives the reason for the action in the first clause 'Peter bought
a new TV' using the conjunction because.
Let's go to a restaurant or get something quick and easy to cook.
In this example, the conjunction or indicates a choice between the first clause and the second
clause.
Conjunction Types
There are two types of conjunctions in English. The first type are called co-ordinating
conjunctions, and the second type are called subordinating conjunctions. These terms refer to
whether clauses are independent or dependent on another clause. In other words, whether a
clause could stand on its own as a sentence without the other.

55

Co-ordinating Conjunctions
Co-ordinating conjunctions are used to join two independent clauses. In other words, two
sentences that could stand alone can be joined by a co-ordinating conjunction. Co-ordinating
conjunctions include and, but and or. Here are some examples to help explain co-ordinating
conjunctions:
First Sentence
Tim enjoys playing tennis.
Second Sentence
Tim Enjoys doing yoga.
Full Sentence Using a Co-ordinating Conjunction
Tim enjoys playing tennis and doing yoga.
NOTE: When using the same verb, it is possible to connect the two sentences by a co-ordinating
conjunction without the same verb. This is referred to as parallel structure. For example: He
enjoys playing golf and tennis.
First Sentence
Martha wants to go on holiday.
Second Sentence
Martha has to work.
Full Sentence Using a Co-ordinating Conjunction
Martha wants to go on holiday, but she has to work.
Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating clauses take the conjunctions such as because, when, that or which.
Subordinating conjunctions connect an independent and a dependent clause. This means that one
clause can stand on its own, but the other clause can not. It is dependent on the other clause to
make sense.
First Sentence (independent clause)
He'll have some lunch.

56

Second Clause (dependent clause)

...when he arrives.
Full Sentence Using a Subordinating Conjunction
He'll have some lunch when he arrives.
First Sentence (independent clause)
Alison purchased the book.
Second Sentence (changed to a dependent clause)
The book was on the shelf.
Full Sentence Using a Subordinating Conjunction
Alison purchased the book which was on the shelf.
More information on subordinate clauses such as concessive clauses, time clauses, etc.
Conjunctions and Punctuation
Commas are often used with conjunctions in more complex structures:
Alexander felt that he should be able to attend the camp, but his parents insisted that he stay
home to focus on his studies.
Commas are not required in shorter sentences:
I didn't go because I didn't feel well.
Help Remembering Conjunctions: FANBOYS
Many English books refer to principal conjunctions as FANBOYS. This is an acronym used to
help you remember the following conjunctions:
F - for
A - and
N - nor
B - but
O - or
Y - yet
S - so

57

Minggu ke 5

Beginning Writing - Short Writing

Assignments
Beginning Writing: Short Writing Assignments - Application Forms
These short writing topics are designed for lower level classes and give students an opportunity
to write about a number of basic subjects including: studies, hobbies, travel, likes and dislikes,
application forms, brief job descriptions, recipes, etc.
English Studies
You want to go to a language school to study English. Fill in the application form. We want to
find the right family to stay with, and would also like to know about your interests and hobbies
so that we can organize social activities.
LEIGH LANGUAGE SCHOOL - APPLICATION FORM
Surname
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
First Name (s)
Occupation
Address
Post code
Date of birth
Age
Nationality
Write about you and your family/home/hobbies/interests (about 50 words).
Home Stay Program
You want to stay with a family in England. Fill in the application form. We want to find the right
family to stay with, and would also like to know about your interests and hobbies so that we can
organise social activities.
FAMILY EXCHANGE ENGLAND - APPLICATION FORM
Surname
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
First Name (s)
Occupation
Address

58

Post code
Date of birth
Age
Nationality
Write about you and your family/home/hobbies/interests (about 50 words).
Summer Work
You want to work in Canada for the summer. Fill in the application form. We want to find the
right job for you, and would also like to know about your work or school experience and
capabilities.
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT ENGLAND - APPLICATION FORM
Surname
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
First Name (s)
Occupation
Address
Post code
Date of birth
Age
Nationality
Write about you and your work (school) experience (about 50 words).
Exchange Program
You want to have a family stay with you in your home. Fill in the application form. We want to
find the right family to stay with you, and would also like to know about your interests and
hobbies so that we can organize social activities.
ITALY FAMILY EXCHANGE - APPLICATION FORM
Surname
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
First Name (s)
Occupation
Address
Post code
Date of birth
Age
Nationality

59

Write about you and your family (interests/hobbies etc.) and your area in the country you live in
(about 50 words).
International Pen Pal
You want to find a pen pal. Fill in the application form. We want to find the right pen pal for you
- someone who shares the same interests and hobbies.
INTERNATIONAL PEN PAL - APPLICATION FORM
Surname
Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
First Name (s)
Occupation
Address
Post code
Date of birth
Age
Nationality
Write about you and your family. Include what interests you have and what you would like to
exchange information about (about 50 words).
Beginning Writing: Part II - Short Writing Assignments
These short writing topics are designed for lower level classes and give students an opportunity
to write about a number of basic subjects including: studies, hobbies, travel, likes and dislikes,
application forms, brief job descriptions, recipes, etc.
A Postcard
This is the last part of a letter from a friend. Read it and respond.
Anyway, have a good time at the seaside, and please send me a postcard about where you're
staying, the weather, the food, etc. By the way, who are you going with? See you in September,
Love, Janet
Now you are on holiday at the seaside. Write the postcard (about 50 words).
A Letter to a Friend
This is the last part of a letter from a friend. Read it and respond to the question.

60

.So, the weather has been great and we are having a fun time here in Switzerland. Please send
me a postcard about where you're staying, the people, the food, what you are doing etc. See you
soon
Love, Peter
Now you are on holiday in the mountains. Write a short postcard (about 50 words).
A Great City
This is part of a description about New York. Read it and respond to the question.
New York is an interesting city with many things to discover. There are 7 million people who live
in New York. The winters are very cold and the summers are very hot. You can find any type of
food you may want; Italian food, Greek food, French food, Mexican food, and, of course,
American food. There are many theaters in New York.
Now write a short description of a city of your choice. (about 50 words).
Likes and Dislikes
This is part of a description of a person's likes and dislikes. Read it and respond to the question.
I enjoy reading the classics; Shakespeare, Goethe, Dante and so on, and I enjoy listening to jazz.
I don't like going to the disco or rock concerts. I like playing football, tennis and volleyball and I
try to play tennis at least once a week
Now write a short description about your likes and dislikes. (about 50 words)
Americans
Here is a part of a description of American people. Read it and respond to the question.
Americans like eating American food (hamburgers, Coca-Cola) and going to fast food
restaurants. They also like playing many different types of sports; football, tennis, basketball and
baseball etc. Americans usually work very hard and only have two weeks of holiday a year.
Now write a short description of the people in your country (about 50 words)
Beginning Writing: Part II - Short Writing Assignments (continued)
These short writing topics are designed for lower level classes and give students an opportunity
to write about a number of basic subjects including: studies, hobbies, travel, likes and dislikes,
application forms, brief job descriptions, recipes, etc.
My Friend Tom

61

Here is part of a description of a friend. Read it and respond to the question.

Tom likes listening to classical music, but doesn't like jazz. He also enjoys traveling abroad. He
speaks three languages; English, French and Spanish and often visits France in the summer. He
is married and has two children
Now you write a short description of a friend (about 50 words).
My Home
Here is part of a description of a person's home. Read it and respond to the question.
There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and a big living room. In my kitchen, there
is a big table with four chairs. On the table, there are usually some flowers.
Now write a short description of your home (about 50 words).
My Hobby
Here is part of a description of a person's hobby. Read it and respond to the question.
I like traveling because I learn about other cultures. I like trying different kinds of food and
drinking the local wine. I think it is important to learn a few words of the country's language. I
also like visiting museums when I travel.
Now, write a short description of your hobby (about 50 words).
My Daughter
Here is part of a description of a person's child. Read it and respond to the question.
My daughter is 3 years old. She likes playing with her toys. Her favorite toy is her doll "Maria".
She likes fish and turkey, but doesn't like vegetables.
Now, write a short description of your child or a child you know (about 50 words).
Scrambled Eggs
Here is part of a recipe. Read it and respond to the question.
Take three eggs and mix them in a bowl. Put some oil in a pan and put in some salt. Add the eggs
to the pan and stir. After 10 minutes take the eggs out of the pan.
Now, write a short recipe (about 50 words).

62

Personal Descriptions
Read the following paragraph. Notice that this paragraph describes the person who is writing
the introductory paragraph.
Hello, my name is James. I'm a programmer and I come from Chicago. I live in Seattle with my
wife Jennifer. We have two children and a dog. The dog is very funny. I work at a computer
company in the city. The company is very famous and successful. Our daughter is named Anna
and our Son is named Peter. She is four years old and he is five. We like living and working in
Seattle.
Tips for Writing a Personal Description about Yourself

Use 'come from' for the city or country where you were born. Use 'live' for the city where
you currently live.
Use the present simple tense to explain what you do every day.
Use 'have' or 'have got' to speak about your children, pets, etc.
Use 'a' the first time you mention something. For example, I live in a house. Then use
'the' after the first time you write about it. For example, I live in a house. The house is in
Seattle.
Remember to use he, his, him for boys and men and she, her, her for girls and women.
Use 'our' when speaking about the whole family.
Use 'like doing' when speaking about hobbies.

Read the following paragraph. Notice that this paragraph describes a different person than the
person who is writing the introductory paragraph.
Mary is my friend. She is a student at a college in our town. The college is very small. She lives
in an apartment in the center of town. She doesn't have a dog or a cat. She studies every day and
sometimes works in the evening at a small shop. The shop sells gift items like postcards, games
and other small items. She enjoys playing golf, tennis and walking in the countryside.
Tips for Writing a Personal Description about a Friend

Remember to add 's' to the present simple tense when writing about other people.
In the present simple tense, 'doesn't' takes the 's' in the negative form. Remember to use
'doesn't + verb' in the negative.
Use sometimes, often, never, etc. before the main verb in a sentence.
Remember to use he, his, him for boys and men and she, her, her for girls and women.
Use 'enjoys doing' when speaking about hobbies. It's okay to connect a few verbs using
commas, but place 'and' before the final verb in the list when speaking about someone's
hobbies. For example, She enjoys playing tennis, swimming and riding horses.

Exercise

63

1. Write a paragraph about yourself. Try to use a variety of verbs and 'a' and 'the' correctly.
2. Write a paragraph about someone else. You can write about a friend or a someone from
your family.
3. Compare the two paragraphs and note the differences in pronoun and verb use. For
example,
I live in Seattle BUT She lives in Chicago.
My house is in a suburb. BUT His house is in the city.

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Minggu ke 6

Practice in Organizing a
Descriptive Paragraph
After studying our basic model for organizing a descriptive paragraph, you may find it helpful to
apply the strategies in this short exercise.
Here's the topic sentence of a descriptive paragraph titled "The Candle":
I treasure my candle not for its beauty, its sentimental value, or even its usefulness, but for its
simple, stark ugliness.
The rest of the paragraph appears below. However, the sentences have been rearranged so that
the descriptions appear in no logical order. Reorder the sentences to create a clear, wellorganized paragraph.
1. Rising crookedly out of the cup and collar is the candle, a pitifully short, stubby object.

2. Abandoned by a previous occupant of my room, the candle squats on the window sill,
anchored by cobwebs and surrounded by dead flies.

3. This ugly little memorial consists of three parts: the base, the reflector, and the candle
itself.

4. This aluminum flower is actually a wrinkled old Christmas light collar.

5. The base is a white, coffee-stained Styrofoam cup, its wide mouth pressed to the sill.

6. And by lighting the wick, any time I choose, I can melt this ugly candle away.

7. From the bottom of the cup (which is the top of the base) sprouts a space-age daisy: red,
green, and silver petals intended to collect wax and reflect candle light.

65

Draft a Descriptive Paragraph

Once you have settled on a topic for your descriptive paragraph and collected some details,
you're ready to assemble those details in a rough draft. Let's look at one way of organizing a
descriptive paragraph.
Organizing a Descriptive Paragraph
Here's a common model for organizing a descriptive paragraph.

Begin the paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies your prized belonging, and briefly
explain its significance to you.

Next, describe the item in four or five sentences, using the details that you listed after probing
your topic.

Finally, conclude the paragraph with a sentence that emphasizes the personal value of the item.

There are various ways to organize the details in a descriptive paragraph. You may move from
the top of the item to the bottom, or from the bottom to the top. You may start at the left side of
the item and move right, or go from right to left. You may start with the outside of the item and
move in, or go from inside to out. Choose the one pattern that seems best suited to your topic,
and then stick to that pattern throughout the paragraph.
Model Descriptive Paragraph

The following paragraph, titled "My Tiny Diamond Ring," follows the basic pattern of topic
sentence, supporting sentences, and conclusion:
On the third finger of my left hand is the pre-engagement ring given to me last year by my sister Doris.
The 14-carat gold band, a bit tarnished by time and neglect, circles my finger and twists together at the
top to encase a small white diamond. The four prongs that anchor the diamond are separated by
pockets of dust. The diamond itself is tiny and dull, like a sliver of glass found on the kitchen floor after a
dishwashing accident. Just below the diamond are small air holes, intended to let the diamond breathe,
but now clogged with grime. The ring is neither very attractive nor valuable, but I treasure it as a gift
from my older sister, a gift that I will pass along to my younger sister when I receive my own
engagement ring this Christmas.

66
Analyzing the Model Description

Notice that the topic sentence in this paragraph not only identifies the belonging (a "preengagement ring") but also implies why the writer treasures it (". . . given to me last year by my
sister Doris"). This kind of topic sentence is more interesting and revealing than a bare
announcement, such as, "The belonging I am about to describe is my pre-engagement ring."
Instead of announcing your topic in this way, focus your paragraph and gain the interest of your
readers with a complete topic sentence: one that expresses an attitude or a reason as well as
identifies the object you are about to describe.
Once you have introduced a topic clearly, you should stick to it, developing this idea with details
in the rest of the paragraph. The writer of "My Tiny Diamond Ring" has done just that, providing
specific details that describe the ring: its parts, size, color, and condition. As a result, the
paragraph is unified--that is, all of the supporting sentences relate directly to one another and to
the topic introduced in the first sentence.
You shouldn't be concerned if your first draft does not seem as clear or as well constructed as
"My Tiny Diamond Ring" (the result of several revisions). Your aim now is to introduce your
belonging in a topic sentence and then draft four or five supporting sentences that describe the
item in detail. In later steps of the writing process, you can focus on sharpening and rearranging
these sentences as you revise.

Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with

Specific Details
As shown in Drafting a Descriptive Paragraph, a topic sentence contains the main idea upon
which a paragraph is developed. Often it appears at (or near) the beginning of a paragraph,
introducing the main idea and suggesting the direction that the paragraph will take. What follows
a topic sentence are a number of supporting sentences that develop the main idea with specific
details.
Instructions:
Here is an effective topic sentence for a descriptive paragraph:
My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped, blond guitar--the first instrument that I
ever taught myself how to play.
This sentence not only identifies the prized belonging ("an old, slightly warped, blond guitar")
but also suggests why the writer values it ("the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to
play"). Some of the sentences below support this topic sentence with specific descriptive details.
Others, however, offer information that would be inappropriate in a unified descriptive
paragraph. Read the sentences carefully, and then pick out only those that support the topic
sentence with precise descriptive details. When you're done, compare your responses with the
suggested answers on page two.

67

1. It is a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed.

2. My grandparents gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday.

3. I think they bought it at the Music Lovers Shop in Rochester where they used to live.

4. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a
silver tuning key.

5. Although copper strings are much harder on the fingers than nylon strings, they sound
much better than the nylon ones.

6. The strings are stretched down a long slim neck.

7. The frets on the neck are tarnished, and the wood has been worn down by years of fingers
pressing chords.

8. It was three months before I could even tune the guitar properly, and another few months
before I could manage the basic chords.

9. You have to be very patient when first learning how to play the guitar.

10. You should set aside a certain time each day for practice.

11. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that has been
slightly damaged in shipping.

68

12. A guitar can be awkward to hold, particularly if it seems bigger than you are, but you
need to learn how to hold it properly if you're ever going to play it right.

13. I usually play sitting down because it's more comfortable that way.

14. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard
fell off years ago.

15. I have a Gibson now and hardly ever play the Madeira any more.

How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay

As you've probably noticed, essay writing assignments can pop up in any class.
An essay is a literary composition that expresses a certain idea, claim, or concept and backs it up
with supporting statements. It will follow a logical pattern, to include an introductory paragraph
(make the claim), a body (support), and a conclusion (summary of statements and support).
English and Literature teachers use them on a regular basis, but essays are also a test tool used
commonly in the social sciences, and even in math and science class.
Of course, essays play a big role in the college application process, as well. In short, there's just
no avoiding essays, as long as you're in school!
Luckily, you can learn to craft a great essay if you can follow the standard pattern and write in a
clear and organized manner.
Introduction

The introduction is the first paragraph in your essay, and it should accomplish a few specific
goals.
1. Capture the reader's interest
It's a good idea to start your essay with a really interesting statement, in order to pique the
reader's interest.

69

Avoid starting out with a boring line like

"In this essay I will explain why Rosa Parks was an important figure."
Instead, try something like
"A Michigan museum recently paid $492,000 for an old, dilapidated bus from
Montgomery, Alabama."
The second sentence sounds much more interesting, doesn't it? It would encourage most
people to keep on reading.
2. Introduce the topic
The next few sentences should explain your first statement, and prepare the reader for
your thesis statement.
"The old yellow bus was reported to be the very one that sparked the civil rights
movement, when a young woman named Rosa Parks..."
3. Make a claim or express your opinion in a thesis sentence.
Your thesis sentence should provide your specific assertion and convey clearly your point
of view.
"In refusing to surrender her seat to a white man, Rosa Parks inspired a courageous
freedom movement that lives on, even today."
Body

The body of the essay will include three paragraphs, each limited to one main idea that supports
your thesis. You should state your idea, then back it up with two or three sentences of evidence
or examples.
Example of a main idea:
"It took incredible courage for an African American woman to make such a bold stance in 1955
Alabama."
Offer evidence to support this statement:
"This act took place in an era when African Americans could be arrested and face severe
retribution for comitting the most trivial acts of defiance."
Include a few more supporting statements with further evidence, then use transition words to
lead to the following paragraph.

70
Sample transition words:

moreover
in fact
on the whole
furthermore
as a result
simply put
for this reason
similarly
likewise
it follows that
naturally
by comparison
surely
yet
The fifth paragraph will be your conclusion.
Conclusion

The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim. It should
point out your main points, but should not repeat specific examples.
Once you complete the first draft of your essay, it's a good idea to re-visit the thesis statement in
your first paragraph. Read your essay to see if it flows well.
You might find that the supporting paragraphs are strong, but they don't address the exact focus
of your thesis. Simply re-write your thesis sentence to fit your body and summary more exactly.
By doing this, you will ensure that every sentence in your essay supports, proves, or reflects your
thesis.

71

Guide to Basic Business Letters

The basics of good business letter writing are easy to learn. The following guide provides the phrases
that are usually found in any standard business letter. These phrases are used as a kind of frame and
introduction to the content of business letters. At the end of this guide, you will find links to sites that
give tips on the difficult part of writing successful business letters - arguing your business objective. By
using these standard phrases, you can give a professional tone to your English business letters. Once you
understand these basics you can use this guide to different types of business letters to refine your skills
for your business needs at your employers or your own small business organization.

The Start
Dear Personnel Director,
Dear Sir or Madam: (use if you don't know who you are writing to)
Dear Dr, Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms Smith: (use if you know who you are writing to, and have a
formal relationship with - VERY IMPORTANT use Ms for women unless asked to use Mrs or
Miss)
Dear Frank: (use if the person is a close business contact or friend)
The Reference
With reference to your advertisement in the Times, your letter of 23 rd March,
your phone call today,
Thank you for your letter of March 5 th .
The Reason for Writing
I am writing to inquire about
apologize for
confirm
Requesting
Could you possibly?
I would be grateful if you could
Agreeing to Requests
I would be delighted to
Giving Bad News

72

Unfortunately
I am afraid that
Enclosing Documents
I am enclosing
Please find enclosed
Enclosed you will find
Closing Remarks
Thank you for your help Please contact us again if we can help in any way.
there are any problems.
you have any questions.
Reference to Future Contact
I look forward to ...
hearing from you soon.
meeting you next Tuesday.
seeing you next Thursday.
The Finish
Yours faithfully, (If you don't know the name of the person you're writing to)
Yours sincerely, (If you know the name of the person you're writing to)
Best wishes,
Best regards, (If the person is a close business contact or friend)
Sample Letter
Here is a sample letter using some of these forms:
Ken's Cheese House
34 Chatley Avenue
Seattle, WA 98765
Tel:
Fax:
Email: kenny@cheese.com
October 23, 2006

73

Fred Flintstone
Sales Manager
Cheese Specialists Inc.
456 Rubble Road
Rockville, IL

Dear Mr Flintstone:
With reference to our telephone conversation today, I am writing to confirm your order for: 120
x Cheddar Deluxe Ref. No. 856
The order will be shipped within three days via UPS and should arrive at your store in about 10
days.
Please contact us again if we can help in any way.
Yours sincerely,
Kenneth Beare
Director of Ken's Cheese House
More Detailed Help with Business Letters
If business letter writing is important to your career, I'd consider purchasing 3,001 Business and
Sales letters. This reasonably priced package provides templates of English business letters for
just about any business situation imaginable. For more detailed help with standard business
writing skills, I highly recommend these business English books.
Now that you understand basic business letter writing style, you can use this guide to different
types of business letters to refine your skills for specific business purposes such as making
inquiries, adjusting claims, writing cover letters and more.

74

How to Write a Persuasive Literature Essay

When you write a persuasive essay, you are creating a paper that will prove a point, which
will change the reader's opinion and/or clarify the issue. The process of causing someone to
change their mind can be difficult. You have to think clearly about how you stand on the
topic, plan you approach, use stong evidence, and understand the topic.
There may be several different ways that you chose a topic for your persuasive essay. Your
teacher may give you a prompt or a choice of several prompts. Or, you may have to come
up with a topic, based on your own experience or the texts you've been studying. If you do
have some choice in the topic selection, it's helpful if you select one that interests you. Also,
you should chose a topic about which you have strong feelings, whether they be positive or
negative. Once you have the topic, you can start the taking the steps toward writing your
persuasive essay:
Brainstorm: Use whichever method of brainstorming works best for you, whether it be
freewriting, clustering, or listing. Write down your thoughts about the topic. Make sure you
know where you stand on the issue. You can even try asking yourself some questions. For
example, in an essay where you are persuading your reader that Emily Dickinson was sane,
you could write down some related ideas:
"Was ED sane? Yes.
Why? She wrote very intelligent poetry. She couldn't have been insane. "
In an essay, where you are persuading your reader that Dickinson was insane, you would
take a similiar approach, but with very different results. Here's an example of using
freewriting:
"ED was insane. She wrote crazy poetry. She didn't follow rules. She lived in solitude. Didn't
want to see anyone. "
Investigate: Talk to classmates, friends, and teachers about the topic. What do they think
about it? The responses that you get from these people will give you a preview of how they
woud respond to your opinion in your paper. Talking out your ideas, and testing your
opinions, gives you more of a clue of what you have to say to persuade them to your point
of view.
Read: Learn as much as you can about the topic. Read biographical information about the
author, if you are writng about a book. Also, read critical material (essays, summaries, etc.)
You can find lots of critical and biographical material online and in your library.
Think: It may seem obvious, but you really have to think about how you are going to
persuade your audience. Don't insult your readers. Use a calm, reasoning tone. Rely on
logic (spelling your argument out for your readers). Don't rely on emotion. Explain to your
reader why, despite the other side of the argument, your viewpoint is the "right," most
logical one.
Organize: In any paper that you write you should make sure that your points are wellorganized and that your supporting ideas are clear, concise, and to-the point. In persuasive

75
writing, though, it is especially important that you use specific examples to illustrate your
main points. Don't give your reader the impression that you are not educated on the issues
related to your topic. Choose your words carefully.

How to Write a Great Essay for the TOEFL

or TOEIC
Writing an essay can be a difficult enough task as it is; writing it a language that is your first
language is even harder.
If you're taking the TOEFL or the TOEIC and have to complete a writing assessment, then read
these instructions for organizing a great five-paragraph essay in English.
Paragraph One: The Introduction

This first paragraph, made up of 3-5 sentences, has two purposes: grabbing the reader's attention,
and providing the main point (thesis) of the whole essay.
To get the reader's attention, your first few sentences are key. Use descriptive words, an
anecdote, a striking question or an interesting fact related to your topic to draw the reader in.
To state your main point, your last sentence in the first paragraph is key. Your first few
sentences of the introduction basically introduce the topic and grab the reader's attention. The
last sentence of the introduction tells the reader what you think about the assigned topic and lists
the points that you're going to write about in the essay.
Here's an example of a good introductory paragraph given the topic, "Do you think teenagers
should have jobs while they are still students?":
I've worked ever since I was twelve. As a teenager, I cleaned houses for my family members,
made banana splits at an ice cream parlor, and waited tables at various restaurants. I did it all
while carrying a pretty good grade point average in school, too! I definitely believe that
teenagers should have jobs while they are still students because a job teaches discipline, earns
them cash for school, and keeps them out of trouble.

Essay Writing 101

How to Write an Essay
Paragraph One: The Introduction

This first paragraph, made up of 3-5 sentences, has two purposes:

1. Grabbing the reader's attention,
2. Providing the main point (thesis) of the whole essay.

76

To get the reader's attention, your first few sentences are key. Use descriptive words, an
anecdote, a striking question or an interesting fact related to your topic to draw the reader in.
To state your main point, your last sentence in the first paragraph is key. The last sentence of
the introduction tells the reader what you think about the assigned topic and lists the points that
you're going to write about in the essay.
Here's an example of a good introductory paragraph given the topic, "Do you think teenagers
should have jobs while they are still students?":
I've worked ever since I was twelve. As a teenager, I cleaned houses for my family members,
made banana splits at an ice cream parlor, and waited tables at various restaurants. I did it all
while carrying a pretty good grade point average in school, too! Teenagers should definitely
have jobs while they are still students because a job teaches discipline, earns them cash for
school, and keeps them out of trouble.
1. Attention Grabber: I've worked ever since I was twelve. Kind of a bold statement, right?
2. Thesis: Teenagers should definitely have jobs while they are still students because a job teaches
discipline, earns them cash for school, and keeps them out of trouble. Demonstrates the writer's
opinion, and provides the points going to be made in the essay.
Paragraph One: The Introduction

This first paragraph, made up of 3-5 sentences, has two purposes:

1. Grabbing the reader's attention,
2. Providing the main point (thesis) of the whole essay.

To get the reader's attention, your first few sentences are key. Use descriptive words, an
anecdote, a striking question or an interesting fact related to your topic to draw the reader in.
To state your main point, your last sentence in the first paragraph is key. The last sentence of
the introduction tells the reader what you think about the assigned topic and lists the points that
you're going to write about in the essay.
Here's an example of a good introductory paragraph given the topic, "Do you think teenagers
should have jobs while they are still students?":
I've worked ever since I was twelve. As a teenager, I cleaned houses for my family members,
made banana splits at an ice cream parlor, and waited tables at various restaurants. I did it all
while carrying a pretty good grade point average in school, too! Teenagers should definitely
have jobs while they are still students because a job teaches discipline, earns them cash for
school, and keeps them out of trouble.
1. Attention Grabber: I've worked ever since I was twelve. Kind of a bold statement, right?

77
2. Thesis: Teenagers should definitely have jobs while they are still students because a job teaches
discipline, earns them cash for school, and keeps them out of trouble. Demonstrates the writer's
opinion, and provides the points going to be made in the essay.

Your first task in writing a descriptive essay is to choose a topic that has many interesting parts
or qualities to talk about. Unless you have a really vivid imagination, you'll find it difficult to
write much about a simple object like a comb, for example. It's best to compare a few topics first
to make sure they'll work.
The next challenge is to figure out the best way to describe your chosen subject in such a way as
to relay a complete experience to the reader, so that he or she is able to see, hear, and feel
through your words.
As in any writing, the drafting stage is key to writing a successful descriptive essay. Since the
purpose of the essay is to paint a mental image of a specific subject, it helps to make a list of all
the things you associate with your topic.
For example, if your subject is the farm where you visited your grandparents as a child you
would list all the things you associate with that place. Your list should include both general
attributes associated with a farm and the more personal and specific things that make it special to
you and the reader.
Start with general details

Cornfields
Pigs
Cows
Garden
Farm house
Well

Then add the unique details:

That spot by the pig barn where you fell in the manure
Playing hide and seek in the cornfields
Picking wild greens for dinner with your grandmother
The stray dogs that always wandered onto the farm
Scary coyotes howling in the night

By tying these details together you can make the essay more relatable to the reader. Making
these lists will allow you to see how you can tie things from each list together.
At this stage, you should determine a good order for the objects you'll describe. For example, if
you are describing an object, you should determine whether you want to describe its appearance
from top to bottom, or side to side.

78

Remember that it is important to begin your essay on a general level and work your way down to
specifics. Start by outlining a simple five-paragraph essay with three main topics. Then you may
expand on this basic outline.
Next you will begin to construct a thesis statement and a trial topic sentence for each main
paragraph.

The thesis sentence should convey your overall impression of your subject. Does it make
you happy? Is it attractive or ugly? Is your object useful?
Each topic sentence should introduce a new part or stage of your choses topic.

Don't worry, you can change these sentences later. It's time to start writing paragraphs!
As you build your paragraphs, you should avoid confusing the reader by bombarding them with
unfamiliar information immediately; you must ease your way into your topic in your
introductory paragraph. For example, instead of saying,
The farm was where I spent most summers holidays. During the summer we played hide and seek
in the cornfields and walked through the cow pastures to pick wild greens for supper. Nana
always carried a gun for snakes.
Instead, give the reader a broad view of your subject and work your way into the details. A better
example would be:
In a small rural town in central Ohio was a farm surrounded by miles of cornfields. In this place,
on many warm summer days, my cousins and I would run through the cornfields playing hide
and seek or making our own crop circles as clubhouses. My grandparents, whom I called Nana
and Papa, lived on this farm for many years. The old farmhouse was large and always full of
people, and it was surrounded by wild animals. I spent many of my childhood summers and
holidays here. It was the family gathering place.
Another simple rule of thumb to remember is "show don't tell." If you want to describe a feeling
or action you should reinvent it through the senses rather than just state it. For example, instead
of:
I got excited every time we pulled into the driveway of my grandparents house.
Try to elaborate what was really going on in your head:
After sitting for several hours in the back seat of the car, I found the slow crawl up the driveway
to be absolute torture. I just knew Nana was inside waiting with fresh baked pies and treats for
me. Papa would have some toy or trinket hidden somewhere but he would pretend not to
recognize me for a few minutes just to tease me before he gave it to me. As my parents would
struggle to pry the suitcases out of the trunk, I would bounce all the way up the porch and rattle
the door until someone finally let me in.

