The related nounfulfilment or fulfillment has the same spelling distinction. It refers to the achievement of something.
In British English, “fulfilment” (with one “l”) is correct.
In American English, “fulfillment” (with a double “l”) is most common.
Examples: Fulfilment or fulfillment in a sentence
Achieving his lifelong dream brought him a profound sense of fulfilment/fulfillment.
The company’s mission is to help employees find fulfilment/fulfillment in their careers.
For some, traveling provides a unique sense of fulfilment/fulfillment.
Other forms of fulfil or fulfill
The spelling difference does not apply to the past tense, past participle, and present participle forms of the verb. You use fulfilled and fulfilling (with a double “l”) in both British and American English.
Examples: Other forms of fulfil or fulfill in a sentence
The freelancer fulfilled his promise to deliver the product ahead of schedule.
Many people find volunteering their time a fulfilling way to give back to the community.
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.
Behavior or behaviour Labor or labour Favor or favour Favorite or favourite 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 Canceled or cancelled Labeled or labelled Buses or busses Focused or focussed
Recommended language articles
Do you want to know more about common mistakes, commonly confused words, or other language topics? Check out some of our other language articles full of examples and quizzes.
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.