ENTA Tutotrials: AMERICAN ENGLISH USAGE

Usage[edit]

American spelling avoids -ise endings in words like organize, realize and recognize.^[48]

British spelling mostly uses -ise, while -ize is also used (organise/organize, realise/realize, recognise/recognize):^[48] the ratio between -ise and -ize stood at 3:2 in the British National Corpus up to 2002.^[49] The spelling -ise is more commonly used in UK mass media and newspapers,^[48] including The Times (which switched conventions in 1992),^[50]The Daily Telegraph and The Economist. Meanwhile, -ize is used in some British-based academic publications, such as Nature, the Biochemical Journal and The Times Literary Supplement. The dominant British English usage of -ise is preferred by Cambridge University Press.^[46] The minority British English usage of -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 IANA language tag en-GB-oxendict (or, historically, by en-GB-oed).^[51]

In Canada, the -ize ending is more common, whereas in Ireland, India, 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.

The same applies to derivatives and inflections such as colonisation/colonization, or modernisation/modernization

Worldwide, -ize endings prevail in scientific writing and are commonly used by many international organizations, such as the United Nations Organizations (such as the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization) and the International Organization for Standardization (but not by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). The European Union's style guides require the usage of -ise.^[52] 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.

Exceptions[edit]

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

Some words take only the -z- form worldwide, for example capsize, seize (except in the legal phrases to be seised of /to stand seised to), size and prize (only in the "appraise" sense). These, however, do not contain the suffix -ize.
Others take only -s- worldwide: advertise, advise, arise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, demise, despise, devise, disguise, excise, exercise, franchise, guise, improvise, incise, reprise, revise, rise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise, and wise. Some of these do not contain the suffix -ise, but some do.
One special case is the verb to prise (meaning "to force" or "to lever"), which is spelled prize in the US^[53] and prise everywhere else,^[54] including Canada,^[55] although in North American English it is almost always replaced by pry, a back-formation from or alteration of prise.^[56] A topsail schooner built in Australia in 1829 was called Enterprize, whereas there have been US ships and spacecraft named "Enterprise".

Some words spelled with -ize in American English are not used in British English, etc., e.g., the verb burglarize, regularly formed on the noun burglar, where the equivalent in British, and other versions of, English is the back-formation burgle and not burglarise.^[57]

-yse, -yze[edit]

The ending -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 17th- and 18th-century English, but many of the great dictionaries of that time – 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 US. In South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, -yse stands alone.

English verbs ending in -lyse or -lyze are not similar to the Greek verb, which is λύω lúō ("I release"). Instead they come from the noun form λύσις lysis with the -ise or -ize suffix. For example, analyse comes from French analyser, formed by haplology from the French analysiser,^[58] which would be spelled analysise or analysize in English.

Hart's Rules for Compositors and Readers at the University Press, Oxford states: "In verbs such as analyse, catalyse, paralyse, -lys- is part of the Greek stem (corresponding to the element -lusis) and not a suffix like -ize. The spelling -yze is therefore etymologically incorrect, and must not be used, unless American printing style is being followed."^[44]

-ogue, -og[edit]

British and other Commonwealth English uses the ending -logue and -gogue while American English commonly uses the ending -log and -gog for words like analog(ue), catalog(ue), dialog(ue), monolog(ue), homolog(ue), etc. The -gue spelling, as in catalogue, is used in the US, but catalog is more common. Additionally, in American English, dialogue is an extremely common^{[clarification needed]} spelling compared to dialog, although both are treated as acceptable ways to spell the word.^[59] (thus the inflected forms, cataloged and cataloging vs. catalogued and cataloguing). Synagogue is seldom used without -ue.

In Australia, 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,^[60] for example monologue, except for such expressions as dialog box in computing,^[61] which are also used in the UK. In Australia, analog is used in its technical and electronic sense, as in analog electronics.^[8] In Canada and New Zealand, analogue is used, but analog has some currency as a technical term^[62] (e.g., in electronics, as in "analog electronics" as opposed to "digital electronics" and some video-game consoles might have an analog stick). The -ue is absent worldwide in related words like analogy, analogous, and analogist.

Both British and American English use the spelling -gue with a silent -ue for certain words that are not part of the -ogue set, such as tongue (cf. tong), plague, vague, and league. In addition, when the -ue is not silent, as in the words argue, ague and segue, all varieties of English use -gue.

ae and oe[edit]

Many words that are written with ae/æ or oe/œ in British English are written with just an e in American English. The sounds in question are /iː/ or /ɛ/ (or, unstressed, /i/ or /ᵻ/). Examples (with non-American letter in bold): aeon, anaemia, anaesthesia, caecum, caesium, coeliac, diarrhoea, encyclopaedia, faeces, foetal, gynaecology, haemoglobin, haemophilia, leukaemia, oesophagus, oestrogen, orthopaedic, palaeontology, paediatric. Oenology is acceptable in American English but is deemed a minor variant of enology, whereas although archeology and ameba exist in American English, the British versions archaeology and amoeba are more common. The chemical haem (named as a shortening of haemoglobin) is spelled heme in American English, to avoid confusion with hem.