79

The second version paints a picture and puts the reader in the scene. Anyone can be excited.
What your reader needs and wants to know is, what makes it exciting?
Finally, don't try to cram too much into one paragraph. Use each paragraph to describe a
different aspect of your subject. Check to make sure that your essay flows from one paragraph to
the next with good transition statements.
The conclusion of your paragraph is where you can tie everything together and restate the thesis
of your essay. Take all the details and summarize what they mean to you and why it is important.

to choose a topic
compare a few topics
the drafting stage
five-paragraph essay
thesis statement
The thesis sentence
introductory paragraph
your essay flows
transition statements.
The conclusion

How to Pick a Topic for Your Descriptive

Essay
Narrow Your Essay Topic With a Chart

80

It can be difficult to pick a topic for a descriptive essay. You must find a topic that has
interesting qualities to talk about, and one that you can dissect into distinct parts and reassemble
with your words.
In your descriptive essay you must paint a picture with your words, but also generate emotions
and visions within your readers heart and mind.
To help you decide which topic to cover in your descriptive essay, you can do a little assessment
to figure out which subject can be broken down into parts to talk about, and which one has lots
of evocative traits.
You can use a chart like the one above to narrow your choices.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Start with a list of five or six possible topics.

Make a chart with headings like colors, emotions, and parts.
On the left column, write your potential topics.
Fill in the boxes to see which topics have the most interesting qualities to talk about.

You will find that there are some topics that seem interesting to write about at first, but they are
really difficult to describe. This exercise will help you narrow your choice and select the right
topic.

Practice in Organizing a
Descriptive Paragraph
After studying our basic model for organizing a descriptive paragraph, you may find it helpful to
apply the strategies in this short exercise.
Here's the topic sentence of a descriptive paragraph titled "The Candle":

81

I treasure my candle not for its beauty, its sentimental value, or even its usefulness, but for its
simple, stark ugliness.
The rest of the paragraph appears below. However, the sentences have been rearranged so that
the descriptions appear in no logical order. Reorder the sentences to create a clear, wellorganized paragraph.
8. Rising crookedly out of the cup and collar is the candle, a pitifully short, stubby object.

9. Abandoned by a previous occupant of my room, the candle squats on the window sill,
anchored by cobwebs and surrounded by dead flies.

10. This ugly little memorial consists of three parts: the base, the reflector, and the candle
itself.

11. This aluminum flower is actually a wrinkled old Christmas light collar.

12. The base is a white, coffee-stained Styrofoam cup, its wide mouth pressed to the sill.

13. And by lighting the wick, any time I choose, I can melt this ugly candle away.

14. From the bottom of the cup (which is the top of the base) sprouts a space-age daisy: red,
green, and silver petals intended to collect wax and reflect candle light.

Draft a Descriptive Paragraph

Once you have settled on a topic for your descriptive paragraph and collected some details,
you're ready to assemble those details in a rough draft. Let's look at one way of organizing a
descriptive paragraph.
Organizing a Descriptive Paragraph
Here's a common model for organizing a descriptive paragraph.

82

Begin the paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies your prized belonging, and briefly
explain its significance to you.

Next, describe the item in four or five sentences, using the details that you listed after probing
your topic.

Finally, conclude the paragraph with a sentence that emphasizes the personal value of the item.

There are various ways to organize the details in a descriptive paragraph. You may move from
the top of the item to the bottom, or from the bottom to the top. You may start at the left side of
the item and move right, or go from right to left. You may start with the outside of the item and
move in, or go from inside to out. Choose the one pattern that seems best suited to your topic,
and then stick to that pattern throughout the paragraph.
Model Descriptive Paragraph

The following paragraph, titled "My Tiny Diamond Ring," follows the basic pattern of topic
sentence, supporting sentences, and conclusion:
On the third finger of my left hand is the pre-engagement ring given to me last year by my sister Doris.
The 14-carat gold band, a bit tarnished by time and neglect, circles my finger and twists together at the
top to encase a small white diamond. The four prongs that anchor the diamond are separated by
pockets of dust. The diamond itself is tiny and dull, like a sliver of glass found on the kitchen floor after a
dishwashing accident. Just below the diamond are small air holes, intended to let the diamond breathe,
but now clogged with grime. The ring is neither very attractive nor valuable, but I treasure it as a gift
from my older sister, a gift that I will pass along to my younger sister when I receive my own
engagement ring this Christmas.
Analyzing the Model Description

Notice that the topic sentence in this paragraph not only identifies the belonging (a "preengagement ring") but also implies why the writer treasures it (". . . given to me last year by my
sister Doris"). This kind of topic sentence is more interesting and revealing than a bare
announcement, such as, "The belonging I am about to describe is my pre-engagement ring."
Instead of announcing your topic in this way, focus your paragraph and gain the interest of your
readers with a complete topic sentence: one that expresses an attitude or a reason as well as
identifies the object you are about to describe.
Once you have introduced a topic clearly, you should stick to it, developing this idea with details
in the rest of the paragraph. The writer of "My Tiny Diamond Ring" has done just that, providing
specific details that describe the ring: its parts, size, color, and condition. As a result, the

83

paragraph is unified--that is, all of the supporting sentences relate directly to one another and to
the topic introduced in the first sentence.
You shouldn't be concerned if your first draft does not seem as clear or as well constructed as
"My Tiny Diamond Ring" (the result of several revisions). Your aim now is to introduce your
belonging in a topic sentence and then draft four or five supporting sentences that describe the
item in detail. In later steps of the writing process, you can focus on sharpening and rearranging
these sentences as you revise.

Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with

Specific Details
As shown in Drafting a Descriptive Paragraph, a topic sentence contains the main idea upon
which a paragraph is developed. Often it appears at (or near) the beginning of a paragraph,
introducing the main idea and suggesting the direction that the paragraph will take. What follows
a topic sentence are a number of supporting sentences that develop the main idea with specific
details.
Instructions:
Here is an effective topic sentence for a descriptive paragraph:
My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped, blond guitar--the first instrument that I
ever taught myself how to play.
This sentence not only identifies the prized belonging ("an old, slightly warped, blond guitar")
but also suggests why the writer values it ("the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to
play"). Some of the sentences below support this topic sentence with specific descriptive details.
Others, however, offer information that would be inappropriate in a unified descriptive
paragraph. Read the sentences carefully, and then pick out only those that support the topic
sentence with precise descriptive details. When you're done, compare your responses with the
suggested answers on page two.
16. It is a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed.

17. My grandparents gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday.

18. I think they bought it at the Music Lovers Shop in Rochester where they used to live.

84

19. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a
silver tuning key.

20. Although copper strings are much harder on the fingers than nylon strings, they sound
much better than the nylon ones.

21. The strings are stretched down a long slim neck.

22. The frets on the neck are tarnished, and the wood has been worn down by years of fingers
pressing chords.

23. It was three months before I could even tune the guitar properly, and another few months
before I could manage the basic chords.

24. You have to be very patient when first learning how to play the guitar.

25. You should set aside a certain time each day for practice.

26. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that has been
slightly damaged in shipping.

27. A guitar can be awkward to hold, particularly if it seems bigger than you are, but you
need to learn how to hold it properly if you're ever going to play it right.

28. I usually play sitting down because it's more comfortable that way.

85

29. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard
fell off years ago.

30. I have a Gibson now and hardly ever play the Madeira any more.

How to Write a Five-Paragraph Essay

As you've probably noticed, essay writing assignments can pop up in any class.
An essay is a literary composition that expresses a certain idea, claim, or concept and backs it up
with supporting statements. It will follow a logical pattern, to include an introductory paragraph
(make the claim), a body (support), and a conclusion (summary of statements and support).
English and Literature teachers use them on a regular basis, but essays are also a test tool used
commonly in the social sciences, and even in math and science class.
Of course, essays play a big role in the college application process, as well. In short, there's just
no avoiding essays, as long as you're in school!
Luckily, you can learn to craft a great essay if you can follow the standard pattern and write in a
clear and organized manner.
Introduction

The introduction is the first paragraph in your essay, and it should accomplish a few specific
goals.
1. Capture the reader's interest
It's a good idea to start your essay with a really interesting statement, in order to pique the
reader's interest.
Avoid starting out with a boring line like
"In this essay I will explain why Rosa Parks was an important figure."
Instead, try something like
"A Michigan museum recently paid $492,000 for an old, dilapidated bus from
Montgomery, Alabama."
The second sentence sounds much more interesting, doesn't it? It would encourage most
people to keep on reading.

86

2. Introduce the topic

The next few sentences should explain your first statement, and prepare the reader for
your thesis statement.
"The old yellow bus was reported to be the very one that sparked the civil rights
movement, when a young woman named Rosa Parks..."
3. Make a claim or express your opinion in a thesis sentence.
Your thesis sentence should provide your specific assertion and convey clearly your point
of view.
"In refusing to surrender her seat to a white man, Rosa Parks inspired a courageous
freedom movement that lives on, even today."
Body

The body of the essay will include three paragraphs, each limited to one main idea that supports
your thesis. You should state your idea, then back it up with two or three sentences of evidence
or examples.
Example of a main idea:
"It took incredible courage for an African American woman to make such a bold stance in 1955
Alabama."
Offer evidence to support this statement:
"This act took place in an era when African Americans could be arrested and face severe
retribution for comitting the most trivial acts of defiance."
Include a few more supporting statements with further evidence, then use transition words to
lead to the following paragraph.
Sample transition words:

moreover
in fact
on the whole
furthermore
as a result
simply put
for this reason
similarly
likewise

87

it follows that
naturally
by comparison
surely
yet
The fifth paragraph will be your conclusion.
Conclusion

The final paragraph will summarize your main points and re-assert your main claim. It should
point out your main points, but should not repeat specific examples.
Once you complete the first draft of your essay, it's a good idea to re-visit the thesis statement in
your first paragraph. Read your essay to see if it flows well.
You might find that the supporting paragraphs are strong, but they don't address the exact focus
of your thesis. Simply re-write your thesis sentence to fit your body and summary more exactly.
By doing this, you will ensure that every sentence in your essay supports, proves, or reflects your
thesis.

The Thesis Sentence

Why do people make so much fuss over one sentence?

No single sentence will pester you quite so much as the thesis sentence. Often youll find it is
both the first sentence you write and the last sentence you re-write while constructing your essay.
Why so much fuss? Perhaps teachers make so much of the thesis statement because, if done
correctly, it fills so many responsibilities.
The thesis statement must assert your point, suggest your evidence, and structure your argument,
all in one. This is necessary for a good reason. If you can summarize your paper in one sentence,
youre more likely to have a tightly-constructed, concise, and readable essay.
Find a general topic for your paper, and then narrow it down.

The first step in writing an essay is finding a topic you enjoy. The next step is to narrow your
topic into a single view or theory that you will explore and explain. For instance, you may be
very interested in the topic of old wives tales. This is an interesting theme, but it is very broad.
What is specifically interesting about wives tales? Perhaps you can narrow your interest into a
statement like this:

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Many old wives tales originated hundreds of years ago, yet some have been based on solid
science and have led to real cures or medicines.
That is specific. It also asserts your view and provides an opening for evidence. With solid
research you can come up with several examples to support this statement.
Dont be afraid of controversy.

In an argumentative essay, a thesis is a declarative sentence that takes a stance. If you feel
strongly about a social issue and you believe you can back it up, then go ahead and do it. Just be
sure you back up your stance with facts and not opinions. Dont use cruel or insulting statements,
just the facts.
Be aware that there will always be someone who disagrees with your stance. Thats what makes
life interesting. Thats also what makes essays interesting!
Dont be ambiguous.

You may decide to take a stance, but you cant find facts to back up your argument. If so, you
might be on the right track, but you just need to focus a little more.
For instance, you might want to argue that music classes should be mandatory for all students.
You may believe this, but can you back it up?
First, do a little research. You may find evidence that children who study music at a very young
age tend to do well in math and science later in life. Based on this research, you may want to
narrow your thesis to reflect this more narrow argument.
Do re-visit and re-write your thesis, when necessary.

Your thesis sentence should be flexible, until you are finished with your research and your
writing. It is not unusual for writers to revise the thesis sentence several times. As you research
your topic, you may be frustrated to find some fascinating research that fits just outside the
boundary of your thesis.
This is difficult. You can decide to exclude this research or you could decide to change your
thesis. If you include it, be sure it is strong enough to support an entire paragraph.
The best approach is to collect all the research you can, first. Then sort the facts into
categorieseither on paper or in your head. These categories will become your paragraphs.
Narrow and revise your thesis as you go. Once youve completed your essay, check a final time
to see that your thesis fulfills the following roles.

It makes a clear and specific statement.

It indicates the direction of your thoughts.

89

It sets a stage.
It provides structure.
It is supported by the body paragraphs.

Reminder: If you make a final change to your thesis, always double-check your concluding paragraph. It
might need adjustment, as well.

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The Introductory Paragraph

First impressions are so important. How many times have you heard that? It is true that the first
impressionwhether its a first meeting with a person or the first sentence of a papersets the
stage for a lasting opinion.
The introductory paragraph of any paper, long or short, should start with a sentence that piques
the interest of your readers.
In a typical essay, that first sentence leads into two or three sentences that provide details about
your subject or your process. All of these sentences build up to your thesis statement.
The thesis statement is the subject of much instruction and training. The entirety of your paper
hangs on that sentence. But its function is to be informative and direct.
This means its not normally very exciting.
Your First Sentence

To get your paper off to a great start, you should try to have a first sentence that engages your
reader. Think of your first sentence as a hook that draws your reader in. It is your big chance to
be so clever that your reader cant stop.
As you researched your topic, you probably discovered many interesting anecdotes, quotes, or
trivial facts. This is exactly the sort of thing you should use for an engaging introduction.
Consider these ideas for creating a strong beginning.
Surprising fact: The pentagon has twice as many bathrooms as are necessary. The famous
government building was constructed in the 1940s, when segregation laws required that separate
bathrooms be installed for people of African descent. This building isnt the only American icon
that harkens back to this embarrassing and hurtful time in our history. Across the United States
there are many examples of leftover laws and customs that reflect the racism that once permeated
American society.
Humor: When my older brother substituted fresh eggs for our hard-boiled Easter eggs, he didnt
realize our father would take the first crack at hiding them. My brothers holiday ended early
that particular day in 1991, but the rest of the family enjoyed the warm April weather, outside on
the lawn, until late into the evening. Perhaps it was the warmth of the day and the joy of eating
Easter roast while Tommy contemplated his actions that make my memories of Easter so sweet.
Whatever the true reason, the fact is that my favorite holiday of the year is Easter Sunday.
Quotation: Hillary Rodham Clinton once said that There cannot be true democracy unless
women's voices are heard. In 2006, when Nancy Pelosi became the nations first female
Speaker of the House, one womans voice rang out clear. With this development, democracy

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grew to its truest level ever in terms of womens equality. The historical event also paved the
way for Senator Clinton as she warmed her own vocal chords in preparation for a presidential
race.
Finding the Hook

In each example, the first sentence draws the reader in to find out how the interesting fact leads
to a point. You can use many methods to capture your readers interest.
Curiosity: A ducks quack doesnt echo. Some people might find a deep and mysterious
meaning in this fact
Definition: A homograph is a word with two or more pronunciations. Produce is one example
Anecdote: Yesterday morning I watched as my older sister left for school with a bright white
glob of toothpaste gleaming on her chin. I felt no regret at all until she stepped onto the bus
End With a Good Beginning

Once you complete a first draft of your paper, go back to re-construct your introductory
paragraph. Be sure to check your thesis statement to make sure it still holds truethen double
check your first sentence to give it some zing.

Make Your Essay Flow

Your written report, whether it is a creative, three-paragraph essay, or it is an extensive research
paper, must be organized in a way that presents a satisfying experience for the reader. Sometimes
it just seems impossible to make a paper flowbut that generally happens because your
paragraphs arent arranged in the best possible order.
Two essential features of a great-reading report are logical order and smart transitions.
Create Flow With Better Paragraph Order

The first step toward making creating flow is making sure your paragraphs are put together in a
logical order. Many times, the first draft of a report or essay is a little choppy and out of
sequence.
The good news about writing an essay of any length is that you can use cut and paste to
rearrange your paragraphs. At first this might sound terrifying: when you finish a draft of an
essay it feels much like you have given birthand cutting and pasting sounds pretty brutal.
Dont worry.
Once you have finished a draft of your paper, save it and name it. Then make a second version
by selecting the entire first draft and pasting it into a new document.

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1. Now that you have a draft to experiment with, print it out and read it over. Do the paragraphs
and topics flow in a logical order? If not, assign each paragraph a number and write the number
in the margin. Dont be at all surprised if you find that a paragraph on page three looks like it
could work on page one. Its entirely possible!
2. Once youve numbered all the paragraphs, start cutting and pasting them until they match your
numbering system.
3. Now, re-read your essay. If the order works better, go ahead and insert transition sentences
between paragraphs.
Create Flow With Transition Words

Transitions can involve a few words or a few sentences. Transition sentences (and words) are
necessary for making connections between the claims, views, and statements you make. If you
can imagine your report as a quilt made up of many squares, you could think of your transition
statements as the stitches that connect the squares.
For some types of writing, transitions can contain just a few simple words. Words like also,
furthermore, and yet, can be used to connect one idea to another.
For more sophisticated essays, youll need a few sentences to make your paragraphs flow:
Example:
While the research was conducted at a university in Colorado, there is no evidence that altitude was
considered...
...A similar exercise was carried out in the mountain state of West Virginia, where similar extremes of
altitude exist.

You will find that it is easy to come up with transitions, once you get your paragraphs arranged
in the most logical order.
Your written report, whether it is a creative, three-paragraph essay, or it is an extensive research
paper, must be organized in a way that presents a satisfying experience for the reader. Sometimes
it just seems impossible to make a paper flowbut that generally happens because your
paragraphs arent arranged in the best possible order.
Two essential features of a great-reading report are logical order and smart transitions.
Create Flow With Better Paragraph Order

The first step toward making creating flow is making sure your paragraphs are put together in a
logical order. Many times, the first draft of a report or essay is a little choppy and out of
sequence.

93

The good news about writing an essay of any length is that you can use cut and paste to
rearrange your paragraphs. At first this might sound terrifying: when you finish a draft of an
essay it feels much like you have given birthand cutting and pasting sounds pretty brutal.
Dont worry.
Once you have finished a draft of your paper, save it and name it. Then make a second version
by selecting the entire first draft and pasting it into a new document.
1. Now that you have a draft to experiment with, print it out and read it over. Do the paragraphs
and topics flow in a logical order? If not, assign each paragraph a number and write the number
in the margin. Dont be at all surprised if you find that a paragraph on page three looks like it
could work on page one. Its entirely possible!
2. Once youve numbered all the paragraphs, start cutting and pasting them until they match your
numbering system.
3. Now, re-read your essay. If the order works better, go ahead and insert transition sentences
between paragraphs.
Create Flow With Transition Words

Transitions can involve a few words or a few sentences. Transition sentences (and words) are
necessary for making connections between the claims, views, and statements you make. If you
can imagine your report as a quilt made up of many squares, you could think of your transition
statements as the stitches that connect the squares.
For some types of writing, transitions can contain just a few simple words. Words like also,
furthermore, and yet, can be used to connect one idea to another.
For more sophisticated essays, youll need a few sentences to make your paragraphs flow:
Example:
While the research was conducted at a university in Colorado, there is no evidence that altitude was
considered...
...A similar exercise was carried out in the mountain state of West Virginia, where similar extremes of
altitude exist.

You will find that it is easy to come up with transitions, once you get your paragraphs arranged
in the most logical order.

100 Transition Words

Once you have completed a first draft of your paper, you should read over your work and
observe how effectively you have made transitions between your paragraphs. If your paper

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seems a little choppy, you can use one of these 100 (plus) transition words to improve the flow
of your work.
above all
accordingly
additionally
after all
again
all in all
all things considered
also
as a consequence
as a result
as a rule
as an example of
as well as
aside from
at first glance
at the same time
beginning with
being similar in many ways
besides
beyond
briefly
but
by and large
certainly
chiefly
coincidentally
consequently
contrary to
contrasting
conversely
comparable
corresponding to
coupled with
depending upon
decidedly
despite
doubly important
effectively
especially
excluding
except
excepting
exclusive of

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first of all
for example
for instance
for now
for one thing
for the most part
for the time being
for this reason
fortunately
frequently
furthermore
generally
gradually
however
in addition
in any case
in any event
in brief
in conclusion
in contrast
in essence
in other words
in particular
in short
in summary
in the end
in the final analysis
in the first place
in the long run
in this case
in turn
including
independent of
instead
just as interesting
later
likewise
meanwhile
moreover
next to
normally
on one hand
on the bright side
on the whole
ordinarily
other than

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otherwise
overall
particularly
previously
rather
restating the obvious
soon
similarly
simultaneously
specifically
subsequent to
such as
to summarize
to begin with
that is
the next step
there is no doubt
therefore
thereupon
thus
usually
wherefore
while
whereas
with attention to
with this in mind
yet

Writing Your Conclusion

Every research paper or essay has a concluding paragraph in which you sum up your main
points. The conclusion brings your argument or assertions around full circle. This will be the last
paragraph of your paper, and as such, it should give your reader a sense of satisfaction and
completion.
Your Conclusion Should

Remind readers what you said and let them know, again, that your points are valid.
Reassert your point creatively.
Suggest further reading and explain why your topic is important for readers.
Synthesize your entire paper in a professional voice.
Sound authoritative.

Dont sound wimpy! Be confident and give your reader the impression that you truly know what
youre talking about.

97
Your Conclusion Should Not

Propose new ideas that werent addressed in your paper.

Introduce new evidence.
Sound too much like your introduction.
Sound too dramatic.

A common mistake is to try to add a dramatic flair at the end. This will make you sound
unprofessional and conflict with your authoritative voice.

Cohesion Strategies: Transitional Words and

Phrases
Here we'll consider how transitional words and phrases can help make our writing clear and
cohesive.
A key quality of an effective paragraph is unity. A unified paragraph sticks to one topic from
start to finish, with every sentence contributing to the central purpose and main idea of that
paragraph.
But a strong paragraph is more than just a collection of loose sentences. Those sentences need to
be clearly connected so that readers can follow along, recognizing how one detail leads to the
next. A paragraph with clearly connected sentences is said to be cohesive.
The following paragraph is unified and cohesive. Notice how the italicized words and phrases
(called transitions) guide us along, helping us see how one detail leads to the next.
Why I Don't Make My Bed
Ever since I moved into my own apartment last fall, I have gotten out of the habit of making my bed-except on Fridays, of course, when I change the sheets. Although some people may think that I am a
slob, I have some sound reasons for breaking the bed-making habit. In the first place, I am not
concerned about maintaining a tidy bedroom because no one except me ever ventures in there. If there
is ever a fire inspection or a surprise date, I suppose I can dash in there to fluff up the pillow and slap on
a spread. Otherwise, I am not bothered. In addition, I find nothing uncomfortable about crawling into a
rumpled mass of sheets and blankets. On the contrary, I enjoy poking out a cozy space for myself before
drifting off to sleep. Also, I think that a tightly made bed is downright uncomfortable: entering one
makes me feel like a loaf of bread being wrapped and sealed. Finally, and most importantly, I think bedmaking is an awful way to waste time in the morning. I would rather spend those precious minutes
checking my email or feeding the cat than tucking in corners or snapping the spread.

Transitional words and phrases guide readers from one sentence to the next. Although they most
often appear at the beginning of a sentence, they may also show up after the subject. Here are the
common transitional expressions, grouped according to the type of relationship shown by each.

98

1. Addition Transitions
and
also
besides
first, second, third
in addition
in the first place, in the second place, in the third place
furthermore
moreover
to begin with, next, finally

Example
In the first place, no "burning" in the sense of combustion, as in the burning of wood,
occurs in a volcano; moreover, volcanoes are not necessarily mountains; furthermore, the
activity takes place not always at the summit but more commonly on the sides or flanks;
and finally, the "smoke" is not smoke but condensed steam.
(Fred Bullard, Volcanoes in History)
2. Cause-Effect Transitions
accordingly
and so
as a result
consequently
for this reason
hence
so
then
therefore
thus

Example
The ideologue is often brilliant. Consequently some of us distrust brilliance when we
should distrust the ideologue.
(Clifton Fadiman)
3. Comparison Transitions
by the same token
in like manner
in the same way
in similar fashion

99
likewise
similarly

Example
When you start with a portrait and search for a pure form, a clear volume, through
successive eliminations, you arrive inevitably at the egg. Likewise, starting with the egg
and following the same process in reverse, one finishes with the portrait.
(Pablo Picasso)
4. Contrast Transitions
but
however
in contrast
instead
nevertheless
on the contrary
on the other hand
still
yet

Example
Every American, to the last man, lays claim to a sense of humor and guards it as his
most significant spiritual trait, yet rejects humor as a contaminating element wherever
found. America is a nation of comics and comedians; nevertheless, humor has no stature
and is accepted only after the death of the perpetrator.
(E. B. White)
5. Conclusion and Summary Transitions
and so
after all
at last
finally
in brief
in closing
in conclusion
on the whole
to conclude
to summarize

Example
Reporters are not paid to operate in retrospect. Because when news begins to solidify into
current events and finally harden into history, it is the stories we didnt write, the
questions we didnt ask that prove far, far more damaging than the ones we did.
(Anna Quindlen)

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6. Example Transitions
as an example
for example
for instance
specifically
thus
to illustrate

Example
With all the ingenuity involved in hiding delicacies on the body, this process
automatically excludes certain foods. For example, a turkey sandwich is welcome, but
the cumbersome cantaloupe is not.
(Steve Martin, "How to Fold Soup")
7. Insistence Transitions
in fact
indeed
no
yes

Example
The joy of giving is indeed a pleasure, especially when you get rid of something you
dont want.
(Frank Butler, Going My Way)
8. Place Transitions
above
alongside
beneath
beyond
farther along
in back
in front
nearby
on top of
to the left
to the right
under
upon

Example
What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? In a dirty sump or in a marble
tower on top of a high hill? You were dead, you were sleeping the big sleep, you were not

101

bothered by things like that.

(Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep)
9. Restatement Transitions
in other words
in short
in simpler terms
that is
to put it differently
to repeat

Example
Anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer studied the few peaceful human tribes and discovered one
common characteristic: sex roles were not polarized. Differences of dress and occupation
were at a minimum. Society in other words, was not using sexual blackmail as a way of
getting women to do cheap labor, or men to be aggressive.
(Gloria Steinem, "What It Would Be Like If Women Win")
10. Time Transitions
afterward
at the same time
currently
earlier
formerly
immediately
in the future
in the meantime
in the past
later
meanwhile
previously
simultaneously
subsequently
then
until now

Example
At first a toy, then a mode of transportation for the rich, the automobile was designed as
man's mechanical servant. Later it became part of the pattern of living.

Cohesion Exercise: Combining and

Connecting Sentences

102

Using Transitional Words and Phrases

This exercise will give you an opportunity to apply the techniques discussed in the article
Cohesion Strategies: Transitional Words and Phrases. If you haven't practiced sentence
combining before, you may also find it helpful to review Introduction to Sentence Combining.
Instructions
Combine the sentences in each set into two clear and concise sentences, eliminating any needless
repetition. As you do so, add a transitional word or phrase (in italics at the head of each set) to
the beginning of the second sentence to show how it relates to the first.
After you have completed the exercise, compare your sentences with the originals. Keep in mind
that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to
the original versions.
TIP: To view this exercise without ads, click on the printer icon near the top of the page.
1. Instead
Retirement should be the reward for a lifetime of work.
It is widely viewed as a sort of punishment.
It is a punishment for growing old.

2. Therefore
In recent years viruses have been shown to cause cancer in chickens.
Viruses have also been shown to cause cancer in mice, cats, and even in some primates.
Viruses might cause cancer in humans.
This is a reasonable hypothesis.

3. In fact
We do not seek solitude.
If we find ourselves alone for once, we flick a switch.
We invite the whole world in.
The world comes in through the television screen.

4. On the contrary
We were not irresponsible.
Each of us should do something.
This thing would be of genuine usefulness to the world.
We were trained to think that.

103

5. However
Little girls, of course, don't take toy guns out of their hip pockets.
They do not say "Pow, pow" to all their neighbors and friends.
The average well-adjusted little boy does this.
If we gave little girls the six-shooters, we would soon have double the pretend body
count.

6. Next
We drove the wagon close to a corner post.
We twisted the end of the wire around it.
We twisted the wire one foot above the ground.
We stapled it fast.
We drove along the line of posts.
We drove for about 200 yards.
We unreeled the wire on the ground behind us.

7. Indeed
We know very little about pain.
What we don't know makes it hurt all the more.
There is ignorance about pain.
No form of illiteracy in the United States is so widespread.
No form of illiteracy in the United States is so costly.

8. Moreover
Many of our street girls can be as vicious as any corporation president.
Many of our street girls can be as money mad as any corporation president.
They can be less emotional than men.
They can be less emotional in conducting acts of personal violence.

9. For this reason

The historical sciences have made us very conscious of our past.
They have made us conscious of the world as a machine.
The machine generates successive events out of foregoing ones.
Some scholars tend to look totally backward.
They look backward in their interpretation of the human future.

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10. However
Rewriting is something that most writers find they have to do.
They rewrite to discover what they have to say.
They rewrite to discover how to say it.
There are a few writers who do little formal rewriting.
They have capacity and experience.
They create and review a large number of invisible drafts.
They create and review in their minds.
They do this before they approach the page.
After you have completed the exercise, compare your sentences with the originals. Keep in mind
that many combinations are possible, and in some cases you may prefer your own sentences to
the original versions.

Cohesion Strategies: Revising Paragraphs

with Transitional Words and Phrases
These two revision exercises provide opportunities to apply the techniques introduced in
Cohesion Strategies: Transitional Words and Phrases.
Cohesion Exercise A: Learning Under Pressure

Organize these five sentences into a cohesive paragraph by adding appropriate transitional
words and phrases to sentences number 2, 3, and 5. When you are done, compare your
paragraph with the original on page two.
1. Dr. Edward C. Tolman, after experimenting with rats over a long period of years, found that rats
that learned to run a maze under the pressure of hunger took much longer to learn the maze
than rats that learned under non-crisis conditions.
2. The learning that did take place was of a narrow type.
3. After learning the "right" route, these rats panicked if one avenue were blocked off.
4. They were not able to survey the field to notice alternative routes.
5. When the rats were permitted to learn under non-crisis conditions, they later performed well in
a crisis.
Cohesion Exercise B: Energy Efficiency

Organize these seven sentences into two cohesive paragraphs by adding appropriate transitional
words and phrases to sentences number 2, 3, 5, and 7. When you are done, compare your
paragraphs with the originals on page two.

105
1. There is a source of energy that produces no radioactive waste, nothing in the way of
petrodollars, and very little pollution.
2. The source can provide the energy that conventional sources may not be able to furnish.
3. Unhappily, it does not receive the emphasis and attention it deserves.
4. The source might be called energy efficiency, for Americans like to think of themselves as
efficient people.
5. The energy source is generally known by the more prosaic term conservation.
6. To be semantically accurate, the source should be called conservation energy, to remind us of
the reality--that conservation is no less an energy alternative than oil, gas, coal, or nuclear.
7. In the near term, conservation could do no more than any of the conventional sources to help
the country deal with the energy problem it has.

