Is It Kneeled or Knelt? | Spelling, Difference & Examples
Kneeled and knelt are two ways of spelling the past tense and past participle of the verb “kneel,” which means “to place one or both knees on the ground.” People often kneel to respect or worship an entity, which makes it similar to genuflecting.
- In American English, “knelt” and “kneeled” are both used, but “knelt” is preferred.
- In British English, “knelt” is standard.
It’s important to choose one spelling and use it consistently. The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you with this.
Elif kneeled/knelt before the king.
I kneeled/knelt before the altar to worship God.
Kneel as a regular or irregular verb
Kneel can be considered either an irregular verb or a regular verb, depending on the chosen spelling of the past tense verb:
- Verbs that form their past tense by adding “-ed” are regular verbs.
- Verbs that form their past tense by adding a different suffix are irregular verbs.
The irregular form knelt is more common in both versions of English, but in general, when there’s a choice, the irregular form is more common in British English. Other examples are dreamed or dreamt, spelt or spelled, burnt or burned, smelled or smelt, and learnt or learned.
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 Organisation or organization 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 |
