Is It Favour or Favor? | Meaning, Spelling & Examples

UK vs US updated on  December 6, 2023 3 min read
Favour and favor are two ways of spelling the noun used to refer to an act of kindness or to mean “approval.” It can also be used as a verb to mean “prefer.” The spelling depends on the type of English you use.

  • In British English, “favour” is standard.
  • In American English, “favor” is correct.
It's important to choose one type of English and use it consistently. The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you with this.


Examples: Favour or favor in a sentence
Sarah asked her friend for a favour/favor, hoping he would have some good advice.
My manager seems to favour/favor innovative projects that impact the organization.
The politician promised to work in the public's favour/favor.


Favourable or favorable

The same spelling difference applies to the adjective favourable or favorable and the noun or adjective favourite or favorite.

  • In British English, “favourable" and "favourite" are correct.
  • In American English, “favorable" and "favorite" are correct.
Examples: Favourable/favorable and favourite/favorite in a sentence
A favourable/favorable exchange rate excited travelers in the hostel.
Of all dogs, Cooper is my favourite/favorite.
The movie was a big hit, becoming a favourite/favorite among audiences of all ages.

Main differences between American and British English

American and British English are very similar, but there are a few main differences in spelling. Five important differences are:


Difference

Rule

Examples

-or vs -our

In American English, many Latin-derived words end in -or.

In British English, these same words end in -our.

Humor or humour
Labor or labour
Favorite or favourite
Behavior or behaviour
Color or colour
Honor or honour

-er vs -re

In American English, some French, Latin, or Greek words end in -er.

In British English, these same words end in -re.

Theater or theatre
Center or centre
Meter or metre
Liter or litre
Saber or sabre
Fiber or fibre

-ize vs -ise

In American English, many Greek-derived words end in -yze or -ize.

In British English, these words end in -yse or -ise.

Realize or realise
Recognize or recognise
Analyze or analyse
Organize or organise
Minimize or minimise
Finalize or finalise

-ed vs -t

In American English, most verbs are regular and form their past tense with the suffix -ed.

In British English, some of these verbs are irregular and form their past tense with the suffix -t.

Learned or learnt
Burned or burnt
Kneeled or knelt
Dreamed or dreamt
Smelled or smelt
Spelled or spelt

Single vs double consonant

In American English, many words are spelled with a single consonant.

In British English, these same words are spelled with a double consonant.

Modeling or modelling
Traveling or travelling
Canceling or cancelling
Labeled or labelled
Buses or busses
Focused or focussed

Do you want to know more about commas, parts of speech, email, or other language topics? Check out some of our other language articles full of examples and quizzes.


US vs UK

Commas

Commonly confused words

Modelling vs modeling

Comma before or after so

Into vs in to

Defence vs defense

Comma before or

Awhile vs a while

Favourite vs favorite

Comma before while

A vs an

Theatre vs theater

Comma before which

Its vs it’s

Organisation vs organization

Comma splice

Use to or used to


Frequently asked questions about favour or favor

Is it favor or favour in Canada?

Favor and favour are two spellings of the same noun or verb. The spelling depends on the type of English.

  • In American English, you use “favor.”
  • In British English, you use “favour.”

Canadian English mainly follows British English guidelines, so favour is the correct spelling.

The same distinction applies to similar words, such as “honor or honour,” “labor or labour,” “favorite or favourite,” “behavior or behaviour,” “color or colour,” and “humor or humour."

It's important to choose one type of English and use it consistently. The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you with this.

Is it do me a favour or favor?

Favor and favour are two spellings of the same noun or verb. The spelling depends on the type of English.

  • In American English, you use “do me a favor.”
  • In British English, you use “do me a favour.”

The same distinction applies to similar words, such as “honor or honour,” “labor or labour,” “favorite or favourite,” “behavior or behaviour,” “color or colour,” and “humor or humour."

It's important to choose one type of English and use it consistently. The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you with this.

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Julia Merkus

Julia has master's degrees in Linguistics and Language and speech pathology. Her expertise lies in grammar, language and speech disorders, foreign language learning, and child language acquisition.

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