These two revision exercises provide opportunities to apply the techniques introduced in
Cohesion Strategies: Transitional Words and Phrases.
Cohesion Exercise A: Learning Under Pressure

Organize these five sentences into a cohesive paragraph by adding appropriate transitional
words and phrases to sentences number 2, 3, and 5. When you are done, compare your
paragraph with the original on page two.
1. Dr. Edward C. Tolman, after experimenting with rats over a long period of years, found that rats
that learned to run a maze under the pressure of hunger took much longer to learn the maze
than rats that learned under non-crisis conditions.
2. The learning that did take place was of a narrow type.
3. After learning the "right" route, these rats panicked if one avenue were blocked off.
4. They were not able to survey the field to notice alternative routes.
5. When the rats were permitted to learn under non-crisis conditions, they later performed well in
a crisis.
Cohesion Exercise B: Energy Efficiency

Organize these seven sentences into two cohesive paragraphs by adding appropriate transitional
words and phrases to sentences number 2, 3, 5, and 7. When you are done, compare your
paragraphs with the originals on page two.
1. There is a source of energy that produces no radioactive waste, nothing in the way of
petrodollars, and very little pollution.
2. The source can provide the energy that conventional sources may not be able to furnish.
3. Unhappily, it does not receive the emphasis and attention it deserves.
4. The source might be called energy efficiency, for Americans like to think of themselves as
efficient people.
5. The energy source is generally known by the more prosaic term conservation.
6. To be semantically accurate, the source should be called conservation energy, to remind us of
the reality--that conservation is no less an energy alternative than oil, gas, coal, or nuclear.
7. In the near term, conservation could do no more than any of the conventional sources to help
the country deal with the energy problem it has.

106

Paragraph Unity
Consider the postage stamp," advised humorist Josh Billings. "Its usefulness consists in the
ability to stick to one thing until it gets there.
The same might be said about an effective paragraph. Unity is the quality of sticking to one idea
from start to finish, with every sentence contributing to the central purpose and main idea of that
paragraph.
As we've seen, a topic sentence contains the main idea upon which a paragraph is developed. In a
unified paragraph, all of the supporting sentences serve to illustrate, clarify, and/or explain the
main idea set forth in the topic sentence.
The best way to demonstrate the importance of unity is to show how the intrusion of irrelevant
information can disrupt our understanding of a paragraph. The original version of the following
passage, taken from The Names: A Memoir, by N. Scott Momaday, vividly illustrates how people
in the Pueblo of Jemez in New Mexico prepare for the Feast of San Diego. We've upset the unity
of Momaday's paragraph by adding one sentence that's not directly connected to his main idea.
See if you can spot that sentence.
The activity in the pueblo reached a peak on the day before the Feast of San Diego, November twelfth. It
was on that day, an especially brilliant day in which the winter held off and the sun shone like a flare,
that Jemez became one of the fabulous cities of the world. In the preceding days the women had
plastered the houses, many of them, and they were clean and beautiful like bone in the high light; the
strings of chilies at the vigas had darkened a little and taken on a deeper, softer sheen; ears of colored
corn were strung at the doors, and fresh cedar boughs were laid about, setting a whole, wild fragrance
on the air. The women were baking bread in the outdoor ovens. Here and there men and women were
at the woodpiles, chopping, taking up loads of firewood for their kitchens, for the coming feast. Year
round, the artisans of Jemez, known internationally for their crafts, would create beautiful basketry,
embroidery, woven cloths, exquisite stone sculpture, moccasins, and jewelry. Even the children were at
work: the little boys looked after the stock, and the little girls carried babies about. There were gleaming
antlers on the rooftops, and smoke arose from all the chimneys.

The third-to-last sentence ("Year round, the artisans of Jemez . . .") is our distracting addition to
Momaday's passage. The added sentence upsets the unity of the paragraph by offering
information that is not directly relevant to the main idea (as stated in the first sentence) or to any
of the other sentences in the paragraph. Whereas Momaday focuses specifically on activities
taking place "the day before the Feast of San Diego," the intrusive sentence refers to work that's
done "year round."
By moving irrelevant information to a new paragraph--or by omitting that information
altogether--we can improve the unity of our paragraphs when we come to revise them.

107
PRACTICE EXERCISE: Paragraph Unity

The following paragraph, which has also been adapted from The Names: A Memoir, by N. Scott
Momaday, describes the very end of the busy day before the Feast of San Diego. Again, we have
added a sentence that's not directly connected to the author's main idea. See if you can identify
this sentence, which upsets the unity of the paragraph, and then compare your response with the
answer at the bottom of the page.
Later in the dusky streets I walked among the Navajo camps, past the doorways of the town, from which
came the good smells of cooking, the festive sounds of music, laughter, and talk. The campfires rippled
in the crisp wind that arose with evening and set a soft yellow glow on the ground, low on the adobe
walls. A natural building material used for several thousand years, adobe is composed of sand and straw,
which is shaped into bricks on wooden frames and dried in the sun. Mutton sizzled and smoked above
the fires; fat dripped into the flames; there were great black pots of strong coffee and buckets full of
fried bread; dogs crouched on the rim of the light, the many circles of light; and old men sat hunched in
their blankets on the ground, in the cold shadows, smoking. . . . Long into the night the fires cast a glare
over the town, and I could hear the singing, until it seemed that one by one the voices fell away, and
one remained, and then there was none. On the very edge of sleep I heard coyotes in the hills.

Practice Exercise: Answer

The third sentence in the paragraph ("A natural building material used for several thousand
years, adobe . . .) is the odd one out: the information about adobe bricks is not directly relevant to
the night scene described in the rest of the passage. To restore the unity of Momaday's
paragraph, delete this sentence.

Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with

Specific Details
As shown in Drafting a Descriptive Paragraph, a topic sentence contains the main idea upon
which a paragraph is developed. Often it appears at (or near) the beginning of a paragraph,
introducing the main idea and suggesting the direction that the paragraph will take. What follows
a topic sentence are a number of supporting sentences that develop the main idea with specific
details.
Instructions:
Here is an effective topic sentence for a descriptive paragraph:
My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped, blond guitar--the first instrument that I
ever taught myself how to play.
This sentence not only identifies the prized belonging ("an old, slightly warped, blond guitar")
but also suggests why the writer values it ("the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to
play"). Some of the sentences below support this topic sentence with specific descriptive details.
Others, however, offer information that would be inappropriate in a unified descriptive

108

paragraph. Read the sentences carefully, and then pick out only those that support the topic
sentence with precise descriptive details. When you're done, compare your responses with the
suggested answers on page two.
1. It is a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed.

2. My grandparents gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday.

3. I think they bought it at the Music Lovers Shop in Rochester where they used to live.

4. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a
silver tuning key.

5. Although copper strings are much harder on the fingers than nylon strings, they sound
much better than the nylon ones.

6. The strings are stretched down a long slim neck.

7. The frets on the neck are tarnished, and the wood has been worn down by years of fingers
pressing chords.

8. It was three months before I could even tune the guitar properly, and another few months
before I could manage the basic chords.

9. You have to be very patient when first learning how to play the guitar.

10. You should set aside a certain time each day for practice.

109

11. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that has been
slightly damaged in shipping.

12. A guitar can be awkward to hold, particularly if it seems bigger than you are, but you
need to learn how to hold it properly if you're ever going to play it right.

13. I usually play sitting down because it's more comfortable that way.

14. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard
fell off years ago.

15. I have a Gibson now and hardly ever play the Madeira any more.
The original version of this paragraph, titled "The Blond Guitar," appears in our collection of

Practice in Organizing a
Descriptive Paragraph
After studying our basic model for organizing a descriptive paragraph, you may find it helpful to
apply the strategies in this short exercise.
Here's the topic sentence of a descriptive paragraph titled "The Candle":
I treasure my candle not for its beauty, its sentimental value, or even its usefulness, but for its
simple, stark ugliness.
The rest of the paragraph appears below. However, the sentences have been rearranged so that
the descriptions appear in no logical order. Reorder the sentences to create a clear, wellorganized paragraph.
1. Rising crookedly out of the cup and collar is the candle, a pitifully short, stubby object.

110

2. Abandoned by a previous occupant of my room, the candle squats on the window sill,
anchored by cobwebs and surrounded by dead flies.

3. This ugly little memorial consists of three parts: the base, the reflector, and the candle
itself.

4. This aluminum flower is actually a wrinkled old Christmas light collar.

5. The base is a white, coffee-stained Styrofoam cup, its wide mouth pressed to the sill.

6. And by lighting the wick, any time I choose, I can melt this ugly candle away.

7. From the bottom of the cup (which is the top of the base) sprouts a space-age daisy: red,
green, and silver petals intended to collect wax and reflect candle light.

8. The candle is about the same size and color as a man's thumb, beaded with little warts of
wax down the sides and topped by a tiny bent wick

Practice in Supporting a Topic Sentence with

Specific Details
As shown in Drafting a Descriptive Paragraph, a topic sentence contains the main idea upon
which a paragraph is developed. Often it appears at (or near) the beginning of a paragraph,
introducing the main idea and suggesting the direction that the paragraph will take. What follows
a topic sentence are a number of supporting sentences that develop the main idea with specific
details.
Instructions:
Here is an effective topic sentence for a descriptive paragraph:
My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped, blond guitar--the first instrument that I
ever taught myself how to play.

111

This sentence not only identifies the prized belonging ("an old, slightly warped, blond guitar")
but also suggests why the writer values it ("the first instrument that I ever taught myself how to
play"). Some of the sentences below support this topic sentence with specific descriptive details.
Others, however, offer information that would be inappropriate in a unified descriptive
paragraph. Read the sentences carefully, and then pick out only those that support the topic
sentence with precise descriptive details. When you're done, compare your responses with the
suggested answers on page two.
1. It is a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched and finger-printed.

2. My grandparents gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday.

3. I think they bought it at the Music Lovers Shop in Rochester where they used to live.

4. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through the eye of a
silver tuning key.

5. Although copper strings are much harder on the fingers than nylon strings, they sound
much better than the nylon ones.

6. The strings are stretched down a long slim neck.

7. The frets on the neck are tarnished, and the wood has been worn down by years of fingers
pressing chords.

8. It was three months before I could even tune the guitar properly, and another few months
before I could manage the basic chords.

9. You have to be very patient when first learning how to play the guitar.

112

10. You should set aside a certain time each day for practice.

11. The body of the Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that has been
slightly damaged in shipping.

12. A guitar can be awkward to hold, particularly if it seems bigger than you are, but you
need to learn how to hold it properly if you're ever going to play it right.

13. I usually play sitting down because it's more comfortable that way.

14. The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard
fell off years ago.

15. I have a Gibson now and hardly ever play the Madeira any more.

How to Write a Personal Essay

Dont be surprised if writing a personal essay is one of the first assignments you get upon returning to
school. You know, "What I Did on My Summer Vacation." Be prepared. Writing a personal essay is
actually one of the easiest assignments, but like all other kinds of writing, there are specific aspects of
the essay form your teacher will be looking for. Like not ending a sentence in a preposition. The personal
essay is helpful to teachers because it gives them a snapshot right up front of your grasp of language,
composition, and voice.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Depends on the length of the essay and the research involved.
Here's How:
1. Language. Adults have told me that one of the things that stresses them out the most about
going back to school is worrying about their grammar. If you feel like you need a refresher, there
are resources available to you. One of the most important books on my shelf is my old Harbrace

113
College Handbook. The pages are yellow, stained with coffee, and well read. If its been a long
while since you opened a grammar book, get one. And then use it.
2. Language is more than grammar. Your teacher will be looking for use of the active voice, specific
descriptions, and consistent tense. The active voice tells your reader exactly who is doing what.
Compare the difference:

Passive: An essay was assigned.

Active: Ms. Meyer assigned a personal essay the first day.
5 English Grammar Tips
3. Be specific with your descriptions. Personal essays are your unique view of the topic. Use your
senses. Compare the difference:

Boring: My first assignment made me nervous.

Descriptive: As soon as Ms. Meyer assigned our first essay, my stomach fluttered, my
hands starting sweating, and everything in the room around me seemed to stop.
4. Use the same tense and the same point of view. Personal essays are written in the first person
because theyre, well, personal. When you write in the first person, you are speaking for
yourself only. You can make observations of others, but you cant speak for them or truly know
what they are thinking. Most personal essays are also written in the past tense. You are relating
something that happened to you or the way you feel about something by giving examples.
5. Remember that positive language is always more effective than negative. This is true of life in
general, not just writing. Your brain does not hear negatives. If you say, Dont forget to write a
good thesis statement, your brain hears, Forget the thesis statement. Remember to write
one. Remember your umbrella. Remember that you can master going back to school.
6. Composition. The simplest structure of a composition has three parts: an introduction, a body of
information, and a conclusion.

Introduction. Start your personal essay with an interesting sentence that hooks your
readers. You want them to be interested in reading more. You have already thought of a
compelling topic. Now decide on the main idea you want to communicate about that
topic and introduce it with a bang.
Example: Dont be surprised if writing a personal essay is one of the first assignments
you get upon returning to school. Be prepared.
7. The next part of your introduction is your thesis statement (the main idea you want to
communicate), and a hint about what your essay will cover.

Example: The personal essay is helpful to teachers because it gives them a snapshot right
up front of your grasp on language, composition, and voice.

114
8. Body. The body of your essay consists of several paragraphs that inform your readers about the
points you mentioned in your introduction. In this essay, the body is telling you about the
importance of language, composition, and voice. A paragraph or two about each point is all you
need.

An outline can be helpful before you begin if you're the kind of person who likes working
from outlines. I prefer to make a simple list of the points I want to make, rearrange them
in the most logical order, and then fill in the relevant information.
9. A word about paragraphs: paragraphs often have the same structure as the entire essay. They
begin with a sentence that introduces the point and draws the reader in. The middle sentences
of the paragraph provide information about the point, and a concluding sentence drives home
your view and leads to the next point.

Each new idea is a signal to start a new paragraph. Each paragraph should be a logical
progression from the previous idea and lead to the next idea or the conclusion.
Keep your paragraphs relatively short. Ten lines is a good rule. If you write concisely,
you can say a lot in ten lines.
10. Conclusion. Close your essay with a final paragraph that summarizes the points you have made
and states your final opinion. This is where you offer insights or lessons learned, or share how
you were, or will be, changed because of your approach to the topic. The best conclusions are
tied to the opening paragraph.

Example: With a little preparation and thought, the personal essay can be a fun, easy way
to show your teachers exactly how much you know about language, composition, and
voice. Jump in and give it your best shot. Youre in school to learn after all, and your
essay will help your teacher help you.
11. Voice. Personal essays are casual and full of feeling. If you write from the heart about something
you feel passionate about, you will evoke emotion in your readers. When you show readers
exactly how you feel about something, they can usually relate, and thats when youve made an
impact, whether its on a teacher or anybody else. Be firm about your opinion, your feelings,
your views. Avoid weak words such as should, would, and could.

Use the voice that comes most naturally to you. Use your own vocabulary. When you
honor your own voice, your writing comes off as authentic, and it doesnt get any better
than that.
12. No matter what you write, one of the most important parts of the writing process is editing. Let
your essay sit for a day, at the very least for several hours, and then read it with your readers in
mind. Is your point clear? Is your grammar correct? Is the structure of your composition logical?
Is your voice natural? Are there unnecessary words you can eliminate?
13. With a little preparation and thought, the personal essay can be a fun, easy way to show your
teachers exactly how much you know about language, composition, and voice. Jump in and give

115
it your best shot. Youre in school to learn after all, and your essay will help your teacher help
you.
Tips:
1. Get a good grammar book. Here are two possibilities:

The Harbrace College Handbook (now out of print but available used)
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
2. If you have trouble with writer's block, try writing stream of consciousness. Open a blank
document or get a fresh piece of paper. Write whatever comes into your mind, without
stopping, until you've got three pages. Remember not to stop, even if you have to write that you
don't know what to say next.

Julia Cameron, in her book The Artist's Way calls this technique Morning Pages and
suggests you practice it every morning upon waking.
What happens is that you get out of your own way and let your subconscious mind
express itself. You will amazed by what comes out of you. Try it. You'll like it.
The Artist's Way
3. Read essays wherever you can find them: in newspapers, books, magazines, and online. Notice
the structure. Pay attention to how the end ties back to the beginning. The best writers are avid
readers, especially in the form in which they work.
4. Relax. It's just an essay. The personal essay, especially, is an expression of you and your feelings
and opinions. You're unique without even trying. Speak from your heart and you'll do just fine.
What You Need

A topic. Choose something you're passionate about.

A thesis statement. Decide what it is about your topic you want to communicate.
A grammar book? If you need one, get one. You'll use it again and again.
A first reader to be your proofreader. Ask someone you trust to read your essay

Should You Go Back to School?

Should you go back to school? School is a serious proposition, but a very fulfilling one. Consider
these eight questions before making your decision.
1. Why are you thinking about going back to school?
cott T. Baxter - Getty Images

116

Why is going back to school on your mind lately? Is it because your degree or certificate will
help you get a better job or promotion? Are you bored and looking for a way out of your current
situation? Are you retired and want the thrill of working for a degree you've always desired?
Be sure you're going to school for the right reason or you might not have the determination you
need to see it through.

12 Steps Toward Your College Degree

Your Salary Goes Up with a Degree
Professional Certification
GED Overview
English as a Second Language

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2. What exactly do you want to accomplish?
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What is it that you're hoping to achieve by going back to school? If you need your GED
credential, your goal is crystal clear.
If you already have your nursing degree and want to specialize, you've got lots of options.
Choosing the right option will make your journey more efficient and more economical. Know
what's involved in getting exactly what you want.

10 Ways to Discover Dream Job Credentials

Which Degree Is Right for You?
You Are What You Think
Write a Learning Contract with Yourself
How to Write a Learning Project Plan
SMAART Goals

3. Can you afford to go back to school?

Books and Bank by Jupiterimages - Getty Images

117

School can be expensive, but help is out there. If you need financial aid, do your research ahead
of time. Find out how much money you need and how you might get it. Student loans aren't the
only option. Look into grants and pay-as-you-go.
Then ask yourself if your level of desire is worth the cost. Do you want to go back to school
badly enough to make the work and expense worth it?

10 Facts About Financial Aid

Scholarships - The Gift of Confidence
How Do You Pay for School When You've Lost Your Job?
Are You a Working Mom or Dad Who Needs Money for School?
5 Places to Rent Your Textbooks
3 Textbook Price Comparison Sites

4. Does your company offer tuition reimbursement?

Steve Cole / Getty Images

Many companies offer to reimburse employees for the cost of education. This isn't just out of the
goodness of their hearts. They stand to benefit too. If your company offers tuition
reimbursement, take advantage of the opportunity. You get an education and a better job, and
they get a smarter, more-skilled employee. Everybody wins.
Keep in mind that most companies require a certain grade point average. Like everything else,
know what you're getting into.
5. Can you afford not to go back to school?
Comstock - Getty Images

Investing in your education is one of the smartest things you will ever do. The National Center
for Education Statistics collected data in 2007 showing that a 25-year-old male with a bachelor's
degree earns a median income more than $22,000 higher than one with a high-school diploma.
Each degree you earn increases your opportunities for higher income.
Your Salary Goes Up with a Degree
6. Is this the right time in your life?
Marili Forastieri - Getty Images

Life demands different things of us at different stages. Is this a good time for you to go back to
school? Do you have the time you'll need to go to class, read, and study? Do you know how to
manage stress? Will you still have time to work, to enjoy your family, to live your life?
Consider the things you might have to give up in order to devote yourself to your studies. Can
you do it?

118

Say No - Delegate - Get a Great Planner

Lists - Errands - Time Is Money
Efficient Time Management

7. Is the right school within reach?

Jupiterimages - Getty Images

Depending on your goal, you might have lots of options open to you, or very few. Is the school
you need available to you, and can you get in? Remember that getting your degree or certificate
might be possible online.
Consider which school best matches what you want to achieve, and then find out what their
admission process requires.

Choosing the Right School

Be Sure Your School Is Accredited

8. Do you have the support you need?

Mel Svenson - Getty Images

Remembering that adults learn differently than children and teens, think about whether or not
you have the support you need to go back to school. Are there people in your life who will be
your cheerleaders? Do you need someone to help you with child care while you go to school?
Will your employer allow you to study during breaks and slow times?
Finishing school will be up to you, but you don't have to do it alone.

8 Child Care Options

Begin with the End in Mind
5 Ways to Overcome Your Fears
5 Tips for Fitting in at School
5 Tips for Going Back to School as an Adult

Ten Types of Grammar

So you think you know grammar? All well and good, but which type of grammar do you know?
Linguists are quick to remind us that there are different varieties of grammar--that is, different
ways of describing and analyzing the structures and functions of language.
One basic distinction worth making is that between descriptive grammar and prescriptive
grammar (also called usage). Both are concerned with rules--but in different ways. Specialists in
descriptive grammar examine the rules or patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases,
clauses, and sentences. In contrast, prescriptive grammarians (such as most editors and teachers)
try to enforce rules about what they believe to be the correct uses of language.

119

But that's just the beginning. Consider these ten varieties of grammar--and take your pick.
1. Comparative Grammar
The analysis and comparison of the grammatical structures of related languages.
Contemporary work in comparative grammar is concerned with "a faculty of language
that provides an explanatory basis for how a human being can acquire a first language . .
.. In this way, the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence establishes
the relationship among all languages." (R. Freidin, Principles and Parameters in
Comparative Grammar. MIT Press, 1991)

2. Generative Grammar
The rules determining the structure and interpretation of sentences that speakers accept as
belonging to the language. "Simply put, a generative grammar is a theory of competence:
a model of the psychological system of unconscious knowledge that underlies a speaker's
ability to produce and interpret utterances in a language." (F. Parker and K. Riley,
Linguistics for Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994)

3. Mental Grammar
The generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language
that other speakers can understand. "All humans are born with the capacity for
constructing a Mental Grammar, given linguistic experience; this capacity for language is
called the Language Faculty (Chomsky, 1965). A grammar formulated by a linguist is an
idealized description of this Mental Grammar." (P. W. Culicover and A. Nowak,
Dynamical Grammar: Foundations of Syntax II. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003)

4. Pedagogical Grammar
Grammatical analysis and instruction designed for second-language students.
"Pedaogical grammar is a slippery concept. The term is commonly used to denote (1)
pedagogical process--the explicit treatment of elements of the target language systems as
(part of) language teaching methodology; (2) pedagogical content--reference sources of
one kind or another that present information about the target language system; and (3)
combinations of process and content." (D. Little, "Words and Their Properties:
Arguments for a Lexical Approach to Pedagaogical Grammar." Perspectives on
Pedagogical Grammar, ed. by T. Odlin. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994)

5. Performance Grammar
A description of the syntax of English as it is actually used by speakers in dialogues.
"[P]erformance grammar . . . centers attention on language production; it is my belief that

120

the problem of production must be dealt with before problems of reception and
comprehension can properly be investigated." (John Carroll, "Promoting Language
Skills." Perspectives on School Learning: Selected Writings of John B. Carroll, ed. by L.
W. Anderson. Erlbaum, 1985)

6. Reference Grammar
A description of the grammar of a language, with explanations of the principles
governing the construction of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Examples of
contemporary reference grammars in English include A Comprehensive Grammar of the
English Language, by Randolph Quirk et al. (1985), the Longman Grammar of Spoken
and Written English (1999), and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
(2002).

7. Theoretical Grammar
The study of the essential components of any human language. "Theoretical grammar or
syntax is concerned with making completely explicit the formalisms of grammar, and in
providing scientific arguments or explanations in favour of one account of grammar
rather than another, in terms of a general theory of human language." (A. Renouf and A.
Kehoe, The Changing Face of Corpus Linguistics. Rodopi, 2003)

8. Traditional Grammar
The collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of the language. "We
say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses on the distinction between
what some people do with language and what they ought to do with it, according to a preestablished standard. . . . The chief goal of traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating
a historical model of what supposedly constitutes proper language." (J. D. Williams, The
Teacher's Grammar Book. Routledge, 2005)

9. Transformational Grammar
A theory of grammar that accounts for the constructions of a language by linguistic
transformations and phrase structures. "In transformational grammar, the term 'rule' is
used not for a precept set down by an external authority but for a principle that is
unconsciously yet regularly followed in the production and interpretation of sentences. A
rule is a direction for forming a sentence or a part of a sentence, which has been
internalized by the native speaker." (D. Bornstein, An Introduction to Transformational
Grammar. Univ. Press of America, 1984)

121

10. Universal Grammar

The system of categories, operations, and principles shared by all human languages and
considered to be innate. "Taken together, the linguistic principles of Universal Grammar
constitute a theory of the organization of the initial state of the mind/brain of the
language learner--that is, a theory of the human faculty for language." (S. Crain and R.
Thornton, Investigations in Universal Grammar. MIT Press, 2000)
If ten varieties of grammar aren't enough for you, rest assured that new grammars are emerging
all the time. There's word grammar, for instance. And relational grammar. And that brings to
mind arc pair grammar. Not to mention cognitive grammar, lexical functional grammar, headdriven phrase structure grammar . . . and many more.

comparative grammar
Definition:

The analysis and comparison of the grammatical structures of related languages. See also: Ten
Types of Grammar.
Observations:

"If we would understand the origin and real nature of grammatical forms, and of the relations
which they represent, we must compare them with similar forms in kindred dialects and
languages . . ..
"[The task of the comparative grammarian] is to compare the grammatical forms and usages of
an allied group of tongues and thereby reduce them to their earliest forms and senses."
("Grammar," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911)

"Contemporary work in comparative grammar, like the comparative work carried out by
nineteenth-century grammarians, is concerned with establishing [an] explanatory basis for the
relationships between languages. The work of the nineteenth century focused on relationships
between languages and groups of languages primarily in terms of a common ancestry. It
assumed a view of linguistic change as by and large systematic and lawful (rule governed) and,
on the basis of this assumption, attempted to explain the relationship between languages in
terms of a common ancestor (often a hypothetical one for which there was no actual evidence
in the historical record). Contemporary comparative grammar, in contrast, is significantly
broader in scope. It is concerned with a theory of grammar that is postulated to be an innate
component of the human mind/brain, a faculty of language that provides an explanatory basis
for how a human being can acquire a first language (in fact, any human language he or she is
exposed to). In this way, the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence
establishes the relationship among all languages--not just those that happen to be related by
historical accident (for instance, via common ancestry)."
(Robert Freidin, Principles and Parameters in Comparative Grammar. MIT, 1991

122

generative grammar
Definition:

In linguistics, a grammar (or set of rules) that indicates the structure and interpretation of
sentences which native speakers of a language accept as belonging to the language.
See also:

Deep Structure and Surface Structure

Poverty of the Stimulus
Ten Types of Grammar
Transformational Grammar

Etymology:
Adopting the term generative from mathematics, linguist Noam Chomsky introduced the concept of
generative grammar in the 1950s.
Observations:

"A significant break in linguistic tradition came in 1957, the year American Noam Chomsky's
Syntactic Structures appeared and presented the concept of a 'transformational generative
grammar.' A generative grammar is essentially one that 'projects' one or more given sets of
sentences that make up the language one is describing, a process characterizing human
language's creativity. Modified in its theoretical principles and methods over succeeding years
by many linguists, principally in the USA, a transformational generative grammar attempts to
describe a native speaker's linguistic competence by framing linguistic descriptions as rules for
'generating' an infinite number of grammatical sentences.
"A generative grammar, as understood by Chomsky, must also be explicit; that is, it must
precisely specify the rules of the grammar and their operating conditions."
(Steven Roger Fischer, A History of Language. Reaktion Books, 1999)

"Simply put, a generative grammar is a theory of competence: a model of the psychological

system of unconscious knowledge that underlies a speaker's ability to produce and interpret
utterances in a language. . . . A good way of trying to understand [Noam] Chomsky's point is to
think of a generative grammar as essentially a definition of competence: a set of criteria that
linguistic structures must meet to be judged acceptable."
(Frank Parker and Kathryn Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994)

Also Known As: transformational generative grammar

123

mental grammar
Definition:

The generative grammar stored in the brain that allows a speaker to produce language that other
speakers can understand.
See also:

Cognitive Linguistics
Descriptive Grammar
Grammar
Psycholinguistics
Ten Types of Grammar

Observations:

"One way to clarify mental or competence grammar is to ask a friend a question about a
sentence. Your friend probably won't know why it's correct, but that friend will know if it's
correct. So one of the features of mental or competence grammar is this incredible sense of
correctness and the ability to hear something that 'sounds odd' in a language."
(Pamela J. Sharpe, Barron's How to Prepare for the TOEFL IBT. Barron's Educational Series, 2006)

"When viewed as the representation of a speaker's linguistic competence, a grammar is a

mental system, a cognitive part of the brain/mind, which, if it is one's first native language, is
acquired as a child without any specific instruction. . . .
"Descriptive grammars aim at revealing the mental grammar which represents the knowledge a
speaker of the language has. They do not attempt to prescribe what speakers' grammars should
be."
(Victoria M. Fromin, Introduction, Linguistics: An Introduction to Linguistic Theory. Blackwell,
2000)

"A central aspect of the knowledge of a particular language variety consists in its grammar--that
is, its implicit (or tacit or subconscious) knowledge of the rules of pronunciation (phonology), of
word structure (morphology), of sentence structure (syntax), of certain aspects of meaning
(semantics), and of a lexicon or vocabulary. Speakers of a given language variety are said to have
an implicit mental grammar of that variety consisting of these rules and lexicon. It is this mental
grammar that determines in large part the perception and production of speech utterances.
Since the mental grammar plays a role in actual language use, we must conclude that it is
represented in the brain in some way.

