Is It Spelt or Spelled? | Spelling, Difference & Examples
Spelt and spelled are two ways of spelling the past tense of the verb “spell,” which means “forming words with the letters in the correct order.” The spelling depends on the type of English you use.
- In British English, “spelled” and “spelt” are both used, but “spelt” is a bit more common.
- In American English, “spelled” is standard.
It’s important to choose one spelling and use it consistently. The QuillBot Grammar Checker can help you with this.
Misspelled or misspelt
Misspelled and misspelt are the negative forms of “spelled” and “spelt” and refer to the act of spelling a word incorrectly. It can also be used as an adjective to describe a word that is spelled incorrectly. The spelling again depends on whether you’re using American or British English.
- In British English, “misspelled” and “misspelt” are both used, but “misspelt” is a bit more common.
- In American English, “misspelled” is standard
Spell as a regular or irregular verb
Spell 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 in some other way are irregular verbs.
In British English, it’s more common to use the irregular form of verbs that can be either regular or irregular. Other examples of verbs that are both irregular and regular are dreamed or dreamt, kneeled or knelt, burnt or burned, 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 |