124
"The detailed study of the language user's mental grammar is generally regarded as the domain
of the discipline of linguistics, whereas the study of the way in which the mental grammar is put
to use in the actual comprehension and production of speech in linguistic performance has been
a major concern of psycholinguistics."
(William C. Ritchie and Tej K. Bhatia, "Monolingual Language Use and Acquisition: An
Introduction." The Handbook of Educational Linguistics, ed. by Bernard Spolsky and Francis M.
Hult. Blackwell, 2010)

"All humans are born with the capacity for constructing a Mental Grammar, given linguistic
experience; this capacity for language is called the Language Faculty (Chomsky, 1965). A
grammar formulated by a linguist is an idealized description of this Mental Grammar."
(Peter W. Culicover and Andrzej Nowak, Dynamical Grammar: Foundations of Syntax II. Oxford
Univ. Press, 2003)

pedagogical grammar
Definition:

Grammatical analysis and instruction designed for second-language students. See also:

Applied Linguistics
"Make-Believe Grammar," by Gertrude Buck
Ten Types of Grammar

Observations:

"Just as a pedagogical grammar can be regarded as a description of the grammar of a language

made for teaching and learning purposes, to aid in the teaching and learning of that language,
so pedagogical phonetics and phonology can be regarded as a description of the sound system
and pronunciation of a language for the purpose of allowing teachers to teach it more
effectively and learners to learn it more effectively. The point about pedagogical grammars is
that they are not the same as linguistic grammars because they have different functions and
uses."
(David Taylor, "What Do EFL Teachers Need to Know About Pronunciation?" in Studies in
General and English Phonetics, edited by Joseph Desmond O'Connor and Jack Windsor Lewis,
Routledge, 1995)

"Drawing on work in several fields such as linguistics, psychology and second language
acquisition theory, pedagogical grammar is of a hybrid nature, which usually denotes
grammatical analysis and instruction designed for the needs of second language students. In its

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expanded view it involves decision making processes on behalf of the teacher which requires
careful and time-consuming interdisciplinary work. This process is influenced by the teachers
cognition, beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes about the teaching of grammar."
(Nagyn Foki Lvia, "From Theoretical to Pedagogical Grammar: Reinterpreting the Role of
Grammar in English Language Teaching," dissertation, University of Pannonia, 2006)
Also Known As: ped grammar, teaching grammar

performance grammar
Definition:

A description of the syntax of English as it is actually used by speakers in spontaneous

dialogues. See also:

Grammar
Corpus Linguistics
Ten Types of Grammar

Etymology:
Introduced by American psychologist John B. Carroll in "Towards a Performance Grammar of Core
Sentences in Spoken and Written English," Journal of Structural Learning, 1975
Observations:

"This performance grammar thus far centers attention on language production; it is my belief
that the problem of production must be dealt with before problems of reception and
comprehension can properly be investigated."
(John Carroll, "Promoting Language Skills," in Perspectives on School Learning: Selected Writings
of John B. Carroll, ed. by L. Anderson. Erlbaum, 1985)

"[Performance is a] term used in linguistic theory, and especially in generative grammar, to refer
to language seen as a set of specific utterances produced by native-speakers, as encountered in
a corpus; analogous to the Saussurean concept of parole. It is opposed, in this sense, to the
idealized conception of language known as competence. The utterances of performance will
contain features irrelevant to the abstract rule system, such as hesitations and unfinished
structures, arising from the various psychological and social difficulties acting upon the speaker
(e.g. lapses of memory, or biological limitations, such as pauses being introduced through the
need to breathe). These features must be discounted in a grammar of the language, which deals
with the systematic process of sentence construction. The possible implication of this view, that
performance features are unimportant, has been strongly criticized in recent years, and the
factors which contribute to performance grammars are now of considerable interest, especially

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in psycholinguistics."
(David Crystal, A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Blackwell, 1997)

reference grammar
Definition:

A description of the grammar of a language, with explanations of the principles governing the
construction of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Examples of contemporary reference grammars in English include A Comprehensive Grammar
of the English Language, by Randolph Quirk et al. (1985), the Longman Grammar of Spoken and
Written English (1999), and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002).
See also:

Descriptive Grammar
Ten Types of Grammar

Observations:

"This work is intended to supply the want of a scientific English grammar, founded on an
independent critical survey of the latest results of linguistic investigation as far as they bear,
directly or indirectly, on the English language."
(Henry Sweet, A New English Grammar: Logical and Historical, 1892)

"It has been my endeavour in this work to represent English Grammar not as a set of stiff
dogmatic precepts, according to which some things are correct and others absolutely wrong, but
as something living and developing under continual fluctuation and undulations, something that
is founded on the past and prepares the way for the future, something that is not always
consistent or perfect, but progressing and perfectible--in one word, human."
(Otto Jespersen, preface to Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles, 1909)

"After half a millennium and despite the decline in the formal study of English grammar in
British and American schools, the writing of English grammars has never been more vigorous
than it is now. English linguistics is only around 150 years old, and much of its theory and
practice disappears overnight, touching very few. Grammar-writing by contrast is an activity
which touches countless numbers from professors to language learners the world over."
(Andrew Linn, "English Grammar Writing." The Handbook of English Linguistics, ed. B. Aarts.
Wiley, 2006)

127

Personal Descriptions
Read the following paragraph. Notice that this paragraph describes the person who is writing
the introductory paragraph.
Hello, my name is James. I'm a programmer and I come from Chicago. I live in Seattle with my
wife Jennifer. We have two children and a dog. The dog is very funny. I work at a computer
company in the city. The company is very famous and successful. Our daughter is named Anna
and our Son is named Peter. She is four years old and he is five. We like living and working in
Seattle.
Tips for Writing a Personal Description about Yourself

Use 'come from' for the city or country where you were born. Use 'live' for the city where
you currently live.
Use the present simple tense to explain what you do every day.
Use 'have' or 'have got' to speak about your children, pets, etc.
Use 'a' the first time you mention something. For example, I live in a house. Then use
'the' after the first time you write about it. For example, I live in a house. The house is in
Seattle.
Remember to use he, his, him for boys and men and she, her, her for girls and women.
Use 'our' when speaking about the whole family.
Use 'like doing' when speaking about hobbies.
Read the following paragraph. Notice that this paragraph describes a different person
than the person who is writing the introductory paragraph.
Mary is my friend. She is a student at a college in our town. The college is very small.
She lives in an apartment in the center of town. She doesn't have a dog or a cat. She
studies every day and sometimes works in the evening at a small shop. The shop sells gift
items like postcards, games and other small items. She enjoys playing golf, tennis and
walking in the countryside.

Tips for Writing a Personal Description about a Friend

Remember to add 's' to the present simple tense when writing about other people.
In the present simple tense, 'doesn't' takes the 's' in the negative form. Remember to use
'doesn't + verb' in the negative.
Use sometimes, often, never, etc. before the main verb in a sentence.
Remember to use he, his, him for boys and men and she, her, her for girls and women.
Use 'enjoys doing' when speaking about hobbies. It's okay to connect a few verbs using
commas, but place 'and' before the final verb in the list when speaking about someone's
hobbies. For example, She enjoys playing tennis, swimming and riding horses.

Exercise
1. Write a paragraph about yourself. Try to use a variety of verbs and 'a' and 'the' correctly.

128

2. Write a paragraph about someone else. You can write about a friend or a someone from
your family.
3. Compare the two paragraphs and note the differences in pronoun and verb use. For
example,

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American and British English spelling

differences
One of the ways in which American English and British English differ is in spelling.

Contents
[hide]

1 Historical origins
2 Latin-derived spellings
o 2.1 -our, -or
o 2.2 -re, -er
o 2.3 -ce, -se
o 2.4 -xion, -ction
3 Greek-derived spellings
o 3.1 -ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)
3.1.1 British usage
o 3.2 -yse, -yze
o 3.3 -ogue, -og
o 3.4 Simplification of ae and oe
3.4.1 Commonwealth usage
4 Doubled consonants
o 4.1 Doubled in British English
o 4.2 Doubled in American English
5 Dropped e
6 Different spellings for different meanings
7 Different spellings for different pronunciations
8 Miscellaneous spelling differences
9 Compounds and hyphens
10 Acronyms and abbreviations
11 Punctuation
12 See also
13 Notes
14 References
15 External links

[edit] Historical origins

In the early 18th century, English spelling was not standardised. Differences became noticeable
after the publishing of influential dictionaries. Current British English spellings follow, for the
most part, those of Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (1755), whereas
many American English spellings follow Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English
Language (1828).[1]

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Webster was a strong proponent of English spelling reform for reasons both philological and
nationalistic. Many spelling changes proposed in the United States by Webster himself, and in
the early 20th century by the Simplified Spelling Board, never caught on. Among the advocates
of spelling reform in England, the influences of those who preferred the Norman (or AngloFrench) spellings of certain words proved to be decisive. Subsequent spelling adjustments in the
United Kingdom had little effect on present-day American spellings and vice-versa. In many
cases, American English deviated in the 19th century from mainstream British spelling, but it has
also retained some older forms.
The spelling systems of most Commonwealth countries and Ireland, for the most part, closely
resemble the British system. In Canada, however, the preferred spellings include some American
forms and some British,[2] and Canadians are somewhat more tolerant of foreign forms.[3]

[edit] Latin-derived spellings

[edit] -our, -or

Most words ending in an unstressed -our in British English (e.g. colour, flavour, honour,
neighbour, rumour, labour, humour) end in -or in American English (cf. color, flavor, honor,
neighbor, rumor, labor, humor). Wherever the vowel is unreduced in pronunciation, this does
not occur: e.g. contour, velour, paramour and troubadour are spelled thus the same everywhere.
Most words of this category derive from Latin non-agent nouns having nominative -or; the first
such borrowings into English were from early Old French and the ending was -or or -ur.[4] After
the Norman Conquest, the ending became -our in Anglo-French in an attempt to represent the
Old French pronunciation of words ending in -or,[5] though color has been used occasionally in
English since the 15th century.[6] The -our ending was not only retained in English borrowings
from Anglo-French, but also applied to earlier French borrowings.[4] After the Renaissance, some
such borrowings from Latin were taken up with their original -or ending; many words once
ending in -our (for example, chancellour and governour) now end in -or everywhere. Many
words of the -our/-or group do not have a Latin counterpart; for example, armo(u)r, behavio(u)r,
harbo(u)r, neighbo(u)r; also arbo(u)r meaning "shelter", though senses "tree" and "tool" are
always arbor, a false cognate of the other word. Some 16th- and early 17th-century British
scholars indeed insisted that -or be used for words of Latin origin (e.g. color[6]) and -our for
French loans; but in many cases the etymology was not completely clear, and therefore some
scholars advocated -or only and others -our only.[7]
Webster's 1828 dictionary featured only -or and is generally given much of the credit for the
adoption of this form in the United States. By contrast, Dr Johnson's 1755 dictionary used the our spelling for all words still so spelt in Britain, and others where the u has since been dropped:
ambassadour, emperour, governour, perturbatour; inferiour, superiour; errour, horrour,
mirrour, tenour, terrour, tremour. Johnson, unlike Webster, was not an advocate of spelling
reform, but selected the version best-derived, as he saw it, from among the variations in his
sources: he favored French over Latin spellings because, as he put it, "the French generally
supplied us".[8] Those English speakers who began to move across the Atlantic would have taken
these habits with them and H L Mencken makes the point that, "honor appears in the Declaration

131

of Independence, but it seems to have got there rather by accident than by design. In Jefferson's
original draft it is spelt honour."[9] Examples such as color, flavor, behavior, harbor and
neighbor scarcely appear in the Old Bailey's court records from the 17th and 18th century,
whereas examples of their -our counterparts are numbered in thousands.[10] One notable
exception is honor. Honor and honour were equally frequent until the 17th century;[11] Honor
still is, in the UK, the normal spelling as a person's name.
Derivatives and inflected forms

In derivatives and inflected forms of the -our/or words, in British usage, the u is kept before
English suffixes that are freely attachable to English words (neighbourhood, humourless,
savoury) and suffixes of Greek or Latin origin that have been naturalised (favourite, honourable,
behaviourism); before Latin suffixes that are not freely attachable to English words, the u may be
dropped (honorific, honorist, vigorous, humorous, laborious, invigorate), may be either dropped
or retained (colo(u)ration, colo(u)rise), or may be retained (colourist).[4] In American usage,
derivatives and inflected forms are built by simply adding the suffix in all environments
(favorite, savory etc.) since the u is absent to begin with.
Exceptions

American usage, in most cases, retains the u in the word glamour, which comes from Scots, not
Latin or French. Glamor is occasionally used in imitation of the spelling reform of other -our
words to -or. The adjective glamorous usually omits the first "u". Saviour is a somewhat
common variant of savior in the US. The British spelling is very common for honour (and
favour) in the formal language of wedding invitations in the US.[12] The name of the Space
Shuttle Endeavour has a u in it since this spacecraft was named after Captain James Cook's ship,
HMS Endeavour.
The name of the herb savory is thus spelt everywhere, although the related adjective savo(u)ry,
like savo(u)r, has a u in the UK. Honor (the name) and arbor (the tool) have -or in Britain, as
mentioned above. As a general noun, rigour (/rr/) has a u in the UK; the medical term rigor
(often pronounced /rar/) does not. Words with the ending -irior, -erior or similar are spelt
thus everywhere.
Commonwealth usage

Commonwealth countries normally follow British usage. In Canada -or endings are not
uncommon, particularly in the Prairie provinces. In Australia, -or endings enjoyed some use in
the 19th century, and now are sporadically found in some regions,[7] usually in local and regional
newspapers, though the most notable countrywide use of -or is for the Australian Labor Party,
which was named in hono(u)r of the American labo(u)r movement.[13] Aside from that, -our is
almost universal. New Zealand English, while sharing some words and syntax with Australian
English, follows British usage.

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[edit] -re, -er

In British usage, some words of French, Latin or Greek origin end with a consonant followed by
-re, with the -re unstressed and pronounced //. Most of these words have the ending -er in the
United States.[14][15] The difference is most common for words ending -bre or -tre: British
spellings calibre, centre, fibre, goitre, litre, lustre, metre, mitre, nitre, reconnoitre, sabre,
saltpetre, sombre, spectre, theatre and titre all have -er in American spelling.
There are many exceptions to the -re spelling in British usage. Many words spelt with -re in
Modern French are spelt with -er in both British and American usage; among these are chapter,
December, disaster, enter, filter, letter, member, minister, monster, November, number, October,
oyster, perimeter (but not "parametre"), powder, proper, September, sober and tender.
The ending -cre, as in acre,[16] lucre, massacre and mediocre, is preserved in American English,
to indicate the c is pronounced /k/ rather than /s/.[citation needed]
After other consonants, there are not many -re endings even in British English: louvre[16] and
manoeuvre after -v; meagre, eagre (but not eager) and ogre after -g; and euchre, ochre and
sepulchre after -ch. In the United States, ogre, ochre, and euchre are standard; manoeuvre and
sepulchre are usually spelt as maneuver and sepulcher; and the other -re forms listed are less
used variants of the equivalent -er form.[citation needed]
The e preceding the r is retained in American-derived forms of nouns and verbs, for example,
fibers, reconnoitered, centering, which are, naturally, fibres, reconnoitred and centring
respectively in British usage. Centring is a particularly interesting example, since it is still
pronounced as three syllables in British English (/sntr/), yet there is no vowel letter in the
spelling corresponding to the second syllable. It is dropped for other derivations, for example,
central, fibrous, spectral. However such dropping cannot be regarded as proof of an -re British
spelling: for example, entry derives from enter, which has not been spelt entre for centuries.[17]
The difference relates only to root words; -er rather than -re is universal as a suffix for agentive
(reader, winner, user) and comparative (louder, nicer) forms. One consequence is the British
distinction of meter for a measuring instrument from metre for the unit of length. However,
while "poetic metre" is often -re, pentameter, hexameter etc. are always -er.[18]
Exceptions

Many other words have -er in British English. These include Germanic words like anger,
mother, timber and water and Romance words like danger, quarter and river.
Theater is the prevailing American spelling used to refer to both the dramatic arts and buildings
where stage performances and screenings of films take place (i.e. "movie theaters"); for example,
a national newspaper such as The New York Times uses theater throughout its "Theater",
"Movies" and "Arts & Leisure" sections. In contrast, the spelling theatre appears in the names of
many New York City theatres on Broadway[19] (cf. Broadway theatre) and elsewhere in the
United States. In 2003, the proposal of the American National Theatre, eventually to be founded

133

and inaugurated in autumn 2007, was referred to by The New York Times as the "American
National Theater"; but the organisation uses "re" in the spelling of its name.[20][21] The John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. features the more common
American spelling theater in its references to The Eisenhower Theater, part of the Kennedy
Center.[22] Some cinemas outside New York also use the theatre spelling.[23]
In many instances, places in the United States use Centre in their names. Examples include the
Stonebriar Centre mall in Frisco, Texas, the cities of Rockville Centre, New York and
Centreville, Illinois, Centre County, Pennsylvania, and Centre College in Kentucky. Sometimes
these places were named before spelling changes took effect but more often the spelling merely
serves as an affectation. There are also a few cases of the use of Center in the United Kingdom
(e.g. the Valley Centertainment in Sheffield, although this is in fact a portmanteau of centre and
entertainment).
For British accoutre, the American practice varies: the Merriam-Webster Dictionary prefers the re spelling[24] but the American Heritage Dictionary prefers the -er spelling.[25]
More recent French loanwords retain an -re spelling in American English. These are not
exceptions when a French-style pronunciation is used (/r/ rather than /r/), as with doubleentendre, genre and oeuvre. However, the unstressed /r/ pronunciation of an -er ending is used
more or less frequently with some words, including cadre, macabre, matre d', Notre Dame,
piastre, and timbre.
Commonwealth usage

The -re endings are mostly standard throughout the Commonwealth. The -er spellings are
recognised as minor variants in Canada, due in part to American influences. Proper names,
particularly names incorporating the word Centre/Center, are an occasional source of exceptions,
such as, for example, Toronto's controversially-named Centerpoint Mall.[26]
[edit] -ce, -se

American English and British English both retain the noun/verb distinction in advice / advise and
device / devise (where the pronunciation is -[s] for the noun and -[z] for the verb), but American
English has abandoned the distinction with licence / license and practice / practise (where the
two words in each pair are homophones) that British spelling retains. American English uses
license and practice for both meanings.
American English has kept the Anglo-French spelling for defense and offense, which are usually
defence and offence in British English; similarly there are the American pretense and British
pretence; but derivatives such as defensive, offensive, and pretension are always thus spelled in
both systems.
Australian[27] and Canadian usage generally follows British.

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[edit] -xion, -ction

The spelling connexion is now rare in everyday British usage, its employment declining as
knowledge of Latin declines,[28] and it is not used at all in America: the more common
connection has become the standard internationally. According to the Oxford English Dictionary
the older spelling is more etymologically conservative, since the word actually derives from
Latin forms in -xio-. The American usage derives from Webster who discarded the -xion in favor
of -ction by analogy with such verbs as connect.[29]
Complexion (which comes from the stem complex) is standard and complection usually is not.[30]
However, the adjective complected (as in "dark-complected"), although sometimes objected to, is
standard in US English as an alternative to complexioned,[31] but is quite unknown in this sense
in the UK, although there is a rare usage to mean complicated.[32]

[edit] Greek-derived spellings

[edit] -ise, -ize (-isation, -ization)
See also: Oxford spelling

American and Canadian[33] spelling accepts only -ize endings in most cases, such as organize,
realize, and recognize.[34] British usage is split between both -ize and -ise (organize / organise,
realize / realise, recognize / recognise),[34] and the ratio between -ise and -ize stands at 3:2 in the
British National Corpus.[35] In Australia and New Zealand -ise spellings strongly prevail: the -ise
form is preferred in Australian English at a ratio of about 3:1 according to the Macquarie
Dictionary.
Worldwide, -ize endings prevail in scientific writing and are commonly used by many
international organizations, such as the ISO and the WHO. The European Union switched from ize to -ise some years ago in its English language publications, and this resulted in the
coexistence of the -ize spelling in older legislative acts and the -ise spelling in more recent ones.
Proofreaders at the EU's Publications Office ensure consistent spelling in official publications
such as the Official Journal (where legislation and other official documents are published), but
the -ize spelling may be found in other documents.
The same pattern applies to derivatives and inflexions such as colonisation/colonization.
[edit] British usage
British English using -ize is known as Oxford spelling, and is used in publications of the Oxford
University Press, most notably the Oxford English Dictionary. It can be identified using the
registered IANA language tag en-GB-oed. The OED lists the -ise form separately, as "a frequent
spelling of -IZE", and refuses to list the -ise spellings even as alternatives in the individual
entries for words such as realize.[36] It firmly deprecates usage of -ise for words of Greek origin,
stating, "[T]he suffix..., whatever the element to which it is added, is in its origin the Greek , Latin -izre; and, as the pronunciation is also with z, there is no reason why in English the
special French spelling in -iser should be followed, in opposition to that which is at once

135

etymological and phonetic." It maintains "... some have used the spelling -ise in English, as in
French, for all these words, and some prefer -ise in words formed in French or English from
Latin elements, retaining -ize for those of Greek composition."[37] Noah Webster rejected -ise for
the same reasons.[38]
The Cambridge University Press, on the other hand, has long favoured -ise,[39] as do some other
references, including Fowler's Modern English Usage.[39]
Perhaps as a reaction to the ascendancy of American spelling, the -ize spelling is often
incorrectly viewed in Britain as an Americanism, and -ise is more commonly used in the UK
mass media and newspapers,[34] including The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Economist.
Meanwhile, -ize is used in many British-based academic publications, such as Nature, the
Biochemical Journal and The Times Literary Supplement.
Exceptions

Some verbs ending in -ize or -ise do not derive from Greek -, and their endings are therefore
not interchangeable:

Some words take the -z- form exclusively, for instance capsize, seize (except in the legal phrase
to be seised of/to stand seised to), size and prize (only in the "appraise" sense)
Others take only -s-: advertise, advise, apprise, arise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, demise,
despise, devise, disguise, excise, exercise, franchise, guise, improvise, incise, merchandise (noun),
revise, rise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise, and wise.
One special case is the verb prise (meaning to force or lever), which is spelled prize in the US[40]
and prise everywhere else,[41] including Canada,[42] although in North American English it is
almost always replaced by pry, a back-formation from or alteration of prise.[43]

[edit] -yse, -yze

The distribution of -yse and -yze endings, as in analyse / analyze, is different from -ise / -ize: -yse
is British and -yze is American. Thus, in British English analyse, catalyse, hydrolyse, and
paralyse, but in American English analyze, catalyze, hydrolyze, and paralyze.
Analyse seems to have been the more common spelling in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
English, but many of the great dictionaries of that period John Kersey's of 1702, Nathan
Bailey's of 1721 and Samuel Johnson's of 1755 prefer analyze. In Canada, -yze prevails, just as
in the United States. In Australia and New Zealand, -yse stands alone.
English verbs ending in -yse or -yze are not similar to the Greek verb, which is l "I
release". Instead they come from the noun form lysis with the -ise or -ize suffix. For
example, analyse comes from French analyser, formed by haplology from the French
analysiser,[44] which would be spelled analysise or analysize in English.

136
[edit] -ogue, -og

Some words of Greek origin, a few of which derive from Greek or , can end either
in -ogue or in -og: analog(ue), catalog(ue), dialog(ue), demagog(ue), pedagog(ue), monolog(ue),
homolog(ue), synagog(ue) etc. In the UK (and generally in the Commonwealth), the -ogue
endings are the standard. In the US, catalog has a slight edge over catalogue[45] (the inflected
forms, cataloged and cataloging v catalogued and cataloguing); analog is standard for the
adjective,[citation needed] but both analogue and analog are current for the noun; in all other cases
the -gue endings strongly prevail,[46] for example monologue, except for such expressions as
dialog box in computing,[47] which are also used in the UK. Finally, in Canada, New Zealand,
and Australia analogue is used, but just as in the US analog has some currency as a technical
term[48] (e.g. in electronics, as in "analog electronics" as opposed to "digital electronics" and
some video-game consoles might have an analog stick).
The dropping of the "ue" is mandatory in forming such related words as "analogy", "analogous",
and "analogist".
[edit] Simplification of ae and oe

Many words are written with ae/ or oe/ in British English, but a single e in American English.
The sound in question is /i/ or // (or unstressed //). Examples (with non-American letter in
bold): aesthetics, amoeba, anaemia, anaesthesia, caesium, diarrhoea, encyclopaedia, faeces,
foetal, gynaecology, haemophilia, leukaemia, oesophagus, oestrogen, orthopaedic,
palaeontology, paediatric. Oenology is acceptable in American English but is regarded as a
minor variant of enology.
The spelling foetal is a Britishism based on a false etymology.[49] The etymologically correct
original spelling "fetus" reflects the Latin original and is the standard spelling in medical journals
worldwide.[50]
Exceptions to the American simplification rule include aesthetics and archaeology, which
usually prevail over esthetics and archeology, respectively,[51] as well as the stronger case of
palaestra, in which the simplified form palestra is a variant described by Merriam-Webster as
"chiefly Brit[ish]."[52]
Words where British usage varies include encyclopaedia, homoeopathy, mediaeval, and foetus
(though the British medical community, as well as at least one authoritative source,[53] consider
this variant to be unacceptable for the purposes of journal articles and the like, since the Latin
spelling was actually fetus).
The Ancient Greek diphthongs <> and <> were transliterated into Latin as <ae> and <oe>.
The ligatures and were introduced when the sounds became monophthongs, and later
applied to words not of Greek origin, in both Latin (for example, cli) and French (for example,
uvre). In English, which has imported words from all three languages, it is now usual to replace
/ with Ae/ae and / with Oe/oe. In many cases, the digraph has been reduced to a single e
in all varieties of English: for example, oeconomics, praemium, and aenigma.[54] In others, it is

137

retained in all varieties: for example, phoenix, and usually subpoena.[55] This is especially true of
names: Caesar, Oedipus, Phoebe etc. There is no reduction of Latin -ae plurals (e.g. larvae); nor
where the digraph <ae>/<oe> does not result from the Greek-style ligature: for example,
maelstrom, toe. The British form aeroplane is an instance (compare other aero- words such as
aerosol). The now chiefly North American airplane is not a respelling but a recoining, modeled
after airship and aircraft. The word airplane dates from 1907,[56] at which time the prefix aerowas trisyllabic, often written aro-.
Internationally, the American spelling is closer to the usage in a number of other languages using
the Latin alphabet.[citation needed] For instance, almost all Romance languages (which tend to have
more phonemic spelling) lack the ae and oe spellings (a notable exception being French), as do
Swedish, Polish, and others, while Dutch uses them sometimes ("ae" is rare, but "oe" is the
normal representation of the sound [u], while written "u" represents either the sound [y] or []).
The languages Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and some others retain the original ligatures. In
German, through umlauts, is retained as its equivalent of the ligature, for when written without
the umlaut. These words resemble the British usage (i.e. becomes ae and becomes oe).
Similarly, Hungarian uses "" as a replacement for "ae" (although it becomes "e" sometimes),
and the special character "" (sometimes "") for "oe".
[edit] Commonwealth usage
In Canada, e is usually preferred over oe and often over ae as well, just as in the neighbouring
United States.[citation needed] In Australia and elsewhere, the British usage prevails, but the spellings
with just e are increasingly used.[57] Manoeuvre is the only spelling in Australia, and the most
common one in Canada, where maneuver and manoeuver are also sometimes found.[58]
This shortening is natural, especially since the Canadian Forces in the air and on the oceans are
frequently involved in joint maneuvers with the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy. In Canada, oe
and ae are used occasionally in the academic and science communities.[citation needed]

[edit] Doubled consonants

[edit] Doubled in British English

The final consonant of an English word is sometimes doubled in both American and British
spelling when adding a suffix beginning with a vowel, for example strip/stripped, which
prevents confusion with stripe/striped and shows the difference in pronunciation (see digraph).
Generally, this occurs only when the word's final syllable is stressed and when it also ends with a
single vowel followed by a single consonant. In British English, however, a final -l is often
doubled even when the final syllable is unstressed.[59] This exception is no longer usual in
American English, apparently because of Noah Webster.[60] The -ll- spellings are nevertheless
still regarded as acceptable variants by both Merriam-Webster Collegiate and American Heritage
dictionaries.

The British English doubling is required for all inflections (-ed, -ing, -er, -est) and for the noun
suffixes -er and -or. Therefore, British English usage is cancelled, counsellor, cruellest, labelled,

138

modelling, quarrelled, signalling, traveller, and travelling. Americans usually use canceled,
counselor, cruelest, labeled, modeling, quarreled, signaling, traveler, and traveling.
o The word parallel keeps a single -l- in British English, as in American English (paralleling,
unparalleled), to avoid the unappealing cluster -llell-.
o Words with two vowels before a final l are also spelled with -ll- in British English before
a suffix when the first vowel either acts as a consonant (equalling and initialled; in the
United States, equaling or initialed), or belongs to a separate syllable (British fuelling
and dialled; American fueling and dialed).
British woollen is a further exception due to the double vowel (American:
woolen). Also, wooly is accepted in American English, though woolly dominates
in both systems.[61]
Endings -ize /-ise, -ism, -ist, -ish usually do not double the l in British English; for example,
normalise, dualism, novelist, and devilish.
o Exceptions: tranquillise; duellist, medallist, panellist, and sometimes triallist in British
English.
For -ous, British English has a single l in scandalous and perilous, but the "ll" in marvellous and
libellous.
For -ee, British English has libellee.
For -age, British English has pupillage but vassalage.
American English sometimes has an unstressed -ll-, as in the UK, in some words where the root
has -l. These are cases where the alteration occurs in the source language, which was often
Latin. (Examples: bimetallism, cancellation, chancellor, crystallize, excellent, tonsillitis, and
raillery.)
All forms of English have compelled, excelling, propelled, rebelling (notice the stress difference);
revealing, fooling (note the double vowel before the l); and hurling (consonant before the l).
Canadian and Australian English largely follow British usage.[59]

Among consonants other than l, practice varies for some words, such as where the final syllable
has secondary stress or an unreduced vowel. In the United States, the spellings kidnaped and
worshiped, which were introduced by the Chicago Tribune in the 1920s,[62] are common.
Kidnapped and worshipped are the only standard British spellings.
Miscellaneous:

British calliper or caliper; American caliper.

British jewellery; American jewelry. The standard pronunciations (/dulri/)[63] do not reflect
this difference. According to Fowler, jewelry used to be the "rhetorical and poetic" spelling in
the UK. Canada has both, but jewellery is more often used. Likewise, the Commonwealth
(including Canada) has jeweller and the United States has jeweler for a jewel(le)ry retailer.

[edit] Doubled in American English

Conversely, there are words where British writers prefer a single l and Americans usually use a
double l. In American usage, the spelling of words is usually not changed when they form the
main part (not prefix or suffix) of other words, especially in newly formed words and in words
whose main part is in common use. Words exhibiting this spelling difference include wil(l)ful,
skil(l)ful, thral(l)dom, appal(l), fulfil(l), fulfil(l)ment, enrol(l)ment, instal(l)ment. These words

139

have monosyllabic cognates always written with -ll: will, skill, thrall, pall, fill, roll, stall, still.
Cases where a single l nevertheless occurs in both American and British English include
nullannul, annulment; tilluntil (although some prefer "til" to reflect the single L in "until",
occasionally using an apostrophe ['til]); and others where the connection is not transparent or the
monosyllabic cognate is not in common use in American English (e.g. null is used mainly as a
technical term in law, mathematics, and computer science).
In the UK, ll is used occasionally in distil(l), instil(l), enrol(l), and enthral(l)ment, and often in
enthral(l), all of which are always spelt this way in American usage. The former British spellings
instal, fulness, and dulness are now quite rare.[64] The Scottish tolbooth is cognate with toll
booth, but it has a specific distinct sense.
In both American and British usages, words normally spelled -ll usually drop the second l when
used as prefixes or suffixes, for example fulluseful, handful; allalmighty, altogether;
wellwelfare, welcome; chillchilblain.
The British fulfil and American fulfill are never fullfill or fullfil.
Dr Johnson wavered on this issue. His dictionary of 1755 lemmatises distil and instill, downhil
and uphill.[65]

[edit] Dropped e
British English sometimes keeps silent e when adding suffixes where American English does
not. Generally speaking, British English drops it in only some cases in which it is unnecessary to
indicate pronunciation whereas American English only uses it where necessary.

British prefers ageing,[66] American usually aging (compare raging, ageism). For the noun or verb
"route", British English often uses routeing,[67] but in America routing is used. (The military term
rout forms routing everywhere.) However, all of these words form "router", whether used in the
context of carpentry, data communications, or military. (e.g. "Attacus was the router of the
Huns at ....")

Both forms of English retain the silent e in the words dyeing, singeing, and swingeing[68] (in the
sense of dye, singe, and swinge), to distinguish from dying, singing, swinging (in the sense of die,
sing, and swing). In contrast, the verb bathe and the British verb bath both form bathing. Both
forms of English vary for tinge and twinge; both prefer cringing, hinging, lunging, syringing.

Before -able, British English prefers likeable, liveable, rateable, saleable, sizeable,
unshakeable,[69] where American practice prefers to drop the -e; but both British and American
English prefer breathable, curable, datable, lovable, movable, notable, provable, quotable,
scalable, solvable, usable,[69] and those where the root is polysyllabic, like believable or
decidable. Both forms of the language retain the silent e when it is necessary to preserve a soft
c, ch, or g, such as in traceable, cacheable, changeable; both usually retain the "e" after -dge, as
in knowledgeable, unbridgeable, and unabridgeable. ("These rights are unabridgeable.")

140

Both abridgment and the more regular abridgement are current in America, only the latter in
the UK.[70] Similarly for the word lodg(e)ment. Both judgment and judgement are in use
interchangeably everywhere, although the former prevails in America and the latter prevails in
the UK[71] except in the practice of law, where judgment is standard. The similar situation holds
for abridgment and acknowledgment. Both forms of English prefer fledgling to fledgeling, but
ridgeling to ridgling.
The word "blue" always drops the "e" when forming "bluish".

[edit] Different spellings for different meanings

dependant or dependent: British dictionaries distinguish between dependent (adjective) and

dependant (noun). In the US, dependent is usual for both noun and adjective, notwithstanding
that dependant is also an acceptable variant for the noun form in the US.[72]
disc or disk: Traditionally, disc used to be British and disk American. Both spellings are
etymologically sound (Greek diskos, Latin discus), although disk is earlier. In computing, disc is
used for optical discs (e.g. a CD, Compact Disc; DVD, Digital Versatile/Video Disc), by choice of
the group that coined and trademarked the name Compact Disc, while disk is used for products
using magnetic storage (e.g. hard disks or floppy disks, also known as diskettes).[73] For this
limited application, these spellings are used in both the US and the Commonwealth. Solid-state
devices also use the spelling "disk".
enquiry or inquiry:[74] According to Fowler, inquiry should be used in relation to a formal
inquest, and enquiry to the act of questioning. Many (though not all) British writers maintain this
distinction; the OED, on the other hand, lists inquiry and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that
order. Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary,[75] present the two
spellings as interchangeable variants in the general sense, but prefer inquiry for the "formal
inquest" sense. In the US, only inquiry is commonly used; the title of The National Enquirer, as a
proper name, is an exception. In Australia, inquiry and enquiry are often interchangeable, but
inquiry prevails in writing. Both are current in Canada, where enquiry is often associated with
scholarly or intellectual research.
ensure or insure: In the UK (and Australia), the word ensure (to make sure, to make certain) has
a distinct meaning from the word insure (often followed by against to guarantee or protect
against, typically by means of an "insurance policy"). The distinction is only about a century
old,[76] and this helps explain why in (North) America ensure is just a variant of insure, more
often than not. According to Merriam-Webster's usage notes, ensure and insure "are
interchangeable in many contexts where they indicate the making certain or [making] inevitable
of an outcome, but ensure may imply a virtual guarantee <the government has ensured the
safety of the refugees>, while insure sometimes stresses the taking of necessary measures
beforehand <careful planning should insure the success of the party>."[77]
insurance or assurance: In the business of risk transfer, American English speakers will normally
refer to life insurance or fire insurance. In British English, "assurance" refers to risk associated
with certainty, such as covering death (death is inevitable), whereas "insurance" refers to
uncertainty (such as a home insurance policy). In British English "life insurance" is used for a
policy covering uncertainty (for example, a pianist's hands may be covered under "life
insurance"). Canadian speakers remain more likely than US speakers to use assurance.[78]
matt or matte: In the UK, matt refers to a non-glossy surface, and matte to the motion-picture
technique; in the US, matte covers both.[79]

141

programme or program: The British programme is a 19th-century French version of program.

Program first appeared in Scotland in the 17th century and is the only spelling found in the US.
The OED entry, written around 1908 and listing both spellings, said program was preferable,
since it conformed to the usual representation of the Greek as in anagram, diagram, telegram
etc. In British English, program is the common spelling for computer programs, but for other
meanings programme is used. In Australia, program has been endorsed by government writing
standards for all senses since the 1960s,[80] although programme is also seen; see also the name
of The Micallef Program(me). In Canada, program prevails, and the Canadian Oxford Dictionary
makes no meaning-based distinction between it and programme. However, some Canadian
government documents nevertheless use programme in all senses of the word and also to
match the spelling of the French equivalent.[80]
tonne or ton: in the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the spelling tonne refers to the
metric unit (1000 kilograms), whereas in the US the same unit is referred to as a metric ton. The
unqualified ton usually refers to the long ton (2,240 lb.) in the UK and to the short ton (2,000
pounds (910 kg)) in the US (but note that the tonne and long ton differ by only 1.6%, and are
roughly interchangeable when accuracy is not critical; ton and tonne are usually pronounced the
same in speech).

See also meter/metre, for which there is a British English distinction between these
etymologically related forms with different meanings but the standardised American spelling is
"meter". The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is "metre".[81]
This spelling is also the usual one in most English-speaking countries, but only the spelling
"meter" is used in American English, and this is officially endorsed by the United States.[82]

[edit] Different spellings for different pronunciations

In a few cases, essentially the same word has a different spelling that reflects a different
pronunciation. However, in most cases the pronunciation of the words is the same.
As well as the miscellaneous cases listed in the following table, the past tenses of some irregular
verbs differ in both spelling and pronunciation, as with smelt (UK) versus smelled (US) (see
American and British English differences: Verb morphology).
UK

US

aeroplane airplane

Notes
Aeroplane, originally a French loanword with a different meaning, is the older
spelling.[83] The oldest recorded uses of the spelling airplane are British.[83]
According to the OED,[84] "[a]irplane became the standard American term
(replacing aeroplane) after this was adopted by the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics in 1916. Although A. Lloyd James recommended
its adoption by the BBC in 1928, it has until recently been no more than an
occasional form in British English." In the British National Corpus,[85]
aeroplane outnumbers airplane by more than 7:1 in the UK. The case is
similar for the British aerodrome[86] and American airdrome,[87] although both
of these terms are now obsolete. Aerodrome is used merely as a technical

142
UK

US

Notes
term in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The prefixes aero- and air- both
mean air, with the first coming from the Ancient Greek word (r). Thus,
the prefix appears in aeronautics, aerostatics, aerodynamics, aeronautical
engineering and so on, while the second occurs invariably in aircraft, airport,
airliner, airmail etc. In Canada, airplane is more common than aeroplane,
although aeroplane is not unknown, especially in parts of French Canada
(where it is, however, used only in English the French term is avion, and the
French word aroplane designates 19th-century flying machines).[88]

aluminium aluminum

The spelling aluminium is the international standard in the sciences according

to the IUPAC recommendations. Humphry Davy, the element's discoverer,
first proposed the name alumium, and then later aluminum. The name
aluminium was finally adopted to conform with the -ium ending of metallic
elements.[89] Canada uses aluminum and Australia and New Zealand
aluminium, according to their respective dictionaries.[90]

arse

ass

In vulgar senses "buttocks" ("anus"/"wretch"/"idiot"); unrelated sense

"donkey" is ass in both. Arse is very rarely used in the US, though
understood.

behove

behoove

The 19th century had the spelling behove pronounced to rhyme with
move.[91] Subsequently, a pronunciation spelling was adopted in America,
while in Britain a spelling pronunciation was adopted.

bogeyman boogeyman
or
boogerman

It is pronounced /boimn/ BOH-gee-man in the UK, so that the American

form, boogeyman /bimn/, is reminiscent of the 1970s disco dancing
"boogie" to the British ear. Boogerman /bmn/ is common in the
Southern US and retains the association with the slang term for Nasal mucus
while the mainstream American spelling of boogeyman does not.

brent

For the species of goose.

brant

carburettor carburetor

UK: /krbrtr/; US: /krbretr/.

charivari

shivaree,
charivari

In America, where both terms are mainly regional,[92] charivari is usually

pronounced as shivaree, which is also found in Canada and Cornwall,[93] and
is a corruption of the French word.

coup

coupe

For a two-door car; the horse-drawn carriage is coup in both (meaning

"cut"); unrelated "cup"/"bowl" is always coupe. In the United States, the "e"

143
UK

US

Notes
is accented when it is used as a foreign word.

eyrie

aerie

This noun (not to be confused with the adjective eerie) rhymes with weary
and hairy respectively. Both spellings and pronunciations occur in America.

fillet

fillet, filet

Meat or fish. Pronounced the French way (approximately) in the US; Canada
follows British pronunciation and distinguishes between fillet, especially as
concerns fish, and filet, as concerns certain cuts of beef. McDonald's in the
UK use the US spelling "filet" for their Filet-O-Fish.

furore

furor

Furore is a late 18th-century Italian loan-word that replaced the Latinate

form in the UK in the following century,[94] and is usually pronounced with a
voiced e. The Canadian the same as the American, and Australia has both.[95]

grotty

grody

Clippings of grotesque; both are slang terms from the 1960s.[96]

haulier

hauler

Haulage contractor; haulier is the older spelling.[97]

jemmy

jimmy

In the sense "crowbar".

moustache mustache

In America, according to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary and the

American Heritage Dictionary, the British spelling is an also-ran, yet the
pronunciation with second-syllable stress is a common variant. In Britain the
second syllable is usually stressed.

mum(my) mom(my)

Mother. Mom is sporadically regionally found in the UK (e.g. in West

Midlands English). Some British dialects have mam,[98] and this is often used
in Northern English, Irish English, and Welsh English. In the American region
of New England, especially in the case of the Boston accent, the British
pronunciation of mum is often retained, while it is still spelled mom. In
Canada, there are both mom and mum; Canadians often say mum and write
mom.[99] In Australia and New Zealand, mum is used. In the sense of a
preserved corpse, mummy is always used.

navety

The American spelling is from French, and American speakers generally

approximate the French pronunciation as /niv()te/, whereas the British
spelling is nativised, as also the pronunciation /niv()ti/. In the UK,
navet is a minor variant, used about 20% of the time in the British National
Corpus; in America, naivete and naivet are marginal variants, and naivety is
almost unattested.[100][101]

navet

144
UK
pyjamas

US

Notes
The 'y' represents the pronunciation of the original Urdu "py-jma", and in
the 18th century spellings such as "paijamahs" and "peijammahs" appeared:
this is reflected in the pronunciation /padmz/ (with the first syllable
rhyming with "pie") offered as an alternative in the first edition of the Oxford
English Dictionary. Both "pyjamas" and "pajamas" are also known from the
18th century, but the latter became more or less confined to the US.[102]
Canada follows British usage; the spelling "pajamas" is virtually unknown.

pajamas

pernickety persnickety

Persnickety is a late 19th-century American alteration of the Scots word

pernickety.[103]

quin

quint

Abbreviations of quintuplet.

scallywag

scalawag

In the United States (where the word originated, as scalawag),[104] scallywag

is not unknown.[105]

sledge

sled

speciality

specialty

In British English the standard usage is speciality, but specialty occurs in the
field of medicine,[106] and also as a legal term for a contract under seal. In
Canada, specialty prevails. In Australia both are current.[107]

titbit

tidbit

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the oldest form was "tyd bit", and
the alteration to "titbit" was probably under the influence of the obsolete
word "tit", meaning a small horse or girl.

whilst

while

Penguin Working Words recommends while only, and notes that whilst is oldfashioned. Cambridge Guide to English Usage and M-W's Webster's Guide to
English Usage comment on its regional character, and note that it is rare in
American usage. It is thus safer to use only while in international English. (See
the article While for further sources deprecating the use of whilst, and
cautioning about uses of while.)

[edit] Miscellaneous spelling differences

In the table below, the more common spellings are on top.
UK
ache

US
ache,

Remarks

145
UK

US

Remarks

ake[108][109]
acre

acre,
aker[110]

adze

adz,
adze

annexe

annex

To annex is the verb in both British and American usage; however,

when speaking of an annex(e) the noun referring to an extension of a
main building, not a military or political conquest, which would be an
annexation the root word is usually spelled with an -e at the end in
the UK, but in the US it is not.

artefact

artifact

In British usage, artefact is the main spelling and artifact a minor

variant.[111] In American English, artifact is the usual spelling. Canadians
prefer artifact and Australians artefact, according to their respective
dictionaries.[112] Artefact reflects Arte-fact(um), the Latin source.[113]

artisan

artisan,
artizan

axe

ax,
axe

brasier

brasier,
brazier[115][116]

camomile,
chamomile

chamomile,
camomile

The word derives, via French and Latin, from Greek ("earth
apple"). The more common British spelling "camomile", corresponding
to the immediate French source, is the older in English, while the
spelling "chamomile" more accurately corresponds to the ultimate
Latin and Greek source.[117] In the UK, according to the OED, "the
spelling cha- is chiefly in pharmacy, after Latin; that with ca- is literary
and popular". In the US chamomile dominates in all senses.

cheque

check

In banking. Hence pay cheque and paycheck. Accordingly, the North

American term for what is known as a current account or cheque

Both the noun and verb. The word comes from Old English x. In the
US, both spellings are acceptable and commonly used. The Oxford
English Dictionary states that "the spelling ax is better on every ground,
of etymology, phonology, and analogy, than axe, which became
prevalent in the 19th century; but it ["ax"] is now disused in Britain".[114]

146
UK

US

Remarks
account in the UK is spelled chequing account in Canada and checking
account in the US. Some American financial institutions, notably
American Express, prefer cheque, but this is merely a trademarking
affectation.

chequer

checker

As n chequerboard/checkerboard, chequered/checkered flag etc. In

Canada as in the US.[118]

chilli

chili,
chile

The original Mexican Spanish word is spelled chile.[118][119] In MerriamWebster's Collegiate Dictionary, chile and chilli are given as also
variants.

cipher, cypher cipher

cosy

cozy

In all senses (adjective, noun, verb).

dyke

dike

domicile

domicile,
domicil[120]

doughnut

doughnut, donut In the US, both are used, with donut indicated as a variant of
doughnut.[121] In the UK, donut is indicated as an American variant for
doughnut.[122]

draught

draft

British English usually uses draft for all senses as the verb;[123] for a
preliminary version of a document; for an order of payment (bank
draft), and for military conscription (although this last meaning is not as
common as in American English). It uses draught for drink from a cask
(draught beer); for animals used for pulling heavy loads (draught
horse); for a current of air; for a ship's minimum depth of water to
float; and for the game draughts, known as checkers in America. It uses
either draught or draft for a plan or sketch (but almost always
draughtsman in this sense; a draftsman drafts legal documents).
American English uses draft in all these cases, including draftsman
(male or female) (although in regard to drinks, draught is sometimes
found). Canada uses both systems; in Australia, draft is used for
technical drawings, is accepted for the "current of air" meaning, and is
preferred by professionals in the nautical sense.[124] The pronunciation
is always the same for all meanings within a dialect (RP /drft/,
General American /drft/). The spelling draught is older; draft

147
UK

US

Remarks
appeared first in the late 16th century.[125]
Both spellings have existed since Middle English.[126]

gauge

gage

gauntlet

gauntlet, gantlet When meaning "ordeal", in the phrase running the ga(u)ntlet, some
American style guides prefer gantlet.[127] This spelling is unused in
Britain[128] and less usual in America than gauntlet. The word is an
alteration of earlier gantlope by folk etymology with gauntlet
("armored glove"), always spelled thus.

gazelle

gazelle,
gazel[129][130]

glycerine

glycerin,
glycerine

Scientists use the term glycerol, but both spellings are used sporadically
in the US.

grey

gray

Grey became the established British spelling in the 20th century, pace
Dr Johnson and others,[131] and it is but a minor variant in American
English, according to dictionaries. Canadians tend to prefer grey. The
non-cognate greyhound was never grayhound. Both Grey and Gray are
found in proper names everywhere in the English-speaking world. The
two spellings are of equal antiquity, and the Oxford English Dictionary
states that "each of the current spellings has some analogical
support".[132]

hearken

harken

jail,
gaol

jail

In the UK, gaol and gaoler are used sometimes, apart from literary
usage, chiefly to describe a medieval building and guard. Both spellings
go back to Middle English: gaol was a loanword from Norman French,
while jail was a loanword from central (Parisian) French. In Middle
English the two spellings were associated with different pronunciations.
In current English the word, however spelt, is always given the
pronunciation originally associated only with the jail spelling (/del/).
The survival of the gaol spelling in British English is "due to statutory
and official tradition".[133]

kerb

curb

For the noun designating the edge of a roadway (or the edge of a
British pavement/ American sidewalk/ Australian footpath). Curb is the
older spelling, and in the UK and US it is still the proper spelling for the

148
UK

US

Remarks
verb meaning restrain.[134]

(kilo)gram,
(kilo)gram
(kilo)gramme

(Kilo)gramme is used sometimes in the UK but never in the US.

(Kilo)gram is the only spelling used by the International Bureau of
Weights and Measures.

liquorice

licorice

The American spelling is nearer to the Old French source licorece, which
is ultimately from Greek glykyrrhiza.[135] The British spelling was
influenced by the unrelated word liquor.[136] Licorice prevails in Canada
and it is common in Australia, but it is rarely found in the UK. Liquorice
is all but nonexistent in the US. ("Chiefly British", according to
dictionaries).[137]

mollusc

mollusk, mollusc The related adjective is normally molluscan in all forms of English.

mould

mold

moult

molt

neurone,
neuron

neuron

omelette

omelet,
omelette

The omelet spelling is the older of the two, in spite of the etymology
(French omelette).[140] Omelette prevails in Canada and in Australia.

opaque

opaque,
opake

The opake spelling has existed since Middle English and was used in
Webster's dictionaries.[141][142]

partisan

partisan,
partizan

phantasm

phantasm,
fantasm[143][144]

phantom

phantom,
fantom[145][146]

In all senses of the word. The American spelling is the older of the
two.[138] In Canada, both words have wide currency.[139] When speaking
of the noun describing a form for casting a shape, the US will also use
the "mould" spelling, but defaults to "mold" when referring to the
fruiting bodies of tiny fungi.

The fantom spelling is the older of the two and has existed since Middle
English.[147][148]

149
UK

US

Remarks

phoney

phony

The American spelling is the older of the two.[149] The word originated
in America and made its widespread appearance in Britain during the
Phoney War. Phony is famously used often in The Catcher in the Rye.

plough

plow

Both spellings have existed since Middle English. The OED records
several dozen variants. In the UK, plough has been the standard
spelling for about 300 years.[150] Although plow was Noah Webster's
pick, plough continued to have some currency in the US, as the entry in
Webster's Third (1961) implies. Newer dictionaries label plough as
"chiefly British". The word snowplough/snowplow, originally an
Americanism, predates Webster's reform and was first recorded as
snow plough. Canada has both plough and plow,[151] although
snowplough is much rarer there than snowplow. In the US, "plough"
sometimes describes a horsedrawn kind while "plow" refers to a
gasoline (petrol) powered kind.

rack and ruin wrack and ruin

Several words like "rack" and "wrack" have been conflated, with both
spellings thus accepted as variants for senses connected to torture
(orig. rack) and ruin (orig. wrack, cf. wreck)[152] In "(w)rack and ruin",
the W-less variant is now prevalent in the UK but not the US.[153]

rhyme

rhyme,
rime[154][155]

sceptic (-al, ism)

skeptic (-al, ism)

The American spelling, akin to Greek, is the earliest known spelling in

English.[156] It was preferred by Fowler, and is used by many Canadians,
where it is the earlier form.[157] Sceptic also pre-dates the European
settlement of the US, and it follows the French sceptique and Latin
scepticus. In the mid-18th century, Dr Johnson's dictionary listed
skeptic without comment or alternative, but this form has never been
popular in the UK;[158] sceptic, an equal variant in the old Webster's
Third (1961), has now become "chiefly British". Australians generally
follow the British usage (with the notable exception of the Australian
Skeptics). All of these versions are pronounced with a hard "c", though
in French that letter is silent and the word is pronounced like septique.

smoulder

smolder

The American spelling is the older of the two and has existed since
Middle English.[147]

stead(fast)

stead(fast),

150
UK

US

Remarks

sted(fast)[159][160]
Level of a building. The plurals are storeys and stories respectively. The
letter "e" is used in the UK and Canada to differentiate between levels
of buildings and a story as in a literary work.[161] Story is the earlier
spelling. The Oxford English Dictionary states that this word is
"probably the same word as story [in its meaning of "narrative"] though
the development of sense is obscure.[162]

storey

story

sulphate

sulfate,
sulphate

sulphur

sulfur,
sulphur

Sulfur is the international standard in the sciences (IUPAC), and it is

supported by the UK's RSC.[163] During the Middle English period the
word was spelt with an f.[147] However, sulphur was preferred by Dr
Johnson. It is still used by British and Irish scientists, and it is still
actively taught in British and Irish schools. It prevails in Canada and
Australia, and it is also found in some American place names (e.g.
Sulphur, Louisiana and White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia). American
English usage guides suggest sulfur for technical usage, and both
sulphur and sulfur in common usage and in literature.[164][165] The
variation between f and ph spellings is also found in the word's ultimate
source: Latin sulfur, sulphur.[166]

telegram,
telegramme

telegram

Telegramme is used sometimes in the UK but never in the US.

through

through,
thru[167]

throughout

throughout,
thruout[168]

towards,
toward

toward,
towards

tyre

tire

The outer portion of a wheel. In Canada as in the US. Tire is the older
spelling, but both were used in the 15th and 16th centuries (for a metal
tire). Tire became the settled spelling in the 17th century but tyre was
revived in the UK in the 19th century for rubber / pneumatic tyres,
possibly because it was used in some patent documents,[169] though

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UK

US

Remarks
many continued to use tire for the iron variety. The Times newspaper
was still using tire as late as 1905. For the verb meaning "to grow
weary" both American and British English use only the tire spelling.

vice

vise, vice

vineyard

vineyard,
vinyard[171]

visor

visor,
vizor[172]

woe(ful)

woe(ful),
wo(ful)[173]

yoghurt,
yogurt

yogurt,
yoghurt

The two-jawed workbench tool. Americans and Canadians retain the

very old distinction between vise (the tool) and vice (the sin, and also
the Latin prefix meaning a "deputy"), both of which are vice in the UK
and Australia.[170] Thus, Americans have Vice-Admiral, Vice-President,
and Vice-Principal, but never Vise- for any one of these.

Yoghurt is an also-ran in the US, as is yoghourt in the UK. Although the

Oxford Dictionaries have always preferred yogurt, in current British
usage yoghurt seems to be prevalent. In Canada, yogurt prevails,
despite the Canadian Oxford preferring yogourt, which has the
advantage of being bilingual (English and French).[174] In Australia as in
the UK. Whatever the spelling is, the word has different
pronunciations: in the UK /jt/ or /jot/, only /jort/ in
America, Ireland, and Australia. The word comes from the Turkish
language word yourt.[175] The voiced velar fricative represented by in
the modern Turkish (Latinic) alphabet was traditionally written gh in
romanizations of the Ottoman Turkish (Arabic) alphabet used before
1928.

[edit] Compounds and hyphens

British English often prefers hyphenated compounds, such as counter-attack, whereas American
English discourages the use of hyphens in compounds where there is no compelling reason, so
counterattack is much more common.[citation needed] Many dictionaries do not point out such
differences. Canadian and Australian usage is mixed, although Commonwealth writers generally
hyphenate compounds of the form noun plus phrase (such as editor-in-chief).[176] Commander-inchief is dominant in all forms of English.

152

any more or anymore: In sense "any longer", the single-word form is usual in North America and
Australia but unusual elsewhere, at least in formal writing.[177] Other senses always have the
two-word form; thus Americans distinguish "I couldn't love you anymore [so I left you]" from "I
couldn't love you any more [than I already do]". In Hong Kong English, any more is always two
words.[178]
for ever or forever: Traditional British English usage makes a distinction between for ever,
meaning for eternity (or a very long time into the future), as in "If you are waiting for income tax
to be abolished you will probably have to wait for ever"; and forever, meaning continually,
always, as in "They are forever arguing".[179] In contemporary British usage, however, forever
prevails in the "for eternity" sense as well,[180] in spite of several style guides maintaining the
distinction.[181] American writers usually use forever regardless of which sense they intend
(although forever in the sense of "continually" is comparatively rare in American English, having
been displaced by always).
near by or nearby: Some British writers make the distinction between the adverbial near by,
which is written as two words, as in, "No one was near by"; and the adjectival nearby, which is
written as one, as in, "The nearby house".[182] In American English, the one-word spelling is
standard for both forms.

[edit] Acronyms and abbreviations

Proper names formed as proper acronyms are often rendered in title case by Commonwealth
writers, but usually as upper case by Americans: for example, Nasa / NASA or Unicef /
UNICEF.[183] This does not apply to most pure initialisms, such as US, IBM, or PRC (the
People's Republic of China). However, it is occasionally done for some in the UK, such as Pc
(Police Constable).[184]
Contractions, where the final letter is present, are often written in British English without full
stops/periods (Mr, Mrs, Dr, St, Ave). Abbreviations where the final letter is not present generally
do take full stops/periods (such as vol., etc., i.e., ed.); British English shares this convention with
the French: Mlle, Mme, Dr, Ste, but M. for Monsieur. In American and Canadian English,
abbreviations like St., Ave., Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., and Jr., always require periods. Some initials are
usually upper case in America but lower case in Britain: liter/litre and its compounds ("2 L or
25 mL" vs "2 l or 25 ml");[185][186] and ante meridiem and post meridiem (10 P.M. or 10 PM vs
10 p.m. or 10 pm).[187][188][189] Both AM/PM and a.m./p.m. are acceptable in American English,
though AM/PM is more common.

[edit] Punctuation
The use of quotation marks, also called inverted commas, is very slightly complicated by the fact
that there are two types: single quotation marks (') and double quotation marks ("). As a general
rule, British usage has in the past usually preferred single quotation marks for ordinary use, but
double quotation marks are now increasingly common; American usage has always preferred
double quotation marks.[190]
The convention used to be, and in American English still is, to put full stops (periods) and
commas inside the quotation marks, irrespective of the sense. British English has moved away

153

from this style while American English has retained it. British style now prefers to punctuate
according to the sense, in which punctuation marks only appear inside quotation marks if they
were there in the original. Moreover, formal British English practice requires a closing full stop
to be put inside the quotation marks if the quoted item is a complete sentence that ends where the
main sentence ends, but it is common to see the stop outside the closing quotation marks.[191]

Australian English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Australian English (AusE, AuE, AusEng, en-AU[1]) is the name given to the group of dialects
spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language.
English is the primary language spoken throughout Australia.

Despite being given no official status in the constitution, English is Australia's de facto official
language and is the first language of, and is used exclusively by, a large majority of the
population.
Australian English was distinctly recognisable as different from British English shortly after the
founding of the colony of New South Wales in 1788. It arose from the intermingling of children
of early settlers from a great variety of mutually intelligible dialectal regions of the British Isles
and quickly developed into a major variety of English.[2]

154

Contents
[hide]

1 Origins
2 Influences
3 Sociocultural variation
o 3.1 Broad Australian
o 3.2 General Australian
o 3.3 Cultivated Australian
o 3.4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander English
o 3.5 Ethnocultural varieties
4 Phonological features
5 Regional differences
o 5.1 Different word usage
o 5.2 Trapbath split
o 5.3 SydneyRising inflection
o 5.4 Western AustraliaCentring diphthongs
o 5.5 South Australia"L" vocalisation
o 5.6 VictoriaSalarycelery merger
o 5.7 Eastern statesPool, school variation
6 Vocabulary
7 Spelling and grammar
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Australian English began its development after the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove.

The earliest form of Australian English was first spoken by the children of the colonists born into
the colony of New South Wales. This very first generation of children created a new dialect that
was to become the language of the nation. The Australian-born children in the new colony were
exposed to a wide range of different dialects from all over the British Isles, in particular from
Ireland and South East England, with a large proportion of Cockneys.[3]
The native-born children of the colony created the new dialect from factors present in the speech
they heard around them, and provided an avenue for the expression of peer solidarity. Even when
new settlers arrived, this new dialect was strong enough to deflect the influence of other patterns
of speech.
A large part of the convict body were the Irish, with at least 25% directly from Ireland, and
others indirectly via Britain. There were other significant populations of convicts from nonEnglish speaking areas of Britain, such as the Scottish Highlands and Wales.
Records from the early 19th century survive to this day describing the distinct dialect that had
surfaced in the colonies since first settlement in 1788,[2] with Peter Miller Cunningham's 1827

155

book Two Years in New South Wales, describing the distinctive accent and vocabulary of the
native born colonists, different to that of their parents and with a strong Cockney influence.
The Australian gold rushes saw many external influences adopted into the language.

The first of the Australian gold rushes, in the 1850s, began a large wave of immigration, with
approximately two per cent of the population of the United Kingdom emigrating to the colonies
of New South Wales and Victoria.[4]
This great influx of immigrants caused the integration of numerous new patterns into the local
speech. By this time several words of Irish origin had been adopted into the language, some of
which are also common elsewhere in the Irish diaspora, such as tucker for "food", "provisions"
(Irish tacar),[citation needed] as well as one or two native English words whose meanings have
changed under Irish influence,[citation needed] such as paddock for "field", cf. Irish pirc, which has
exactly the same meaning as the Australian paddock.
Some elements of Aboriginal languages and Torres Strait Island languages have been adopted by
Australian Englishmainly as names for places, flora and fauna (for example dingo) and local
culture. Many such are localised, and do not form part of general Australian use, while others,
such as kangaroo, boomerang, budgerigar, wallaby and so on have become international. Other
examples are cooee and hard yakka. The former is used as a high-pitched call, for attracting
attention, (pronounced /k.i/) which travels long distances. Cooee is also a notional distance: if
he's within cooee, we'll spot him. Hard yakka means hard work and is derived from yakka, from
the Yagara/Jagara language once spoken in the Brisbane region.
Also from there is the word bung, from the Sydney pidgin English (and ultimately from the
Sydney Aboriginal language), and originally meaning "dead", and now meaning "broken" or
"caused to be less than perfect". Many towns or suburbs of Australia have also been influenced
or named after Aboriginal words. The most well known example is the capital, Canberra named
after a local language word meaning "meeting place".
Among the changes brought by the 19th century gold rushes was the introduction of words,
spellings, terms and usages from North American English. The words imported included some
later considered to be typically Australian, such as dirt and digger and bonzer.[5] The influx of
American military personnel in World War II brought further American influence; seen in the
enduring persistence of okay, you guys and gee.[5] The American influence on North Queensland
during and after World War II led to the localised adoption of terms such as bronco for the native
brumby meaning wild horse, and cowboy for the native drover for a cattle or sheep herder.
Since the advent of film, however, the American influence on language in Australia has mostly
come from popular culture and media. Where British and American vocabulary differs,
Australians will in some cases favour an Australian usage (such as capsicum (for US bell pepper,
UK red or green pepper), in some cases favour an American usage (such as eggplant for UK
aubergine), and in some cases favour a British usage (such as mobile phone for US cell phone).

156

[edit] Sociocultural variation

Three main varieties of Australian English are spoken according to linguists: broad, general and
cultivated.[6] They are part of a continuum, reflecting variations in accent. They can, but do not
always reflect the social class, education and urban or rural background of the speaker.[7]
[edit] Broad Australian
Main article: Strine

Broad Australian English is recognisable and familiar to English speakers around the world and
is prevalent nationwide, but is especially strong in rural areas. Examples of people with this
accent are Steve Irwin, Paul Hogan and Julia Gillard. In Australia, this dialect is sometimes
called Strine (or "Strayan"), a shortening of the word Australian, and a speaker of the dialect
may be referred to as an Ocker or Bogan.
Tests indicated that the Broad speakers demonstrated a greater tendency for syllable assimilation
and consonant elision, were more likely to use weak consonants or restricted intonation (narrow
pitch range), were more likely to speak slowly (drawl), and further, showed a greater tendency to
exhibit pervasive nasality.
[edit] General Australian

The most common of Australian accents is known as General Australian English, and is used as
a standard language for the purposes of television news broadcasts and advertising. This accent
is especially prominent in urban Australia and it predominates in modern Australian films and
television programmes and is used by, for example, Hugh Jackman, John Howard and Eric Bana.
[edit] Cultivated Australian

Cultivated Australian English has some similarities to Received Pronunciation, and has become
less common, with speakers generally being of a mature age. Cultivated Australian English has
in the past been thought to indicate high social class or education, and is spoken by Kevin Rudd,
Malcolm Fraser, Kylie Minogue and Geoffrey Rush.
[edit] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander English
Main article: Australian Aboriginal English

Australian Aboriginal English refers to a dialect of Australian English used by a large proportion
of Indigenous Australians. It is made up of a range of forms which developed differently in
different parts of Australia, and are said to vary along a continuum, from forms close to Standard
Australian English to more non-standard forms. There are distinctive features of accent,
grammar, words and meanings, as well as language use. The dialect is not to be confused with
Australian Kriol language, which is not mutually intelligible with Australian English but in fact a
separate language spoken by over 30,000 people. On the Torres Strait Islands, a distinctive
dialect known as Torres Strait English, the furthest extent of which is Torres Strait Creole, is
spoken.[8]

157
[edit] Ethnocultural varieties

The ethnocultural dialects are diverse accents in Australian English that are spoken by the
minority groups, which are of non-English speaking background.[9] A massive immigration from
Asia and the Middle East has made a large increase in diversity and the will for people to show
their cultural identity within the Australian context.[10] These ethnoculutral varieties contain
features of General Australian English as adopted by the children of immigrants blended with
some non-English language features, such as the Afro-Asiatic and Asian languages.[8]

[edit] Phonological features

Main article: Australian English phonology

Australian monophthongs

Australian diphthongs

Australian English is a non-rhotic accent that is highly distinctive from other varieties of English.
It shares most similarity with other Southern Hemisphere accents, in particular New Zealand
English.[11] Like most dialects of English it is distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology.[12]
o The vowels of Australian English can be divided into two categories: long and short
vowels. The short vowels, consisting only of monophthongs, are similar to the lax vowels
in British and North American English.

158
o

The long vowels, consisting of both monophthongs and diphthongs, mostly correspond
to its tense vowels and centring diphthongs. Unlike most varieties of English, it has a
phonemic length distinction: that compresses, shortens or removes these features.[13]
The Australian English vowels //, /e/,//,//,//, and /o/ are noticeably closer
(higher tongue position) than their RP (British Received Pronunciation) equivalents. The
centring diphthongs are accordingly also closer in AE than RP.

Monophthongs

A long // sound is found in the adjectives bad, mad, glad and sad, before the // sound (for
example, hag, rag, bag) and also in content words before /m/ and /n/ in the same syllable (for
example, ham, tan, plant).[14]
o In some speakers, especially those with the Broad accent, the vowel in words like dad,
back and lag will be shifted toward [].[15]
o In some varieties of Australian English, bad (with long [+) and lad (with short *+) do
not rhyme (see badlad split).
o For many speakers, the // sound is flatter than the British //.
o There is -tensing before a nasal consonantThe nasal sounds create changes in
preceding vowels because air can flow into the nose during the vowel. Nasal consonants
can also affect the articulation of a vowel. So for several speakers, the // vowel in
words like "jam", "man", "dam" and "hand" will be shifted towards [e].[16]

The /a/ sound, an open unrounded vowel, is used in words like car, bath, ask, father and pass.
So the words like trap and bath wouldn't have the same vowel (see Trapbath split).
o However, words like chance, plant, branch, sample (words containing the suffix -mand, ant, -anch, -ance) mostly have an // vowel as in cat but there are some speakers who
use the vowel in cart (/a/) for these words, particularly in South Australia, which had a
different settlement chronology and type than other parts of the country.
Comparatively, most of the British accents use the back // sound.[17]

The /e/ sound, which is a high-mid front unrounded vowel, is predominantly used in words like,
dress, pet, bed and head. Comparatively, in most of American and British English, an [] sound is
used instead, which is a low-mid front vowel.[18]

The // sound, used in tin, bit and sit, tends to be tenser than in other varieties of English, and
may sometimes sound like it's shifted to /i/ in the foreign ear.[19] Thus, words like pin and kin will
sound almost similar to peen and keen in the foreign ear. The final vowel in words like happy
and city, which is typically /i/, is elongated to an /i:/ sound, so both will sound like happee and
citee, respectively.[20] Some of these aforementioned features are present in Chicano English.

Diphthongs

For many speakers, the vowel in words like "town" and "now" is [].
The vowel in words like "neat" and "feet" is [ei] sound where, for example, "neat" will be [nei].
The vowel in "fate" is [] for several speakers, so words like that will sound like [f].

159

The vowel in "high" may be [] for those with the Broad accent, so "buy" might sound like
"boy" in the foreign ear. This is a direct influence from the Cockney accent. Some of these
features aforementioned are also present in the New York accent.[21]

Non-rhoticity

Australian accent is R-less; in other words, the [r] sound does not appear at the end of a syllable
or immediately before a consonant. A final -er is pronounced as lowered [] in most speakers, or
[] for some. So the words butter [b], here [h] and park [pak] will not contain the /r/
sound.[22]

Intervocalic alveolar flapping

Intervocalic /t/ and /d/ undergoes voicing and flapping to the alveolar tap [] after the stressed
syllable and before unstressed vowels (as in butter, party) and syllabic /l/, though not before
syllabic /n/ (bottle vs button [batn]), as well as at the end of a word or morpheme before any
vowel (what else, whatever). There will be a homophony if some words are flapped, for
example, metal and petal will sound like medal and pedal.[citation needed] In formal speech /t/ is
retained. When coating becomes coatin' , the t remains voiceless, thus [kutn]. The cluster [nt]
can also be flapped/tapped. As a result, in quick speech, words like winner and winter can
become homophonous.[citation needed] This is a quality that Australian English shares most notably
with North American English.[citation needed]

Linking and intrusive R or epenthetic /r/

The /r/ sound can occur when a word that has a final r in the spelling comes before another
word that starts with a vowel. For example, in car alarm the sound /r/ can occur in car
because here it comes before another word beginning with a vowel. The words far, far more
and farm do not contain an /r/ but far out will contain the linking /r/ sound because the
next word starts with a vowel sound.
An intrusive /r/ may be inserted before a vowel in words that do not have r in the spelling. For
example, "drawing" will sound like "draw-ring", "saw it" will sound like "sore it", "the tuner is"
and "the tuna is" will both be / tjnrz/.
For some speakers, a subtle epethentic /r/ may be added after the (M.-D. /o/) sound in
words like "no" [nr], "hello" [hlr], "don't" [d-rnt] and "low" [lr].

Yod coalescence

Yod coalescence occurs in /dj/, /sj/ and /tj/ into /d/, // and /t/, producing standard
pronunciations such as [tn] for tune, /ilk/ for Sri Lanka and /d/ for draw. The
sound /j/ occurs in Australian English at the beginning of words like "yellow" and "yes" and it
also occurs in words like "new" and "tube". An affricate also occurs in "dune", where it will be
pronounced exactly like "June". In the case of /d/, this palatalisation can lead to additional
homophony where dew, due, and Jew come to be pronounced identically.

160

[edit] Regional differences

Main article: Regional variation in Australian English

Australian English is relatively homogenous when compared to British and American English.
There is however some regional variation between the states, particularly in regards to South
Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.
[edit] Different word usage
Most regional differences come down to word usage. For example, swimmers (New South
Wales) are known as togs in Queensland and bathers in Victoria and South Australia. Distinctive
grammatical patterns also exist such as the use of the interrogative eh? and the position of the
word but at the end of a sentence in Queensland ("But I don't like him" becomes "I don't like him
but").
[edit] Trapbath split
Main article: Phonological history of English short A

In Australian English, pronunciations vary regionally according to the type of vowel that occurs
before the sounds nd, ns, nt, nce, nch, and mple, and the pronunciation of the suffix "-mand". In
words like "chance", "plant", "graph", "branch", "sample" and "demand", the vast majority of
Australians use the short // vowel from the word "cat". In South Australia however a high
proportion of people use the broad /a/ vowel from the word "cart" in these words. For some
speakers, particularly in Victoria, the "a" vowel in "castle" and "rascal" rhymes with "hassle"
rather than non-rhotic "parcel". Also, some may use a short "a" vowel in "bat" for words like
"grasp", "gasp", "plaque" and "rasp".[23]
[edit] SydneyRising inflection
Further information: High rising terminal

Sydney residents often use a form of upward inflection in their speech that is not associated with
asking questions[citation needed]. In English, upward inflection (a rise in the pitch of the voice at the
end of a sentence) typically signals a question[citation needed]. However, some speakers also use
upward inflection as a way of including their conversational partner in the dialogue. This is also
common in Californian English.[24]
[edit] Western AustraliaCentring diphthongs
Main article: Western Australian English

Centring diphthongs, which are the vowels that occur in words like near, square and cure. In the
Eastern states, these may be realised either as diphthongs (e.g. [fi] or [fi] 'fear'), or as
monophthongs (e.g. [fi]). This does not usually occur in Western Australia, where the

161

diphthongs are typically realised fully. For example, those in the eastern states will tend to
pronounce "fear" and "sheer" without any jaw movement, while the westerners would pronounce
them like "fia" and "shia", respectively.[25]
[edit] South Australia"L" vocalisation
Main article: South Australian English

When the consonant "l" occurs at the ends of words before pauses and before consonants it
sometimes sounds like a vowel sound rather than a consonant. This is because /l/ is made with
two different articulations. One of the articulations is like a vowel articulation and the other is
more like a typical consonant articulation. When /l/ occurs at the ends of words before pauses
and before other consonants, the consonantal articulation can be obscured by the vowel
articulation. This makes the /l/ sound like "oo".[26]
The tendency for some /l/ sounds to become vowels (/l/ L vocalization) is more common in
South Australia than other states. "Milk", for example, in South Australia has a vocalised /l/,
leading to the pronunciation "miwk", whereas in other states the /l/ is pronounced as a consonant.
[edit] VictoriaSalarycelery merger
In Victoria, many speakers pronounce the "a" and "e" vowels in a way that is distinct from
speakers in other states.[citation needed] For many younger speakers from Victoria, the first vowel in
"celery" and "salary" are the same, so that both words sound like "salary".[citation needed] These
speakers will also tend to say "halicopter" instead of "helicopter".[citation needed] For many older
Victorian speakers, the words "celery" and "salary" also sound the same but instead both sound
like "celery".[citation needed] These speakers will also pronounce words such as "alps" as
"elps".[citation needed]
[edit] Eastern statesPool, school variation
The vowel in words like "pool", "school" and "fool" varies regionally. People who live in
Victoria, New South Wales and to a lesser extent Queensland will tend to say "pool" and
"school" like "pewl" and "skewl", respectively, while the rest of the Australian population
pronounces them with a more backed and rounded vowel.

Vocabulary
Main article: Australian English vocabulary

Bush poets such as Banjo Paterson captured the Australian vocabulary of the 19th century in their bush
ballads.

162

Australian English has many words and idioms which are unique to the dialect and have been
written on extensively, with the Macquarie Dictionary, widely regarded as the national standard,
incorporating numerous Australian terms.
Internationally well-known examples of Australian terminology include outback, meaning a
remote, sparsely populated area, The Bush, meaning either a native forest or a country area in
general, and g'day, a greeting. Dinkum, or fair dinkum means "true", or "is that true?", among
other things, depending on context and inflection.[27] The derivative dinky-di means 'true' or
devoted: a 'dinky-di Aussie' is a 'true Australian'.
Australian poetry, such as The Man from Snowy River, and folk songs, such as Waltzing
Matilda, contain many historical Australian words and phrases that are understood by
Australians even though some are not in common usage today.
Australian English, in common with several British English dialects (for example, Cockney,
Scouse, Glaswegian and Geordie) use the word mate. Many words used by Australians were at
one time used in England but have since fallen out of usage or changed in meaning.
For example, creek in Australia, as in North America, means a stream or small river, whereas in
the UK it means a small watercourse flowing into the sea; paddock in Australia means field,
whereas in the UK it means a small enclosure for livestock; bush or scrub in Australia, as in
North America, means a wooded area, whereas in England they are commonly used only in
proper names (such as Shepherd's Bush and Wormwood Scrubs).
Litotes, such as "not bad", "not much" and "you're not wrong", are also used, as are Diminutives,
which are commonly used and are often used to indicate familiarity. Some common examples
are arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue), smoko (morning tea), Aussie (Australian) and pressie
(gift). This may also be done with people's names to create nicknames (other English speaking
countries create similar diminutives). For example, "Gazza" from Gary.
In informal speech, incomplete comparisons are sometimes used, such as "sweet as". "Full",
"fully" or "heaps" may precede a word to act as an intensifier. This is more common in regional
Australia and South Australia. The suffix "-ly" is sometimes omitted in broader Australian
English. For instance "real good" in lieu of "really good."

[edit] Spelling and grammar

As in most English speaking countries, there is no official governmental regulator or overseer of
correct spelling and grammar. The Macquarie Dictionary is used by universities and style guides
as a standard for Australian English spelling.
Australian spelling generally follows conventions of British spelling. As in British spelling, the
'u' is retained in words such as honour and favour and the -ise ending is used in words such as
organise and realise, although the older -ize also exists, but is far less common. Words listed by
the Macquarie Dictionary as currently spelled differently to the received British spellings include

163

"program" as opposed to "programme" and "jail" as opposed to "gaol".[28] Single quotation marks
and unspaced em-dashes are preferred, and the DD/MM/YYYY date format is used.
Different spellings have existed throughout Australia's history. A pamphlet entitled The SoCalled "American Spelling", published in Sydney some time in the 19th century, argued that
"there is no valid etymological reason for the preservation of the u in such words as honor, labor,
etc."[29]
The pamphlet also claimed that "the tendency of people in Australasia is to excise the u, and one
of the Sydney morning papers habitually does this, while the other generally follows the older
form."
This influence can be seen in the spelling of the Australian Labor Party, spelt without a 'u', with
the atypical American spelling that was more common at the time of its formation in 1912. For a
short time during the late 20th Century, Harry Lindgren's 1969 spelling reform proposal
(Spelling Reform 1 or SR1) was popular in Australia and was adopted by the Australian
government[citation needed]. SR1 calls for the short /e/ sound (as in bet) to be spelt with E (for
example friendfrend, headhed). Many general interest paperbacks were printed in SR1.

Australian English phonology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Australian English is a non-rhotic variety of English spoken by most native-born Australians.

Phonologically, it is one of the most regionally homogeneous language varieties in the world. As
with most dialects of English, it is distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology.

164

Contents
[hide]

1 Vowels
o 1.1 Notes and examples
o 1.2 Variation between /a/ and //
2 Consonants
3 Relationship to other varieties
4 References
5 Bibliography
6 External links

[edit] Vowels
Australian English vowels are divided into two categories: long, which includes long
monophthongs and diphthongs, and short, all of which are monophthongs. Australian English
long vowels mostly correspond to the tense vowels used in analyses of Received Pronunciation
(RP) as well as its centralising diphthongs whereas its short vowels correspond to the lax vowels.
A number of vowels differ only by the length.
There are two families of phonemic transcriptions of Australian English: revised ones, which
attempt to more accurately represent the phonetic sounds of Australian English; and the
Mitchell-Delbridge system, which is minimally distinct from Jones original transcription of RP.
This page uses a revised transcription based on Durie and Hajek (1994) and Harrington, Cox and
Evans (1997) but also shows the Mitchell-Delbridge equivalents as this system is commonly
used for example in the Macquarie Dictionary and much literature, even recent.

Diphthongs

Monophthongs

Direction of second target

Long monophthongs

Short monophthongs

165

Fron Centra Bac

t
l
k

to unrounded to rounded
Starting close

Starting mid

Starting open

Close

Mid

Ope
n

Fron Centra Bac

t
l
k
Close

Mid

Ope
n

[edit] Notes and examples

//
for example kit, bid, hid. (M.-D. //.) The target for this vowel tends to be tenser than in other
varieties of English, and may also sound almost similar to the /i/ vowel.
/e/
for example dress, bed, head. (M.-D. //.) The target for this vowel also tends to be tenser than
in other varieties of English, where the /e/ may sound like the vowel // in some speakers. For
some Victorian speakers this phoneme has merged with // in pre-lateral environments, and
thus the words celery and salary are pronounced alike (Cox & Palethorpe, 2003). See salary
celery merger.
//
for example trap, cat, had. (M.-D. //.) For many speakers, the // sound is flatter than the
British //.[1]
//
for example strut, bud, hud. (M.-D. //.)
//
for example lot, cloth, body, hot. (M-D. //.) This vowel also forms the first part of the diphthong
[] (gold, hold, pole, etc.), though remains distinct from [] before l in words such as [pl]
"poll" (dehorned cattle) and so on.
/u/
for example foot, good, hood. (M.-D. //.)
//

166
for example about, winter. (M.-D. //.) As in most varieties of English, this phoneme is used only
in unstressed syllables.
/i/
for example fleece, bead, heat. (M.-D. /i/.) Includes an onset to the high front vowel, except
before laterals (Palethorpe & Cox, 2003).
//
for example near, beard, hear. (M.-D. //.) This sound is traditionally transcribed with a
diphthongal glyph; however, it is usually pronounced as a diphthong (or disyllabically) only in
open syllables; in closed syllables, it is distinguished from // primarily by length (Cox, 2006;
Durie & Hajek, 1994). It is primarily distinguished from /i/ by the significant onset in the latter.
/e/
for example square, bared, haired. (M.-D. //.)
//
for example bad, man, lad. (M.-D. //.) This sound is traditionally transcribed and analysed the
same as the short //, but minimal pairs exist in at least some Australians speech (Blake, 1985;
Durie & Hajek, 1994). See the badlad split. For many Australian speakers, nasal words like
"man", "stand", "can" and "hand" will contain a vowel that sounds similar to , which is like the
vowel in "head".[2]
//
for example face, bait, hade. (M.-D. /e/.) Includes a significantly lower first element than in
many other dialects of English.
//
for example mouth, bowed, howd. (M.-D. /a/.) The first element may be raised in broad
accents.
/a/
for example bath, palm, start, bard, hard. (M.-D. /a/.).
//
for example goat, bode, hoed. (M.-D. /o/.) The onset factually begins somewhere between //
and /a/. There is significant allophonic variation in this vowel, particularly a backed one []
before /l/, where the distinction between // and // is usually neutralised.

167
/e/
for example price, bite, hide. (M.-D. /a/.) The first element may be raised and rounded in broad
accents.
/o/
for example choice, boy. (M-D. //.)
//
for example thought, north, sure, board, hoard, poor. (M.-D. //.) Many cases of RP //
correspond to this phoneme in Australian English, but unlike in some British accents there is no
general merger between /o/ and //.
//
for example goose, boo, whod. (M.-D. /u/.) In some parts of Australia, a fully backed allophone,
transcribed [] is common before /l/ (Durie & Hajek, 1994). The usual allophone is further
forward in New South Wales than Victoria. It is moving further forwards, however, in both
regions at a similar rate (Cox & Palethorpe, 2003). Many cases of RP // correspond to the
sequence /./ in Australian English.
//
for example nurse, bird, heard. (M.-D. //.) This sound is pronounced at least as high as /e/, and
is often pronounced rounded (Cox, 2006; Durie & Hajek, 1994). This glyph is used rather than
// or // as most revisions of the phonemic orthography for Australian English predate the
1996 modifications to the International Phonetic Alphabet. At the time, [] was suitable for any
mid-central vowel, rounded or unrounded.
//
for example tour. (M.-D. //). A rare, almost extinct phoneme. Most speakers consistently use
/./ or // (before /r/) instead.
[edit] Variation between /a/ and //

Academic studies have shown that there are limited regional variations in Australian English.
The table below, based on Crystal (1995), shows the percentage of speakers from different
capital cities who pronounce words with /a/ as opposed to //.
Use of /a/ as opposed to //

168
Word

Hobart Melbourne Brisbane Sydney Adelaide Ave. over all five cities

graph

0%

30%

56%

70%

86%

48%

chance

0%

60%

25%

80%

86%

50%

demand

10%

78%

78%

90%

100%

71%

dance

10%

35%

11%

30%

86%

34%

castle

60%

30%

33%

100%

86%

62%

grasp

90%

89%

89%

95%

100%

93%

to contrast

100%

100%

100%

100%

71%

94%

Ave. over all seven words 39%

60%

56%

81%

88%

65%

[edit] Consonants
Australian English consonants are similar to those of other non-rhotic varieties of English. In
comparison to other varieties, it has a flapped variant of /t/ and /d/ in similar environments as in
American English. Many speakers have also coalesced /tj/ and /dj/ into /t/ and /d/, with
pronunciations such as /tn/ being standard. /sj/, /zj/ and /lj/ merged with /s/, /z/ and /l/ word
initially; other cases of /sj/ and /zj/ are often pronounced [] and []. Remaining cases of /lj/ are
often pronounced simply as [j] in colloquial speech, though this is stigmatised particularly in the
case of the word Australia[citation needed], so it is often pronounced as four syllables to avoid the /lj/.
/nj/, and other common sequences of consonant+/j/, are retained. Some speakers use a glottal
stop as an allophone of /t/ in final position, for example trait, habit; or in medial position, such as
a /t/ followed by a syllabic /n/ is often replaced by a glottal stop, for example button or fatten.
Alveolar pronunciations nevertheless predominate. Linking- and intrusive-R are also features of
Australian English.
A table containing the consonant phonemes is given below.
Consonant phonemes of Australian English[3]
Bilabial
Nasal
Plosive

LabioPostDental Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
dental
alveolar

m
p

169
Affricate

t d

Fricative

Approximant

Lateral

h
j

[edit] Relationship to other varieties

Correspondence between the IPA help key and Australian English vowels
Monophthongs
Help key

Australian

Examples

//

//

bid, pit

/i/

/i/

bead, peat

//

/e/

bed, pet

//

/, /

pat, bad

/a/

/a, /

balm, father, pa

//

//

bod, pot, cot

//

/o/

bawd, paw, caught

//

//

good, foot, put

/u/

//

booed, food

//

/a/

bud, putt
Diphthongs

/a/

/e/

buy, high, ride, write

/e/

//

bay, hey, fate

/a/

//

bough, how, pout

170
/o/

//

beau, hoe, poke

//

/o/

boy, hoy

/ju/

/j/

beauty, hue, pew, new

R-coloured vowels

/r/

//

mirror

/r/

//

beer, mere

/r/

/e/

berry, merry

/r/

/e/

bear, mare

/r/

//

barrow, marry

/r/

/a/

bar, mar

/r/

//

moral, forage
born, for

/r/
/o/

boar, four, more, moor

/r/
/r/

//

tour

/r/

/a/

hurry, Murray

/r/ ()

//

bird, herd, furry

Reduced vowels
roses, business

//
//
/r/ ()

//

Rosas, cuppa
runner

Australian English pronunciation is most similar to that of New Zealand English: many people
from other parts of the world often cannot distinguish them but there are differences. New
Zealand English has centralised // and the other short front vowels are higher. New Zealand

171

English more strongly maintains the diphthongal quality of the NEAR and SQUARE vowels and
they can be merged as something around [i]. New Zealand English does not have the badlad
split, but like Victoria has merged /e/ with // in pre-lateral environments.[citation needed]
Both New Zealand English and Australian English are also similar to South African English, so
that they have even been grouped together under the common label "southern hemisphere
Englishes".[4] Like the other two varieties in that group, Australian English pronunciation is
similar to dialects from the South-East of Britain;[5][6] and like New Zealand English, it is
particularly similar to Cockney.[7][8] Thus, it is non-rhotic and has the trapbath split although, as
indicated above, there is some variation in particular words that are usually pronounced with the
bath-vowel in England. Historically Australian English also had the same lengthening of //
before unvoiced fricatives, but, like the English accents, this has since been reversed. Australian
English lacks some innovations in Cockney since the settling of Australia, such as the use of a
glottal stop in many places where a /t/ would be found, th fronting, and h dropping.

[edit] References
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

^ http://clas.mq.edu.au/speech/phonetics/phonetics/ausenglish/impressionistic.html
^ http://clas.mq.edu.au/australian-voices/further-study
^ Cox & Palethorpe (2007:343)
^ Gordon, Elizabeth and Andrea Sudbury. 2002. The history of southern hemisphere Englishes.
In: Richard J. Watts and Peter Trudgill. Alternative Histories of English. P.67
^ Gordon, Elizabeth and Andrea Sudbury. 2002. The history of southern hemisphere Englishes.
In: Richard J. Watts and Peter Trudgill. Alternative Histories of English. P.79
^ Wells 1982. Accents of English. P.595
^ Gordon, Elizabeth. New Zealand English: its origins and evolution. 2004. P.82
^ Hammarstrm, Gran. 1980. Australian English: its origin and status. passim

[edit] Bibliography

Blake, B. J. (1985), "'Short a' in Melbourne English", Journal of the International Phonetic
Association 15: 620, doi:10.1017/S0025100300002899
Crystal, D. (1995), Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Cambridge University Press
Cox, Felicity (2006), "The acoustic characteristics of /hVd/ vowels in the speech of some
Australian teenagers", Australian Journal of Linguistics 26 (2): 147179,
doi:10.1080/07268600600885494,
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=g757708700~db=all
Cox, Felicity; Palethorpe, Sallyanne (2003), "The border effect: Vowel differences across the
NSWVictorian Border", Proceedings of the 2003 Conference of the Australian Linguistic Society:
114
Cox, Felicity; Palethorpe, Sallyanne (2007), "Australian English", Journal of the International
Phonetic Association 37 (3): 341350
Durie, M.; Hajek, J (1994), "A revised standard phonemic orthography for Australian English
vowels", Australian Journal of Linguistics 14: 93107, doi:10.1080/07268609408599503.

172

Harrington, J.; Cox, Felicity; Evans, Z. (1997), "An acoustic phonetic study of broad, general, and
cultivated Australian English vowels", Australian Journal of Linguistics 17 (2): 15584,
doi:10.1080/07268609708599550
Palethorpe, S. and Cox, F. M. (2003) Vowel Modification in Pre-lateral Environments. Poster
presented at the International Seminar on Speech Production, December 2003, Sydney.

Canadian English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Canadian English (CanE, CE, en-CA[1]) is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is
the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians (77%), and more
than 28 million (86%) are fluent in the language.[2] 82% of Canadians outside Quebec speak
English natively, but within Quebec the figure drops to just 11% as most are native speakers of
Canadian French.
Canadian English contains elements of British English and American English in its vocabulary,
as well as many distinctive "Canadianisms". In many areas, speech is influenced by French, and
there are notable local variations. Canada has very little dialect diversity compared to the United
States.[3] The phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon for most of Canada are
similar to that of the Western and Midland regions of the United States.[3] The Canadian Great
Lakes region has similarities to that of the Upper Midwest & Great Lakes region and/or Yooper
dialect (in particular Michigan which has extensive cultural and economic ties with Ontario),
while the phonological system of western Canadian English is virtually identical to that of the
Pacific Northwest of the United States, and the phonetics are similar.[4] As such, Canadian
English and American English are sometimes classified together as North American English.
Canadian English spelling is largely a blend of British and American conventions.

173

Contents
[hide]

1 History
2 Spelling and dictionaries
3 Phonemic incidence
4 Regional variation
o 4.1 Western and Central Dialect
4.1.1 Canadian raising
4.1.2 The cotcaught merger and the Canadian Shift
4.1.3 Other features
4.1.4 British Columbia
4.1.5 Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta)
4.1.6 Ontario
4.1.6.1 Ottawa Valley
4.1.6.2 Toronto
4.1.6.3 Northwest Ontario
4.1.7 Quebec
o 4.2 Maritimes
o 4.3 Newfoundland
o 4.4 Northern Canada
5 Grammar
6 Vocabulary
o 6.1 Education
o 6.2 Units of measurement
o 6.3 Transportation
o 6.4 Politics
o 6.5 Law
o 6.6 Places
o 6.7 Daily life
6.7.1 Apparel
6.7.2 Food and beverage
o 6.8 Vocabulary pertaining to race and ethnicity
o 6.9 Canadianisms
o 6.10 Informal speech
6.10.1 Canadian colloquialisms
o 6.11 Miscellaneous Canadianisms
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links

[edit] History

174

The term "Canadian English" is first attested in a speech by the Reverend A. Constable Geikie in
an address to the Canadian Institute in 1857. Geikie, a Scottish-born Canadian, reflected the
Anglocentric attitude that would be prevalent in Canada for the next hundred years when he
referred to the language as "a corrupt dialect", in comparison to what he considered the proper
English spoken by immigrants from Britain.[5]
Canadian English is the product of four waves of immigration and settlement over a period of
almost two centuries. The first large wave of permanent English-speaking settlement in Canada,
and linguistically the most important, was the influx of Loyalists fleeing the American
Revolution, chiefly from the Mid-Atlantic States as such, Canadian English is believed by
some scholars to have derived from northern American English.[6][7] The historical development
of Canadian English is underexplored, but recent studies suggest that Canadian English has been
developing features of its own since the early 19th century,[8] while recent studies have shown
the emergence of Canadian English features.[9] The second wave from Britain and Ireland was
encouraged to settle in Canada after the War of 1812 by the governors of Canada, who were
worried about anti-English sentiment among its citizens. Waves of immigration from around the
globe peaking in 1910 and 1960 had a lesser influence, but they did make Canada a multicultural
country, ready to accept linguistic change from around the world during the current period of
globalization.[10]
The languages of Aboriginal peoples in Canada started to influence European languages used in
Canada even before widespread settlement took place,[11] and the French of Lower Canada
provided vocabulary to the English of Upper Canada.[5]

[edit] Spelling and dictionaries

Canadian spelling of the English language combines British and American conventions.

French-derived words that in American English end with -or and -er, such as color or center,
retain British spellings (colour, honour and centre). While the United States uses the AngloFrench spelling defense (noun), Canadians use the British spellings defence and offence. (Note
that defensive and offensive are universal.)
In other cases, Canadians and Americans differ from British spelling, such as in the case of nouns
like curb and tire, which in British English are spelled kerb and tyre.
Words such as realize and paralyze are usually spelled with -ize or -yze rather than -ise or -yse.
(The etymological convention that verbs derived from Greek roots are spelled with -ize and
those from Latin with -ise is preserved in that practice.[12])
Some nouns take -ice while matching verbs take -ise for example, practice is a noun and
practise is a verb; in addition, licence is a noun and license is a verb. (Note that prophecy and
prophesy are universal.)
Canadian spelling sometimes retains the British practice of doubling consonant when adding
suffixes to words even when the final syllable (before the suffix) is not stressed. Compare
Canadian (and British) travelled, counselling, and controllable (always doubled in British, more
often than not in Canadian) to American traveled, counseling, and controllable (only doubled
when stressed). (Both Canadian and British English use balloted and profiting.[13])

175

Canadian spelling conventions can be partly explained by Canada's trade history. For instance,
the British spelling of the word cheque probably relates to Canada's once-important ties to
British financial institutions. Canada's automobile industry, on the other hand, has been
dominated by American firms from its inception, explaining why Canadians use the American
spelling of tire and American terminology for the parts of automobiles (for example, truck
instead of lorry, gasoline instead of petrol, trunk instead of boot).[13]
Canada's political history has also had an influence on Canadian spelling. Canada's first prime
minister, John A. Macdonald, once issued an order-in-council directing that government papers
be written in the British style.[14]
A contemporary reference for formal Canadian spelling is the spelling used for Hansard
transcripts of the Parliament of Canada (see The Canadian Style in Further reading below). Many
Canadian editors, though, use the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, often along with the chapter on
spelling in Editing Canadian English, and, where necessary (depending on context), one or more
other references. (See Further reading below.)
The first Canadian dictionaries of Canadian English were edited by Walter Spencer Avis and
published by Gage Ltd. The Beginner's Dictionary (1962), the Intermediate Dictionary (1964)
and, finally, the Senior Dictionary (1967) were milestones in Canadian English lexicography.
Many secondary schools in Canada use these dictionaries. The dictionaries have regularly been
updated since: the Senior Dictionary was renamed Gage Canadian Dictionary and exists in what
may be called its 5th edition from 1997. Gage was acquired by Thomson Nelson around 2003.
The latest editions were published in 2009 by HarperCollins.
In 1997, the ITP Nelson Dictionary of the Canadian English Language was another product, but
has not been updated since.
In 1998, Oxford University Press produced a Canadian English dictionary, after five years of
lexicographical research, entitled The Oxford Canadian Dictionary. A second edition, retitled
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, was published in 2004. Just as the older dictionaries it
includes uniquely Canadian words and words borrowed from other languages, and surveyed
spellings, such as whether colour or color was the more popular choice in common use.
Paperback and concise versions (2005, 2006), with minor updates, are available.
The scholarly Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles (DCHP) was first published
in 1967 by Gage Ltd. It was a partner project of the Senior Dictionary (and appeared only a few
weeks apart from it). The DCHP can be considered the "Canadian OED", as it documents the
historical development of Canadian English words that can be classified as "Canadianisms". It
therefore includes words such as mukluk, Canuck, bluff and grow op, but does not list common
core words such as desk, table or car. It is a specialist, scholarly dictionary, but is not without
interest to the general public. After more than 40 years, a second edition has been commenced at
UBC in Vancouver in 2006.[15]
Throughout most of the 20th century, Canadian newspapers generally adopted American
spellings for example, color as opposed to the British-based colour. The use of such spellings

176

was the long-standing practice of the Canadian Press perhaps since that news agency's inception,
but visibly the norm prior to World War II.[16] The practice of dropping the letter u in such words
was also considered a labour-saving technique during the early days of printing in which
movable type was set manually.[16] Canadian newspapers also received much of their
international content from American press agencies, therefore it was much easier for editorial
staff to leave the spellings from the wire services as provided.[17]
More recently, Canadian newspapers have adopted the British spelling variants such as -our
endings, notably with The Globe and Mail changing its spelling policy in October 1990.[18] Other
Canadian newspapers adopted similar changes later that decade, such as the Southam newspaper
chain's conversion in September 1998.[19] The Toronto Star adopted this new spelling policy in
September 1997 after that publication's ombudsman discounted the issue earlier in 1997.[17][20]
The Star had always avoiding using recognized Canadian spelling, citing the Gage Canadian
Dictionary in their defence. Controversy around this issue was frequent. When the Gage
Dictionary finally adopted standard Canadian spelling, the Star followed suit.

[edit] Phonemic incidence

The pronunciation of certain words has both American and British influence; some
pronunciations are more distinctively Canadian.

The name of the letter Z is normally the Anglo-European (and French) zed; the American zee is
less common in Canada, and it is often stigmatized, though the latter is common in younger
speakers.[21][22]
In the words adult and composite the emphasis is usually on the first syllable, as in Britain.
Canadians side with the British on the pronunciation of shone /n/, often lever /livr/, and
several other words; been is pronounced by many speakers as /bin/ rather than /bn/; as in
Southern England[citation needed], either and neither are more commonly /ar/ and /nar/,
respectively.
Schedule can sometimes be /dul/; process, progress, and project are sometimes pronounced
/pross/, /prors/, and /prodkt/; leisure is often /lr/, harassment is sometimes
/hrsmnt/.[23]
Again and against are often pronounced /en(st)/ rather than /n(st)/.
The stressed vowel of words such as borrow, sorry or tomorrow is // rather than //.
Words such as fragile, fertile, and mobile are pronounced /frdal/, /ftal/, and /mobal/.
The pronunciation of fertile as /ftl/ is also becoming somewhat common[citation needed] in Canada,
even though /ftal/ remains dominant.
Words like semi, anti, and multi tend to be pronounced /smi/, /nti/, and /mlti/ rather
than /sma/, /nta/, and /mlta/.
Loanwords that have a low central vowel in their language of origin, such as llama, pasta, and
pyjamas, as well as place names like Gaza, tend to have // rather than // (which is the same
as // due to the fatherbother merger, see below); this also applies to older loans like drama or
Apache. The word khaki is sometimes pronounced /krki/, the preferred pronunciation of the
Canadian Army during the Second World War.[24]
Pecan is usually /pikn/ or /pikn/, as opposed to /pkn/, more common in the US.[25]
The most common pronunciation of vase is /vez/.[26]

177

Words of French origin, such as clique and niche are pronounced more like they would be in
French, so /klik/ rather than /klk/, /ni/ rather than /nt/.
The word syrup is commonly pronounced /srp/.
The word premier "leader of a provincial or territorial government" is commonly pronounced
/primjr/, with /prmjr/ and /primjr/ being rare variants.
Many Canadians pronounce asphalt as "ash-falt" /flt/.[27] This pronunciation is also
common in Australian English, but not in General American English or British English.
Some Canadians pronounce predecessor as /pridssr/, and mom /mm/.[28]

[edit] Regional variation

Canada has very little dialect diversity compared to the United States.[3] The provinces east of
Ontario show the largest dialect diversity. Northern Canada is, according to Labov, a dialect
region in formation, and a homogenous dialect has not yet formed.[29] A very homogeneous
dialect exists in Western and Central Canada, a situation that is similar to that of the Western
United States. William Labov identifies an inland region that concentrates all of the defining
features of the dialect centred on the Prairies, with periphery areas with more variable patterns
including the metropolitan areas of Vancouver and Toronto.[3] This dialect forms a dialect
continuum with the far Western United States, however it is sharply differentiated from the
Inland Northern United States. This is a result of the relatively recent phenomenon known as the
Northern cities vowel shift; see below.
[edit] Western and Central Dialect
Main article: West/Central Canadian English

Based on Labov et al.; averaged F1/F2 means for speakers from Western and Central Canada. Note that
// and // are indistinguishable; // and // are very open.

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As a variety of North American English, this variety is similar to most other forms of North
American speech in being a rhotic accent, which is historically a significant marker in
differentiating different English varieties.
Like General American, this variety possesses the merryMarymarry merger (except in
Montreal, which tends towards a distinction between marry and merry[3]), as well as the father
bother merger.
[edit] Canadian raising
Perhaps the most recognizable feature of Canadian English is Canadian raising. The diphthongs
/a/ and /a/ are "raised" before voiceless consonants, namely /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, and /f/. In these
environments, /a/ becomes [~~]. One of the few phonetic variables that divides
Canadians regionally is the articulation of the raised allophone of /a/: in Ontario, it tends to
have a mid-central or even mid-front articulation, sometimes approaching [], while in the West
and Maritimes a more retracted sound is heard, closer to [].[30] Among some speakers in the
Prairies and in Nova Scotia, the retraction is strong enough to cause some tokens of raised /a/ to
merge with /o/, so that couch and coach sound the same, and about sounds like a boat (though
never like a boot, as in the American stereotype[citation needed] of Canadian raising). Canadian
raising is found throughout western and central Canada, as well as in parts of the Atlantic
Provinces.[3] It is the strongest in the inland region, and is receding in younger speakers in Lower
Mainland British Columbia, as well as certain parts of Ontario.
Many Canadians, especially in parts of the Atlantic provinces, do not possess Canadian raising.
In the U.S., this feature can be found in areas near the border such as the Upper Midwest and
parts of New England, although it is much less common than in Canada; raising of /a/ alone,
however, is increasing in the U.S., and unlike raising of /a/, is generally not noticed by people
who do not have the raising.
Because of Canadian raising, many speakers are able to distinguish between words such as
writer and rider a feat otherwise impossible, because North American dialects turn intervocalic
/t/ into an alveolar flap. Thus writer and rider are distinguished solely by their vowels, even
though the distinction between their consonants has since been lost. Speakers who do not have
raising cannot distinguish between these two words.
[edit] The cotcaught merger and the Canadian Shift
Almost all Canadians have the cotcaught merger, which also occurs in the Western U.S.
Speakers do not distinguish // (as in caught) and // (as in cot), which merge as [] or [].
Speakers with this merger produce these vowels identically, and often fail to hear the difference
when speakers who preserve the distinction (for example, speakers of General American and
Inland Northern American English) pronounce these vowels. This merger has existed in Canada
for several generations.[31]

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This merger creates a hole in the short vowel sub-system[32] and triggers a sound change known
as the Canadian Shift, which involves the front lax vowels /, , /. The // of bat is lowered
and retracted in the direction of [a] (except in some environments, see below). Indeed, // is
further back in this variety than almost all other North American dialects;[33] the retraction of //
was independently observed in Vancouver[34] and is more advanced for Ontarians and women
than for people from the Prairies or Atlantic Canada and men.[35] Then, // and // may be
lowered (in the direction of [] and []) and/or retracted; studies actually disagree on the
trajectory of the shift.[36] For example, Labov and others. (2006) noted a backward and
downward movement of // in apparent time in all of Canada except the Atlantic Provinces, but
no movement of // was detected.
Therefore, in Canadian English, the short-a and the short-o are shifted in opposite directions to
that of the Northern Cities shift, found across the border in the Inland Northern U.S., which is
causing these two dialects to diverge: the Canadian short-a is very similar in quality to the Inland
Northern short-o; for example, the production [map] would be recognized as map in Canada, but
mop in the Inland North.
[edit] Other features
Most Canadians have two principal allophones of /a/ (raised to lower-mid position before
voiceless consonants and low-central or low-back elsewhere) and three of /a/ (raised before
voiceless consonants, fronted to [a] or [] before nasals, and low-central elsewhere).
Unlike in many American English dialects, // remains a low-front vowel in most environments
in Canadian English. Raising along the front periphery of the vowel space is restricted to two
environments before nasal and voiced velar consonants and varies regionally even in these.
Ontario and Maritime Canadian English commonly show some raising before nasals, though not
as extreme as in many American varieties. Much less raising is heard on the Prairies, and some
ethnic groups in Montreal show no pre-nasal raising at all. On the other hand, some Prairie
speech exhibits raising of // before voiced velars (// and //), with an up-glide rather than an
in-glide, so that bag sounds close to vague.[37]
The first element of /r/ (as in start) tends to be raised. As with Canadian raising, the relative
advancement of the raised nucleus is a regional indicator. A striking feature of Atlantic Canadian
speech (the Maritimes and Newfoundland) is a nucleus that approaches the front region of the
vowel space, accompanied by strong rhoticity, ranging from [] to []. Western Canadian
speech has a much more retracted articulation with a longer non-rhotic portion, approaching a
mid-back quality, [] (though there is no tendency toward a merger with /r/). Articulation of
/r/ in Ontario is in a position midway between the Atlantic and Western values.[38]
Another change in progress in Canadian English, part of a continental trend affecting many
North American varieties, is the fronting of /u/, whereby the nucleus of /u/ moves forward to
high-central or even high-front position, directly behind /i/. There is a wide range of allophonic
dispersion in the set of words containing /u/ (i.e., the GOOSE set), extending over most of the
high region of the vowel space. Most advanced are tokens of /u/ in free position after coronals

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(do, too); behind these are tokens in syllables closed with coronals (boots, food, soon), then
tokens before non-coronals (goof, soup); remaining in back position are tokens of /u/ before /l/
(cool, pool, tool). Unlike in some British speech, Canadian English does not show any fronting
or unrounding of the glide of /u/, and most Canadians show no parallel centralization of /o/,
which generally remains in back position, except in Cape Breton and Newfoundland.
Traditionally diphthongal vowels such as /o/ (as in boat) and /e/ (as in bait) have qualities
much closer to monophthongs in some speakers especially in the Inland region.
Some older speakers still maintain a distinction between whale and wail, and do and dew.[31]
[edit] British Columbia
British Columbia English has several words still in current use borrowed from the Chinook
Jargon although the use of such vocabulary is observably decreasing. The most famous and
widely used of these terms are skookum and saltchuck. However, among young British
Columbians, almost no one uses this vocabulary, and only a small percentage is even familiar
with the meaning of such words.[citation needed] In the Yukon, cheechako is used for newcomers or
greenhorns. A study shows that people from Vancouver exhibit more vowel retraction of //
before nasals than people from Toronto, and this retraction may become a regional marker of
West Coast English.[39]
[edit] Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta)
A strong Canadian raising exists in the prairie regions together with certain older usages such as
chesterfield and front room also associated with the Maritimes. Aboriginal Canadians are a larger
and more conspicuous population in prairie cities than elsewhere in the country and certain
elements of aboriginal speech in English are sometimes to be heard. Similarly, the linguistic
legacy, mostly intonation but also speech patterns and syntax, of the Scandinavian, Slavic and
German settlers who are far more numerous and historically important in the Prairies than in
Ontario or the Maritimes can be heard in the general milieu. Again, the large Mtis population
in Saskatchewan and Manitoba also carries with it certain linguistic traits inherited from French,
Aboriginal and Celtic forebears. Some terms are derived from immigrant groups or are just local
inventions:

Bluff: small group of trees isolated by prairie

Bunny hug: elsewhere hoodie or hooded sweat shirt (mainly in Saskatchewan, but also in
Alberta)
Ginch/gonch/gitch/gotch: underwear (usually men's or boys' underwear, more specifically
briefs), probably of Eastern European or Ukrainian origin.[40] Gitch and gotch are primarily used
in Saskatchewan and Manitoba while the variants with an n are common in Alberta and British
Columbia.[41]
Jam buster: jelly-filled doughnut.
Porch climber: moonshine or homemade alcohol.
Pot hole: usually a deeper slough; also used to refer to slough in plural. Pot hole more commonly
refers to a hole in a paved road caused by the freezing and thawing cycle.

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Slough: pond usually a pond on a farm

Vi-Co: occasionally used in Saskatchewan instead of chocolate milk. Formerly a brand of
chocolate milk.

In farming communities with substantial Ukrainian, German or Mennonite populations, accents,

sentence structure and vocabulary influenced by these languages is common.
[edit] Ontario
[edit] Ottawa Valley
Main article: Ottawa Valley Twang

The area to the north and west of Ottawa is heavily influenced by original Scottish, Irish, and
German settlers, with many French loanwords. This is frequently referred to as the Valley
Accent.
[edit] Toronto
See also: West/Central Canadian English#Toronto

Although only 1.5% of Torontonians speak French, a relatively low proportion of them (56.2%)
are native speakers of English, according to the 2006 Census.[42] As a result Toronto shows a
more variable speech pattern.[43] Although slang terms used in Toronto are synonymous with
those used in other major North American cities, there is also an influx of slang terminology
originating from Toronto's many immigrant communities. These terms originate mainly from
various European, Asian and African words. Among youths in predominantly West Indian areas,
a large number of words borrowed from West Indian Patois can be heard.
[edit] Northwest Ontario

With a smaller French population, and sizable Aboriginal population, this area is somewhat
unique as having elements from both the Western provinces and the rest of Ontario.
Communities receive media from both directions, and residents travel frequently to both areas,
prompting a blending of dialects. Sharp eared locals can detect from word usage (soda versus
pop, hoodie versus bunny hug) where one originated, "Down east," east of (Sault Ste. Marie and
beyond the Great Lakes) or "Out West" (west of the Manitoba border).
[edit] Quebec
Main article: Quebec English

Many people in Montreal distinguish between the words marry and merry.[3]
Quebec Anglophones generally pronounce French street names in Montreal as French words.
Pie IX Boulevard is pronounced as in French (pea-nuf), not as "pie nine." On the other hand,
most Anglophones do pronounce final Ds, as in Bernard and Bouchard.
In the city of Montreal, especially in some of the western suburbs like Cte-St-Luc and
Hampstead, there is a strong Jewish influence in the English spoken in these areas. A large wave

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of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union before and after World
War II is also evident today. Their English has a strong Yiddish influence; there are some
similarities to English spoken in New York.
Words used mainly in Quebec and especially in Montreal are:[44] stage for "apprenticeship" or
"internship", copybook for a notebook, dpanneur or dep for a convenience store, and guichet
for an ABM/ATM. It is also common for Anglophones, particularly of Greek or Italian descent, to
use translated French words instead of common English equivalents such as "open" and "close"
for "on" and "off" or "Open the lights, please" for "Turn on the lights, please". This is however,
openly acknowledged as incorrect grammar.[citation needed]

[edit] Maritimes
Main article: Maritimer English

Based on Labov et al.; averaged F1/F2 means for speakers from NS, NB, NL.

Many in the Maritime provinces Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
have an accent that sounds more like Scottish English and, in some places, Irish English than
General American. Outside of major communities, dialects can vary markedly from community
to community, as well as from province to province, reflecting ethnic origin as well as a past in
which there were few roads and many communities, with some villages very isolated. Into the
1980s, residents of villages in northern Nova Scotia could identify themselves by dialects and
accents distinctive to their village. The dialects of Prince Edward Island are often considered the
most distinct grouping. The phonology of Maritimer English has some unique features:

Pre-consonantal /r/ is sometimes deleted.

The flapping of intervocalic /t/ and /d/ to alveolar tap [] between vowels, as well as
pronouncing it as a glottal stop [], is less common in the Maritimes. Therefore, battery is
pronounced [bti] instead of [b()i].

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Especially among the older generation, /w/ and /hw/ are not merged; that is, the beginning
sound of why, white, and which is different from that of witch, with, wear.
Like most varieties of CanE, Maritimer English contains Canadian raising.

[edit] Newfoundland
Main article: Newfoundland English

The dialect spoken in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, an autonomous dominion
until March 31, 1949, is often considered the most distinctive Canadian English dialect. Some
Newfoundland English differs in vowel pronunciation, morphology, syntax, and preservation of
archaic adverbal-intensifiers. The dialect can vary markedly from community to community, as
well as from region to region, reflecting ethnic origin as well as a past in which there were few
roads and many communities, and fishing villages in particular remained very isolated. A few
speakers have a transitional pinpen merger.[3]
[edit] Northern Canada
Further information: Canadian Aboriginal syllabics and Inuit languages

First Nations and Inuit people from Northern Canada speak a version of Canadian English
influenced by the phonology of their first languages. European Canadians in these regions are
relatively recent arrivals, and have not produced a dialect that is distinct from southern Canadian
English.[45]

[edit] Grammar

When writing, Canadians will start a sentence with As well, in the sense of "in addition"; this
construction is a Canadianism.[46]
Canadian, Australian and British English share idioms like in hospital and to university,[47][48] In
American English, the definite article is mandatory in both cases. (However, in most situations
where English speakers outside the U.S. use the phrase to university, American English speakers
instead use the phrase to college, with no article required.)

[edit] Vocabulary
Where Canadian English shares vocabulary with other English dialects, it tends to share most
with American English. Many terms are shared with Britain, but not with the majority of
American speakers. In some cases British and the American terms coexist in Canadian English to
various extents; a classic example is holiday, often used interchangeably with vacation,
distinguishing the two between a trip elsewhere and general time off work respectively. In
addition, the vocabulary of Canadian English also features words that are seldom (if ever) found
elsewhere. A good resource for these and other words is the Dictionary of Canadianisms on
Historical Principles (Avis and others. 1967), which is currently being revised at the University
of British Columbia, Vancouver.

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As a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Canada shares many items of institutional

terminology and professional designations with the countries of the former British Empire for
example, constable, for a police officer of the lowest rank, and chartered accountant.
[edit] Education

The term college, which refers to post-secondary education in general in the U.S., refers in
Canada to either a post-secondary technical or vocational institution, or to one of the colleges
that exist as federated schools within some Canadian universities. Most often, a college is a
community college, not a university. It may also refer to a CEGEP in Quebec. In Canada, college
student might denote someone obtaining a diploma in business management while university
student is the term for someone earning a bachelor's degree. For that reason, going to college
does not have the same meaning as going to university, unless the speaker or context clarifies the
specific level of post-secondary education that is meant.
Within the public school system the chief administrator of a school is generally "the principal",
as in the United States, but the term is not used preceding his or her name, i.e. "Principal Smith".
The assistant to the principal is not titled as "assistant principal", but rather as "vice-principal",
although the former is not unknown.
Canadian universities publish calendars or schedules, not catalogs as in the U.S.. Canadian
students write or take exams (in the U.S., students generally "take" exams while teachers "write"
them); they rarely sit them (standard British usage). Those who supervise students during an
exam are sometimes called invigilators as in Britain, or sometimes proctors as in the U.S.; usage
may depend on the region or even the individual institution.[citation needed]
Successive years of school are usually referred to as grade one, grade two, and so on. In Quebec,
the speaker (if Francophone) will often say primary one, primary two (a direct translation from
the French), and so on; while Anglophones will say grade one, grade two. (Compare American
first grade, second grade (sporadically found in Canada), and English/Welsh Year 1, Year 2,
Scottish/Nth.Irish Primary 1, Primary 2 or P1, P2, and Sth.Irish First Class, Second Class and
so on.)[49] In the U.S., the four years of high school are termed the freshman, sophomore, junior,
and senior years (terms also used for college years); in Canada, the specific levels are used
instead (ie, "grade nine").[50] As for higher education, only the term freshman (often reduced to
frosh) has some currency in Canada.[50] The American usages "sophomore", "junior" and
"senior" are not used in Canadian university terminology, or in speech. The specific high-school
grades and university years are therefore stated and individualized; for example, the grade 12s
failed to graduate; John is in his second year at McMaster. The "first year", "third year"
designation also applies to Canadian law school students, as opposed to the common American
usage of "1L", "2L" and "3L."
Canadian students use the term marks (more common in England) or grades (more common in
the US) to refer to their results; usage is very mixed.[50]

185
[edit] Units of measurement

Unlike in the United States, use of metric units within a majority of industries (but not all) is
standard in Canada, as a result of the national adoption of the Metric System during the mid-tolate 1970s; this has spawned some colloquial usages such as klick for kilometre (as also heard in
the U.S. military). See metrication in Canada. Nonetheless, Imperial units are still used in many
situations. For example, many English Canadians will usually state their weight and height in
pounds and feet/inches, respectively. Temperatures for cooking are often given in Fahrenheit.
Directions in the Prairie provinces are often given using miles, because the country roads
generally follow the mile-based grid of the Dominion Land Survey. The letter paper size of
8.5 inches 11 inches is used instead of the international and metric A4 size of 210 mm
297 mm.
[edit] Transportation

Although Canadian lexicon features both railway and railroad, railway is the usual term in
naming (witness Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway), though railroad can
be heard fairly frequently in some regions; most rail terminology in Canada, however, follows
American usage (for example, ties and cars rather than sleepers and carriages).
A two-way ticket can be either a round-trip (American term) or a return (British term).
The terms highway (for example, Trans-Canada Highway), expressway (Central Canada, as in the
Gardiner Expressway) and freeway (Sherwood Park Freeway, Edmonton) are often used to
describe various high speed roads with varying levels of access control. Generally, but not
exclusively, highway refers to a provincially funded road. Often such roads will be numbered.
Similar to the US, the terms expressway and freeway are often used interchangeably to refer to
controlled-access highways, that is, divided highways with access only at grade-separated
interchanges (for example, a 400-Series Highway in Ontario). However, expressway may also
refer to a limited-access road that has control of access but has at-grade junctions, railway
crossings (for example, the Harbour Expressway in Thunder Bay.) Sometimes the term Parkway
is also used (for example, the Hanlon Parkway in Guelph). In Saskatchewan, the term 'grid road'
is used to refer to minor highways or rural roads, usually gravel, referring to the 'grid' upon
which they were originally designed. In Quebec, freeways and expressways are called
autoroutes. In Alberta, the generic Trail is often used to describe a freeway, expressway or
major urban street (for example, Deerfoot Trail, Macleod Trail or Crowchild Trail in Calgary,
Yellowhead Trail in Edmonton). The British term motorway is not used. The American terms
turnpike and tollway for a toll road are not common. The term throughway or thruway was used
for first tolled limited-access highways (for example, the Deas Island Throughway, now Highway
99, from Vancouver, BC, to Blaine, Washington, USA or the Saint John Throughway (Highway 1)
in Saint John, NB), but this term is not common anymore. In everyday speech, when a particular
roadway is not being specified, the term highway is generally or exclusively used.
A railway at-grade junction is a level crossing; the U.S. term grade crossing is rarely, if ever,
used.[citation needed]
A railway or highway crossing overhead is an overpass or underpass, depending on which part of
the crossing is referred to (the two are used more or less interchangeably); the British term
flyover is sometimes used in Ontario, and in the Maritimes as well as on occasion in the prairies
(such as the 4th avenue flyover in Calgary, Alberta), subway is also used.[citation needed]

186

In Quebec, English speakers often use the word "Metro" to mean subway. Non-native
Anglophones of Quebec will also use the designated proper title "Metro" to describe the
Montral subway system.
The term Texas gate refers to the type of metal grid called a cattle guard in American English or
a cattle grid in British English.
Depending on the region, large trucks used to transport and deliver goods are referred to as
'transport trucks' (Eg. used in Ontario and Alberta) or 'transfer trucks' (Eg. used in Prince Edward
Island)

[edit] Politics

While in standard usage the terms prime minister and premier are interchangeable terms for
the head of an elected parliamentary government, Canadian English today generally follows a
usage convention of reserving the title prime minister for the federal first minister and referring
to provincial or territorial leaders as premiers. However, because Canadian French does not
have separate terms for the two positions, using premier ministre for both, the title prime
minister is sometimes seen in reference to a provincial leader when a francophone is speaking
or writing English. As well, until the 1970s the leader of the Ontario provincial government was
officially styled prime minister.
When a majority of the elected members of the House of Commons or a provincial legislature
are not members of the same party as the government, the situation is referred to as a minority
government rather than a hung Parliament.
To table a document in Canada is to present it (as in Britain), whereas in the U.S. it means to
withdraw it from consideration. (However in non-governmental meetings using Robert's Rules
of Order to table a document can be to postpone consideration until a later date.)
Several political terms are more in use in Canada than elsewhere, including riding (as a general
term for a parliamentary constituency or electoral district). The term reeve was at one time
common for the equivalent of a mayor in some smaller municipalities in British Columbia and
Ontario, but is now falling into disuse. The title is still used for the leader of a rural municipality
in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The term Tory, used in Britain with a similar meaning, denotes a supporter of the federal
Conservative Party of Canada, the historic federal or provincial Progressive Conservative Party.
The term Red Tory is also used to denote the more socially liberal wings of the Tory parties. Blue
Tory is less commonly used, and refers to more strict fiscal (rather than social) conservatism.
The U.S. use of Tory to mean the Loyalists in the time of the American Revolution is not used in
Canada,[citation needed] where they are called United Empire Loyalists, or simply Loyalists.
Members of the Liberal Party of Canada or a provincial Liberal party are sometimes referred to
as Grits. Historically, the term comes from the phrase Clear Grit, used in Victorian times in
Canada to denote an object of quality or a truthful person. The term was assumed as a
nickname by Liberals by the 1850s.
Members of the Bloc Qubcois are sometimes referred to as Bloquistes. At the purely
provincial level, members of Quebec's Parti Qubcois are often referred to as Pquistes, and
members of the Quebec provincial Action dmocratique du Qubec as Adquistes.
The term "Socred" is no longer common due to its namesake party's decline, but referred to
members of the Social Credit Party, and was particularly common in British Columbia. It was not
used for Social Credit members from Quebec, nor generally used for the federal caucus of that
party; in both cases Crditiste, the French term, was used in English.

187

Members of the Senate are referred to by the title "Senator" preceding their name, as in the
United States. Members of the Canadian House of Commons, following British parliamentary
nomenclature, are termed "Members of Parliament", and are referred to as "Jennifer Jones,
MP" during their term of office only. This style is extended to the Premiers of the provinces
during their service. Senators, and members of the Privy Council are styled "The Honourable" for
life, and the Prime Minister of Canada is styled "The Right Honourable" for life, as is the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court and the Governor-General. This honorific may also be bestowed by
Parliament, as it was to retiring deputy prime minister Herb Gray in 1996. Members of provincial
legislatures do not have a pre-nominal style, except in certain provinces, such as Nova Scotia
where members of the Queen's Executive Council of Nova Scotia are styled "The Honourable"
for life, and are entitled to the use of the post-nominal letters "ECNS".[51] The Cabinet of Ontario
serves concurrently (and not for life) as the Executive Council of Ontario, while serving members
are styled "The Honourable", but are not entitled to post-nominal letters.
Members of provincial/territorial legislative assemblies are called MLAs in all provinces and
territories except: Ontario, where they have been called Members of Provincial Parliament
(MPPs) since 1938; Quebec, where they have been called Members of the National Assembly
(MNAs) since 1968; and Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are called Members of the
House of Assembly (MHAs).

[edit] Law

Lawyers in all parts of Canada, except Quebec, which has its own civil law system, are called
"barristers and solicitors" because any lawyer licensed in any of the common law provinces and
territories must pass bar exams for, and is permitted to engage in, both types of legal practice in
contrast to other common-law jurisdictions such as England, Wales and Ireland where the two
are traditionally separated (i.e., Canada has a fused legal profession). The words lawyer and
counsel (not counsellor) predominate in everyday contexts; the word attorney refers to any
personal representative. Canadian lawyers generally do not refer to themselves as "attorneys", a
term which is common in the United States.
The equivalent of an American district attorney, meaning the barrister representing the state in
criminal proceedings, is called a crown attorney (in Ontario), crown counsel (in British
Columbia), crown prosecutor or the crown, on account of Canada's status as a constitutional
monarchy in which the Crown is the locus of state power.
The words advocate and notary two distinct professions in Quebec civil law are used to refer
to that province's equivalent of barrister and solicitor, respectively. In Canada's common law
provinces and territories, the word notary means strictly a notary public.
Within the Canadian legal community itself, the word solicitor is often used to refer to any
Canadian lawyer in general (much like the way the word attorney is used in the United States to
refer to any American lawyer in general). Despite the conceptual distinction between barrister
and solicitor, Canadian court documents would contain a phrase such as "John Smith, solicitor
for the Plaintiff" even though "John Smith" may well himself be the barrister who argues the
case in court. In a letter introducing him/herself to an opposing lawyer, a Canadian lawyer
normally writes something like "I am the solicitor for Mr. Tom Jones."

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The word litigator is also used by lawyers to refer to a fellow lawyer who specializes in lawsuits
even though the more traditional word barrister is still employed to denote the same
specialization.
Judges of Canada's superior courts (which exist at the provincial and territorial levels) are
traditionally addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lady", like much of the Commonwealth, however
there are some variances across certain jurisdictions, with some superior court judges preferring
the titles "Mister Justice" or "Madam Justice" to "Lordship".
Masters are addressed as "Mr. Master" or simply "Sir".
Judges of provincial or inferior courts are traditionally referred to in person as "Your Honour".
Judges of the Supreme Court of Canada and of the federal-level courts prefer the use of
"Mister/Madam (Chief) Justice". Justices of The Peace are addressed as "Your Worship". "Your
Honour" is also the correct form of address for a Lieutenant Governor.
As in England, a serious crime is called an indictable offence, while a less-serious crime is called
a summary offence. The older words felony and misdemeanour, which are still used in the
United States, are not used in Canada's current Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) or by
today's Canadian legal system. As noted throughout the Criminal Code, a person accused of a
crime is called the accused and not the defendant, a term used instead in civil lawsuits.
A county in British Columbia means only a regional jurisdiction of the courts and justice system
and is not otherwise connected to governance as with counties in other provinces and in the
United States. The rough equivalent to "county" as used elsewhere is a "Regional District".
[edit] Places

Distinctive Canadianisms are:

Bachelor: bachelor apartment, an apartment all in a single room, with a small bathroom
attached ("They have a bachelor for rent").[52] The usual American term is studio. In Quebec, this
is known as a one-and-a-half apartment;[53] some Canadians, especially in Prince Edward Island,
call it a loft.[54]
Public house: or more often 'pub'. Drinking establishments which are not pubs may be termed
bars, taverns or lounges, among other terms.
Camp: in Northern Ontario, it refers to what is called a cottage in the rest of Ontario and a cabin
in the West.[55] It is also used, to a lesser extent, in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, as well as in
parts of New England.
Fire hall: fire station, firehouse.[56]
height of land: a drainage divide. Originally American.[57]
Parkade: a parking garage, especially in the West.[54]
Washroom:[58] the general term for what is normally named public toilet or lavatory in Britain. In
the U.S. (where it originated) the word was mostly replaced by restroom in the 20th century.
Generally used only as a technical or commercial term outside of Canada. The word bathroom is
also used.

189

First Nation reserve, rather than the U.S. term "Federal Indian Reservation." A slang variant of
this term is the shortened res or rez.
Rancherie: the residential area of a First Nation reserve, used in BC only.
Quiggly hole and/or quiggly: the depression in the ground left by a kekuli or pithouse. Groups of
them are called "quiggly hole towns". Used in the BC Interior only.
Gasbar: a filling station (gas station) with a central island, having pumps under a fixed metal or
concrete awning.
Boozcan: an after-hours establishment where alcohol is served, often illegally.
The term dpanneur, or the diminutive form dep, is often used by English speakers in Quebec.
This is because convenience stores are called dpanneurs in Canadian French.
A Snye is a side-water channel that rejoins a larger river, creating an island.

Daily life

Terms common in Canada, Britain and Ireland but less frequent or nonexistent in the U.S. are:

Tin (as in tin of tuna), for can, especially among older speakers. Among younger speakers, can is
more common, with tin referring to a can which is wider than it is tall.[citation needed]
Cutlery, for silverware or flatware.
Serviette, especially in Eastern Canada, for a paper table napkin.
Tap, conspicuously more common than faucet in everyday usage.

The following are more or less distinctively Canadian:

ABM, bank machine: synonymous with ATM (which is also used).[59]

BFI bin: Dumpster, after a prominent Canadian waste management company, in provinces
where that company does business; compare Kleenex, Xerox.
Chesterfield: originally British and internationally used (as in classic furnishing terminology) to
refer to a sofa whose arms are the same height as the back, it is a term for any couch or sofa in
Canada (and, to some extent, Northern California).[60][61] Once a hallmark of CanE, chesterfield as
with settee and davenport, is now largely in decline among younger generations in the western
and central regions.[62] Couch is now the most common term; sofa is also used.
Eavestroughs: rain gutters. Also used, especially in the past, in the Northern and Western U.S.;
the first recorded usage is in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: "The tails tapering down that way,
serve to carry off the water, d'ye see. Same with cocked hats; the cocks form gable-end eavetroughs [sic], Flask."[63]
Flush: Toilet, used primarily by older speakers throughout the Maritimes.
Garburator: (rhymes with carburetor) a garbage disposal.[64]
Homogenized milk or homo milk: Milk containing 3.25% milk fat, typically called "whole milk" in
the US.
Hydro: a common synonym for electrical service, used primarily in New Brunswick, Quebec,
Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. Most of the power in these provinces is
hydroelectricity, and incorporate the term "Hydro". Usage: "I didn't pay my hydro bill so they
shut off my lights." Hence hydrofield, a line of electricity transmission towers, usually in groups
cutting across a city, and hydro lines/poles, electrical transmission lines/poles.[65] These usages
of hydro are also standard in the Australian state of Tasmania. Also in slang usage can refer to
hydroponically grown marijuana.

190

Loonie: the Canadian one-dollar coin; derived from the use of the common loon on the reverse.
The toonie (less commonly spelled tooney, twooney, twoonie) is the two-dollar coin. Loonie is
also used to refer to the Canadian currency, particularly when discussing the exchange rate with
the U.S. dollar; neither loonie nor toonie can describe amounts of money beyond a very small
amount. (for example, I have thirty dollars versus "got a loonie/toonie?").
Pencil crayon:[66] coloured pencil.
Pogie or pogey: term referring to unemployment insurance, which is now officially called
Employment Insurance in Canada. Derived from the use of pogey as a term for a poorhouse.[67]
Not used for welfare, in which case the term is "the dole", as in "he's on the dole, eh?".

[edit] Apparel
The following are common in Canada, but not in the U.S. or the U.K.

Runners:[68] running shoes, especially in Western Canada.[69] Also used in Australian English[70]
and Irish English.[71][72][73] Atlantic Canada prefers sneakers while central Canada (including
Quebec and Ontario) prefer "running shoes".[74]
Toque (also spelled tuque or touque): a knitted winter hat. A similar hat would be called a beanie
in the western U.S. and a watch cap in the eastern U.S, though these forms are generally closerfitting, and may lack a brim as well as a pompom. There seems to be no exact equivalent outside
Canada, since the tuque is of French Canadian origin.

Dressing Gown: in the US, called a bathrobe.

[edit] Food and beverage

Most Canadians as well as Americans in the Northwest, North Central, Prairie and Inland North
prefer pop over soda to refer to a carbonated beverage (but neither term is dominant in British
English; see further at Soft drink naming conventions). "Soft drink" is also extremely common
throughout Canada.
What Americans call Canadian bacon is named back bacon or, if it is coated in cornmeal or
ground peas, cornmeal bacon or peameal bacon in Canada.
What most Americans call a candy bar is usually known as a chocolate bar (as in the UK;
however, some in the US, especially Americans in northern states, call it a chocolate bar). In
certain areas surrounding the Bay of Fundy, it is sometimes known as a nut bar; however this
use is more popular amongst older generations.
Even though the terms French fries and fries are used by Canadians, some speakers use the
word chips (and its diminutive, chippies) (chips is always used when referring to fish and chips,
as elsewhere).
Whole-wheat bread is often referred to as brown bread, as in "Would you like white or brown
bread for your toast?"

[edit] Vocabulary pertaining to race and ethnicity

Aboriginals (aka Natives, Indigenous Peoples, etc.) are not referred to as "Indian", in part
because there is a large and growing East Indian population in Canada. The term First Nations is
used as an adjective when referring in a respectful manner to persons who would be called

191
American Indians in the United States. Northern aboriginal persons are Inuit and mixed-race
(First Nations European) are Mtis.
[edit] Canadianisms

Double-double: a cup of coffee with two creams and two sugars, most commonly associated
with the Tim Hortons chain of coffee shops. By the same token, triple-triple.[75]
Mickey: a 375 mL (12.7 US fl oz; 13.2 imp fl oz) bottle of hard liquor (informally called a pint in
the Maritimes and the US).
Two-six, twenty-sixer, twixer: a 750 mL (25 US fl oz; 26 imp fl oz) bottle of hard liquor (called a
quart in the Maritimes).
Texas mickey (esp. in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick; more often a "Saskatchewan mickey"
in western Canada): a 3 L (101 US fl oz; 106 imp fl oz) bottle of hard liquor. (Despite the name,
Texas mickeys are generally unavailable outside of Canada.)
Two-four: a case of 24 beers, also known as a "flat" in Western Canada, or simply "a case" in
Eastern Canada.
Half-sack, Poverty-pack or Six-pack: a case of 6 beers
Poutine: a snack of french fries topped with cheese curds and hot gravy.
Cheezies: Cheese puffs. The name is a genericized trademark based on a brand of crunchy
cheese snack sold in Canada.
Freezies: A frozen flavoured sugar water snack common worldwide, but known by this name
exclusively in Canada.
Dainty, dainties: Fancy cookies, pastries, or squares served at a social event (usually plural).
Used in western Canada.
Smarties, Smarties: A bean sized, small candy covered chocolate, similar to M&M's without
peanuts. This is also seen in British English [76] Smarties in the United States refer to small, tart
powdered disc sold in rolls. In Canada these are sold as "Rockets".
The United States of America is almost always called "The States" rather than "America".

[edit] Informal speech

A rubber in the U.S. and Canada is slang for a condom; however, in Canada it is sometimes
(rarely except for Newfoundland) another term for an eraser (as it is in the United Kingdom and
Ireland).
The word bum can refer either to the buttocks (as in Britain or the U.S.), or, derogatorily, to a
homeless person (as in the U.S.). However, the "buttocks" sense does not have the indecent
character it retains in British and Australian use, as it and "butt" are commonly used as a polite or
childish euphemism for ruder words such as arse (commonly used in Atlantic Canada and among
older people in Ontario and to the west) or ass, or mitiss (used in the Prairie Provinces, especially
in northern and central Saskatchewan; probably originally a Cree loanword). Older Canadians
may see "bum" as more polite than "butt", which before the 1980s was often considered rude.
Similarly the word pissed can refer either to being drunk (as in Britain), or being mad or angry
(as in the U.S.), though anger is more often said as pissed off, while piss drunk or pissed up is
said to describe inebriation (though piss drunk is sometimes also used in the US, especially in the
northern states).

192

[edit] Canadian colloquialisms

One of the most distinctive Canadian phrases is the spoken interrogation eh, which is stereotyped
as being said by almost all Canadians in modern culture. The only usage of eh exclusive to
Canada, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, is for "ascertaining the comprehension,
continued interest, agreement, etc., of the person or persons addressed" as in, "It's four
kilometres away, eh, so I have to go by bike." In that case, eh? is used to confirm the attention of
the listener and to invite a supportive noise such as mm or oh or okay. This usage is also common
in Queensland, Australia. Other uses of eh for instance, in place of huh? or what? meaning
"please repeat or say again" are also found in parts of the British Isles and Australia.
The term Canuck simply means Canadian in its demonymic form, and, as a term used even by
Canadians themselves, it is not considered derogatory. In the 19th century and early 20th century
it tended to refer to French-Canadians, but Janey Canuck was used by Anglophone writer Emily
Murphy in the 1920s and the Johnny Canuck comic book character of the 1940s. Throughout the
1970s, Canada's winning World Cup men's downhill ski team was called the "Crazy Canucks"
for their fearlessness on the slopes.[77] It is also the name of the Vancouver Canucks, the National
Hockey League team of Vancouver.
The term hoser, popularized by Bob & Doug McKenzie, typically refers to an uncouth, beerswilling male. Bob & Doug also popularised the use of Beauty, eh, another western slang term
which may be used in variety of ways. This describes something as being of interest, of note,
signals approval or simply draws attention to it.
A Newf or Newfie is someone from Newfoundland and Labrador; sometimes considered
derogatory.
In the Maritimes, a Caper or "Cape Bretoner" is someone from Cape Breton Island, a Bluenoser
is someone with a thick, usually southern Nova Scotia accent or as a general term for a Nova
Scotian (Including Cape Bretoners), while an Islander is someone from Prince Edward Island
(the same term is used in British Columbia for people from Vancouver Island, or the numerous
islands along it). A Haligonian refers to someone from the city of Halifax.
[edit] Miscellaneous Canadianisms

The code appended to mail addresses (the equivalent of the British postcode and the American
ZIP code) is called a postal code.
The term First Nations is often used in Canada to refer to what are called American Indians or
Native Americans in the United States. This term does not include the Mtis and Inuit, however;
the term aboriginal peoples (and sometimes spelled with a capital "A": "Aboriginal peoples") is
preferred when all three groups are included. The term "Eskimo" has been replaced by the term
Inuit in the past few decades. It is now considered offensive to use the term Eskimo, but is still
used commonly (without pejorative intent) by those born in the early-mid-20th century.
"Going camping" still refers to staying in a tent in a campground or wilderness area, while "going
out to camp" may refer to a summer cottage or home in a rural area. "Going to camp" refers to
children's summer camps. In British Columbia, "camp" was used as a reference for certain
company towns (for example, Bridge River). It is used in western Canada to refer to logging and

193

mining camps such as Juskatla Camp. It is also is a synonym for a mining district; the latter
occurs in names such as Camp McKinney and usages such as "Cariboo gold camp" and "Slocan
mining camp" for the Cariboo goldfields and Slocan silver-galena mining district, respectively. A
"cottage" in British Columbia is generally a small house, perhaps with an English design or
flavour, while in southern Ontario it more likely means a second home on a lake. Similarly,
"chalet" originally a term for a small warming hut can mean a second home of any size, but
refers to one located in a ski resort. Outside of southern Ontario and southern Quebec, these
second homes tend to be called "camps".
A stagette is a female bachelorette party (US) or hen party (UK).
A "shag" is thought to be derived from "shower" and "stag", and describes a dance where
alcohol, entry tickets, raffle tickets, and so on, are sold to raise money for the engaged couple's
wedding. Normally a Northwest Ontario, Northern Ontario and sometimes Manitoba term, a
"stag and doe" or "buck and doe" is used elsewhere in Ontario. The more common term for this
type of event in Manitoba is a "social".
The humidex is a measurement used by meteorologists to reflect the combined effect of heat
and humidity.
An expiry date is the term used for the date when a perishable product will go bad (similar to
the UK Use By date). The term expiration date is more common in the United States (where
expiry date is seen mostly on the packaging of Asian food products). The term Best Before also
sees common use, where although not spoiled, the product may not taste "as good".

[edit] See also

Canada portal
English portal
Language portal

American and British English spelling differences

Bungi creole
Canadian French
Canadian Gaelic
North American English
North American English regional phonology
Pacific Northwest English
Quebec French
Regional accents of English
Vowel shift

[edit] References
1. ^ en-CA is the language code for Canadian English , as defined by ISO standards (see ISO 639-1
and ISO 3166-1 alpha-2) and Internet standards (see IETF language tag).
2. ^ "Population by knowledge of official language, by province and territory (2006 Census)".
0.statcan.ca. 2007-12-11.

194

3.
4.
5.
6.

7.

8.
9.
10.
11.

12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.

23.
24.
25.
26.
27.

http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo15.htm?sdi=population%20knowledge%20official%20l
anguage. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ a b c d e f g h Labov, p. 222.
^ Boberg, C: "Geolinguistic Diffusion and the U.S.-Canada Border", "Language Variation and
Change", 12(1):15
^ a b Chambers, p. xi.
^ "Canadian English." Brinton, Laurel J., and Fee, Marjery, ed. (2005). Ch. 12. in The Cambridge
history of the English language. Volume VI: English in North America., Algeo, John, ed., pp. 422
440. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1992. ISBN 0-521-26479-0, 9780521264792.
On p. 422: "It is now generally agreed that Canadian English originated as a variant of northern
American English (the speech of New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania)."
^ "Canadian English." McArthur, T., ed. (2005). Concise Oxford companion to the English
language, pp. 96102. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280637-8. On p. 97:
"Because Canadian English and American English are so alike, some scholars have argued that in
linguistic terms Canadian English is no more or less than a variety of (Northern) American
English.
^ ("New-Dialect Formation in Canada. (2008). Dollinger, Stefan. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 978 90
272 31068 6. On p. 279"
^ "Labov, Ash, Boberg. 2006. The Atlas of North American English. Berlin: Mouton, ch. 15.
^ Chambers, p. xixii.
^ "Factors which shaped the varieties of English". AskOxford.com.
http://www.askoxford.com/globalenglish/worldenglish/factors/?view=uk. Retrieved 2011-0226.
^ Sir Ernest Gowers, ed., Fowler's Modern English Usage, 2nd ed. (Oxford: OUP, 1965), 314.
^ a b Oxford Press and Katherine Barber (2001). The Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Toronto,
Ontario: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-541731-3.
^ Richard Gwyn, John A.: The Man Who Made Us, ([Place of publication not listed]: Random
House Canada), 2007, pp. 34.
^ "Dollinger 2006". Let.leidenuniv.nl. http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/hsl_shl/DCHP-2/DCHP2/DCHP-2.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ a b MacPherson, William (31 March 1990). "Practical concerns spelled the end for -our".
Ottawa Citizen. p. B3.
^ a b Sellar, Don (8 March 1997). "Let's hear what the readers say". Toronto Star. p. C2.
^ Allemang, John (1 September 1990). "Contemplating a U-turn". The Globe and Mail. p. D6.
^ "Herald's move to Canadian spellings a labour of love". Calgary Herald. 2 September 1998.
p. A2.
^ Honderich, John (13 September 1997). "How your Star is changing". Toronto Star. p. A2.
^ Bill Casselman. "Zed and zee in Canada".
http://www.billcasselman.com/cwod_archive/zed.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
^ J.K. Chambers, (2002). Sociolinguistic Theory: Linguistic Variation and Its Social Significance
(2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
http://www.billcasselman.com/opening_page_two/zed_page_two.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-05.
^ The pronunciation with the stress on the second syllable is the most common pronunciation,
but is considered incorrect by some people. - Canadian Oxford Dictionary
^ The pronunciation /krki/ was the one used by author and veteran Farley Mowat.
^ pecan pi:kan, pi:kan, pkn - Canadian Oxford Dictionary
^ Vase. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
^ Barber, p. 77.

195
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.

43.
44.
45.

46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.

52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.

^ predecessor predsesr, pri:-| mom mm, mm - Canadian Oxford Dictionary

^ Labov, p. 214
^ Boberg
^ a b Labov p. 218.
^ Martinet, Andre 1955. Economie des changements phonetiques. Berne: Francke.
^ Labov p. 219.
^ Esling, John H. and Henry J. Warkentyne (1993). "Retracting of // in Vancouver English."
^ Charles Boberg, "Sounding Canadian from Coast to Coast: Regional accents in Canadian
English."
^ Labov et al. 2006; Charles Boberg, "The Canadian Shift in Montreal"; Robert Hagiwara. "Vowel
production in Winnipeg"; Rebecca V. Roeder and Lidia Jarmasz. "The Canadian Shift in Toronto."
^ Labov, p. 221.
^ Labov, p. 219.
^ Erin Hall "Regional variation in Canadian English vowel backing"
^ "Wiktionary reference for gonch". En.wiktionary.org. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gonch.
Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ Doubletongued.org, reference for gonch.
^ "Gov.on.ca" (PDF).
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/english/economy/demographics/census/cenhi06-8.pdf. Retrieved
2011-02-26.
^ Labov p. 214215.
^ Boberg, p. 36.
^ Lavov, William; Ash, Sharon; and Boberg, Charles. The Atlas of North American English:
Phonetics, Phonology, and Sound Change. Walter de Gruyter, 2006, p. 216: "In general, the
English spoken in the Canadian North can be viewed as a dialect in formation ... The region's
European population is too sparsely settled, too diverse in origin, and too recently arrived to
have produced an identifiable, homogeneous dialect distinct from southern Canadian English,
while its large Aboriginal population speaks a range of varieties influenced by non-English
substrates ..."
^ Trudgill and Hannah, International English (4th edition), p. 76.
^ "UTA.edu" (PDF). http://ling.uta.edu/~laurel/stvan98_ch1.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ "CBC.ca". CBC.ca. 2005-06-17.
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/06/16/midwives050616.html. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ American Speech 80.1 (2005), p. 47.
^ a b c American Speech 80.1 (2005), p. 48.
^ "Gov.ns.ca". Gov.ns.ca.
http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/legc/bills/60th_1st/1st_read/b198.htm. Retrieved 2011-0226.
^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, "bachelor".
^ "Federal-Realestate.com". Federal-Realestate.com. http://www.federal-realestate.com/infomontreal-apartments/montreal-apartment-sizes.html. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ a b Boberg 2005.
^ Boberg 2005, p. 38.
^ "Fire hall Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". M-w.com. 2010-08-13.
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/fire%20hall. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
^ Webster's New World College Dictionary, Wiley, 2004.

196
58. ^ "OUP.com". OUP.com.
http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/images/un212.gif. Retrieved 2011-0226.
59. ^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, ABM; Boberg 2005.
60. ^ OUP.com
61. ^ Chesterfield. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000
62. ^ Utoronto.ca J.K. Chambers, "The Canada-U.S. border as a vanishing isogloss: the evidence of
chesterfield." Journal of English Linguistics 23 (1995): 156-66.
63. ^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, eavestrough; Oxford English Dictionary; American
Heritage Dictionary.
64. ^ According to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (second edition), garburator is "Canadian" and
garbage disposal is "North American."
65. ^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, hydro.
66. ^ Barber, Katherine, ed (1998). The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (1st Edition ed.). Toronto:
Oxford University Press. pp. .1075. ISBN 0-19-541120-X.
67. ^ "Pogey: What Does it Mean? Bonny, 2006" (PDF).
http://home.comcast.net/~russ1980/stuff/Pogey.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
68. ^ Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, runner.
69. ^ American Speech 80.1 (2005).
70. ^ Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary.
71. ^ Sometimes the gym doesn't fix it, The Irish Times, Tuesday, January 06, 2009
72. ^ Machismo . . . or masochism?, The Irish Times Saturday March 22, 2008
73. ^ Stars in the running, The Irish Times, Tueesday October 7, 2008
74. ^ American Speech 80.1 (2005), p. 36.
75. ^ CBC.ca Arts 'Double-double'? Now you can look it up
76. ^ Nestl Smaties '...It's a brand name after all.'
77. ^ "The Crazy Canucks: Canada's Heroes ''CBC Digital Archives'' Retrieved 27 Oct 2009".
Archives.cbc.ca. http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/skiing/topics/417/. Retrieved 2011-02-26.

[edit] Further reading

Adams, Rob Colter (2005), Grammar to go: the portable A-Zed guide to Canadian usage, House
of Anansi Press, ISBN 0887847234,
http://books.google.ca/books?id=3coumHE2n90C&lpg=PP1&dq=Guide%20to%20Canadian&pg=
PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true
Boberg, Charles (2010). The English Language in Canada: Status, History and Comparative
Analysis. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511789816.
http://books.google.com/books?id=uW2rM_6I3gMC&pg=PA242&dq=The+English+Language+in
+Canada:+Status,+History+and+Comparative+Analysis#v=onepage&q&f=true.
Barber, Katherine, editor (2004). Canadian Oxford Dictionary, second edition. Toronto: Oxford
University Press. ISBN 0-19-541816-6.
Barber, Katherine. "11 Favourite Regionalisms Within Canada", in David Vallechinsky and Amy
Wallace (2005). The Book of Lists, Canadian Edition. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-676-97720-2.
Boberg, Charles (2005). "The North American Regional Vocabulary Survey: Renewing the study
of lexical variation in North American English." American Speech 80/1. Dukejournals.org
Boberg, Charles, Sounding Canadian from Coast to Coast: Regional accents in Canadian English,
McGill University.

197

Courtney, Rosemary, and others., senior editors (1998). The Gage Canadian Dictionary, second
edition. Toronto: Gage Learning Corp. ISBN 0-7715-7399-5.
Chambers, J.K. (1998). "Canadian English: 250 Years in the Making," in The Canadian Oxford
Dictionary, 2nd ed., p. xi.
Clark, Joe (2008). Organizing Our Marvellous Neighbours: How to Feel Good About Canadian
English (e-book). ISBN 978-0-9809525-0-6.
Halford, Brigitte K (1996), Talk units: the structure of spoken Canadian English, Tbingen Narr,
ISBN 382334577X,
http://books.google.ca/books?id=SBOBA7TOPj4C&lpg=PP1&dq=Canadian%20English&pg=PP1#
v=onepage&q&f=true
Labov, William, Sharon Ash, and Charles Boberg (2006). The Atlas of North American English.
Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-016746-8. http://books.google.ca/books?id=qa4dFqi6iMC&lpg=PR5&dq=The%20Atlas%20of%20North%20American%20English&pg=PR5#v=one
page&q&f=true.
Peters, Pam (2004). The Cambridge Guide to English Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. ISBN 0-521-62181-X.
Walt Wolfram and Ben Ward, editors (2006). American Voices: How Dialects Differ from Coast to
Coast. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 140, 234236. ISBN 1-4051-2108-4.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=tYahfvYV3pUC&lpg=PR1&dq=American%20Voices%3A%20Ho
w%20Dialects%20Differ%20from%20Coast%20to%20Coast&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=true.
Canadian Raising: O'Grady and Dobrovolsky, Contemporary Linguistic Analysis: An Introduction,
3rd ed., pp. 6768.
Canadian English: Editors' Association of Canada, Editing Canadian English: The Essential
Canadian Guide, 2nd ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000).
Canadian federal government style guide: Public Works and Government Services Canada, The
Canadian Style: A Guide to Writing and Editing, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Public Works and Government
Services Canada, 1997).
Canadian usage: Margery Fee and Janice McAlpine, Guide to Canadian English Usage (Toronto:
Oxford University Press, 2001).
Hamilton, Sandra A. M. (1997) Canadianisms and their treatment in dictionaries, Thesis (M.A.),
University of Ottawa, ISBN 9780612199682
Canadian newspaper and magazine style guides:
o J.A. McFarlane and Warren Clements, The Globe and Mail Style Book: A Guide to
Language and Usage, 9th ed. (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1998).
o The Canadian Press, The Canadian Press Stylebook, 13th ed. and its quick-reference
companion CP Caps and Spelling, 16th ed. (both Toronto: Canadian Press, 2004).

Syllabication Rules & Tips

A syllable is a single speech part which has only one vowel sound, even tho it
may have more than one adjoining vowels. Multiple vowels may make the
vowel sound together. e.g. dead, true, weak. There may or may not be
combined consonant sounds. When you speak a syllable, your mouth opens
and closes-- your jaw drops once. Every time you speak a syllable, your speech
has a single beat. The number of vowel sounds (not vowels, but the sounds!)
shows you how many syllables a word has. As you learn the rules below, you
will soon see the pattern of syllabication in other words.

198

1. P/R/S: Divide between prefixes, root words, and suffixes. e.g. sing-er, redo, walk-ing
2. VC/CV: Two consonants between two vowels are split
between consonants. e.g. per-haps, ac-cept, won-der.

2a. If the two consonants form a blend (called a diagraph), do not divide
them. e.g. wish-ing, tough-er, ring-ing. These are some diagraphs: ch, sh, th, wh,
ng, nk, ng, ck.
3. V/CV: One consonant between two vowels is split between vowel and
following consonant, if the vowel is long. e.g. clo-ver, stu-pid, be-have, di-ver. See
how the consonant goes with the second vowel?
4. VC/V: One consonant between two vowels is split after the consonant, if the
vowel is accented & short. e.g. tep-id, drag-on, cam-el, riv-er. See how the
consonant goes with the first vowel?
5. V/V: If the vowels have different sounds. split the word between them. e.g.
ra-di-o,
6. When the last three letters are consonant and le, split before the consonant,
e.g. a-ble, ta-ble, mis-er-a-ble.
7. Compound words are divided into the original two words. e.g. tom-boy, wetsuit, beach-ball. If either or both of the original words have more than one vowel
sound, that word should also be divided into syllables. e.g. bask/et-ball, bookkeep/er, trans-at/lan/tic.

Rules on hyphenation in writing:

1. Always hyphenate between syllables. e.g. read-ing, NOT rea-ding.
2. Never, never hyphenate a one-syllable word!
I don't know the reasoning behind these last two rules, but it is better to follow
the traditional method until someone comes up with something else.
3. When you hyphenate a word, the syllable at the end of the line and at the
beginning of the following line should have at least three letters. If you can't
manage that, just put the whole word on the following line.
4. Words of five or less letters should not be hyphenated from line to line, even
though they have more than one syllable (see Rule # 3).

Phonics, Syllable and Accent Rules

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Phonics Rules
The vowels are "a,e,i,o, and u"; also sometimes "y" & "w". This also includes the diphthongs
"oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
The consonants are all the other letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in
speech. They are: "b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,qu,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z,ch,sh,th,ph,wh, ng, and gh".
1. Sometimes the rules don't work.
There are many exceptions in English because of the vastness of the language and the many
languages from which it has borrowed. The rules do work however, in the majority of the
words.
2. Every syllable in every word must have a vowel.
English is a "vocal" language; Every word must have a vowel.
3. "C" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "s". Examples: "cyst", "central",
and "city".
4. "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "j". Example: "gem", "gym", and
"gist".
5. When 2 consonants are joined together and form one new sound, they are a consonant
digraph. They count as one sound and one letter and are never separated. Examples:
"ch,sh,th,ph and wh".
6. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short.
Examples: "fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".
7. When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front of it is
long. Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and use".
8. When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second is
silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say, grow". NOTE: Diphthongs don't follow this
rule; In a diphthong, the vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The diphthongs
are: "oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
9. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long.
Examples: "pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my".
10. When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that vowel is "r-controlled". It

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is not long nor short. "R-controlled "er,ir,and ur" often sound the same (like "er"). Examples:
"term, sir, fir, fur, far, for, su/gar, or/der".

Basic Syllable Rules

1. To find the number of syllables:
---count the vowels in the word,
---subtract any silent vowels, (like the silent "e" at the end of a word or the second vowel
when two vowels a together in a syllable)
---subtract one vowel from every diphthong, (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound.)
---the number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables.
The number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word is the same as the number
of vowels sounds heard. For example:
The word "came" has 2 vowels, but the "e" is silent, leaving one vowel sound andone
syllable.
The word "outside" has 4 vowels, but the "e" is silent and the "ou" is a diphthong which
counts as only one sound, so this word has only two vowels sounds and therefore, two
syllables.
2. Divide between two middle consonants.
Split up words that have two middle consonants. For example:
hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner, and Den/nis. The only exceptions are the
consonant digraphs. Never split up consonant digraphs as they really represent only one
sound. The exceptions are "th", "sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh".
3. Usually divide before a single middle consonant.
When there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it, as in:
"o/pen", "i/tem", "e/vil", and "re/port". The only exceptions are those times when the first
syllable has an obvious short sound, as in "cab/in".
4. Divide before the consonant before an "-le" syllable.
When you have a word that has the old-style spelling in which the "-le" sounds like "-el",
divide before the consonant before the "-le". For example: "a/ble", "fum/ble", "rub/ble"
"mum/ble" and "this/tle". The only exception to this are "ckle" words like "tick/le".
5. Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds.
Split off the parts of compound words like "sports/car" and "house/boat". Divide off prefixes
such at "un/happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write". Also divide off suffixes as in the words
"farm/er", "teach/er", "hope/less" and "care/ful". In the word "stop/ping", the suffix is
actually "-ping" because this word follows the rule that when you add "-ing" to a word with

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one syllable, you double the last consonant and add the "-ing".

Accent Rules
When a word has more than one syllable, one of the syllables is always a little louder than the
others. The syllable with the louder stress is the accented syllable. It may seem that the
placement of accents in words is often random or accidental, but these are some rules that
usually work.
1. Accents are often on the first syllable. Examples: ba'/sic, pro'/gram.
2. In words that have suffixes or prefixes, the accent is usually on the main root word.
Examples: box'/es, un/tie'.
3. If de-, re-, ex-, in-,po-, pro-, or a- is the first syllable in a word, it is usually not accented.
Examples: de/lay', ex/plore'.
4. Two vowel letters together in the last syllable of a word often indicates an accented last
syllable. Examples: com/plain', con/ceal'.
5. When there are two like consonant letters within a word, the syllable before the double
consonants is usually accented. Examples: be/gin'/ner, let'/ter.
6. The accent is usually on the syllable before the suffixes -ion, ity, -ic, -ical, -ian, -ial, or -ious,
and on the second syllable before the suffix -ate. Examples: af/fec/ta'/tion, dif/fer/en'/ti/ate.
7. In words of three or more syllables, one of the first two syllables is usually accented.
Examples: ac'/ci/dent, de/ter'/mine.