Words that can be spelled either way in American English include aesthetics and archaeology (which usually prevail over esthetics and archeology),^[63] as well as palaestra, for which the simplified form palestra is described by Merriam-Webster as "chiefly Brit[ish]."^[64]

Words that can be spelled either way in British English include encyclopaedia, homoeopathy, chamaeleon, mediaeval (a minor variant in both AmE and BrE^[65]^[66]^[67]), foetid and foetus. The spellings foetus and foetal are Britishisms based on a mistaken etymology.^[68] The etymologically correct original spelling fetus reflects the Latin original and is the standard spelling in medical journals worldwide,^[69] though the Oxford English Dictionary comments that "In Latin manuscripts both fētus and foetus are used".^[70]

The Ancient Greek diphthongs <αι> and <οι> were transliterated into Latin as <ae> and <oe>. The ligatures æ and œ were introduced when the sounds became monophthongs, and later applied to words not of Greek origin, in both Latin (for example, cœli) and French (for example, œuvre). In English, which has adopted words from all three languages, it is now usual to replace Æ/æ with Ae/ae and Œ/œ with Oe/oe. In many words, the digraph has been reduced to a lone e in all varieties of English: for example, oeconomics, praemium, and aenigma.^[71] In others, it is kept in all varieties: for example, phoenix, and usually subpoena,^[72] but Phenix in Virginia. 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, modelled after airship and aircraft. The word airplane dates from 1907,^[73] at which time the prefix aero- was trisyllabic, often written aëro-.

Commonwealth usage[edit]

In Canada, e is usually preferred over oe and often over ae,^{[citation needed]} but oe and ae are sometimes found in the academic and scientific writing as well as government publications (for example the fee schedule of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan). In Australia, encyclopedia and medieval are spelled with e rather than ae, as with American usage, and the Macquarie Dictionary also notes a growing tendency towards replacing ae and oe with e worldwide.^[8] Elsewhere, the British usage prevails, but the spellings with just e are increasingly used.^[74] Manoeuvre is the only spelling in Australia, and the most common one in Canada, where maneuver and manoeuver are also sometimes found.^[75]

Doubled consonants[edit]

Doubled in British English[edit]

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 happens only when the word's final syllable is stressed and when it also ends with a lone vowel followed by a lone consonant. In British English, however, a final -l is often doubled even when the final syllable is unstressed.^[76] This exception is no longer usual in American English, seemingly because of Noah Webster.^[77] The -ll- spellings are nevertheless still deemed acceptable variants by both Merriam-Webster Collegiate and American Heritage dictionaries.

The British English doubling is used 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 typically use canceled, counselor, cruelest, labeled, modeling, quarreled, signaling, traveler, and traveling.
- The word parallel keeps a single -l- in British English, as in American English (paralleling, unparalleled), to avoid the unappealing cluster -llell-.
- 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 fu•el•ling and di•alled; American fu•el•ing and di•aled).
  - British woollen is a further exception due to the double vowel (American: woolen). Also, wooly is accepted in American English, though woolly prevails in both systems.^[78]
Endings -ize/-ise, -ism, -ist, -ish usually do not double the l in British English; for example, normalise, dualism, novelist, and devilish.
- 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 change happens 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 mostly follow British usage.^[76]

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,^[79] are common, but kidnapped and worshipped prevail.^[80]^[81] Kidnapped and worshipped are the only standard British spellings.

Miscellaneous:

British calliper or caliper; American caliper.
British jewellery; American jewelry. The word originates from the Old French word jouel^[82] (whose contemporary French equivalent is joyau, with the same meaning). The standard pronunciation /ˈdʒuːəlri/^[83] does not reflect this difference, but the non-standard pronunciation /ˈdʒuːləri/ (which exists in New Zealand and Britain, hence the Cockney rhyming slang word tomfoolery /tɒmˈfuːləri/) does. According to Fowler, jewelry used to be the "rhetorical and poetic" spelling in the UK, and was still used by The Times into the mid-20th century. Canada has both, but jewellery is more often used. Likewise, the Commonwealth (including Canada) has jeweller and the US has jeweler for a jewel(le)ry seller.

Doubled in American English[edit]

Conversely, there are words where British writers prefer a single l and Americans 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 with 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. Cases where a single l nevertheless occurs in both American and British English include null→annul, annulment; till→until (although some prefer til to reflect the single l in until, sometimes using an apostrophe (’til); this should be considered a hypercorrection as till predates the use of until); and others where the connection is not clear 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, a single l is generally preferred in distil(l), instil(l), enrol(l), and enthral(l)ment, and enthral(l), although ll was formerly used;^[84] these are always spelled with ll in American usage. The former British spellings instal, fulness, and dulness are now quite rare.^[85] The Scottish tolbooth is cognate with tollbooth, but it has a distinct meaning.

In both American and British usages, words normally spelled -ll usually drop the second l when used as prefixes or suffixes, for example full→useful, handful; all→almighty, altogether; well→welfare, welcome; chill→chilblain.

Both the British fulfil and the American fulfill never use -ll- in the middle (i.e., *fullfill and *fullfil are incorrect).^[86]^[87]

Johnson wavered on this issue. His dictionary of 1755 lemmatizes distil and instill, downhil and uphill.^[88]

Dropped "e"[edit]

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 needed to show pronunciation whereas American English only uses it where needed.

British prefers ageing,^[89] American usually aging (compare raging, ageism). For the noun or verb "route", British English often uses routeing,^[90] 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 keep the silent "e" in the words dyeing, singeing, and swingeing^[91] (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,^[92] 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,^[92] and those where the root is polysyllabic, like believable or decidable. Both systems keep the silent "e" when it is needed to preserve a soft "c", "ch", or "g", such as in traceable, cacheable, changeable; both usually keep the "e" after "-dge", as in knowledgeable, unbridgeable, and unabridgeable ("These rights are unabridgeable").
Both abridgment and the more regular abridgement are current in the US, only the latter in the UK.^[93] Likewise for the word lodg(e)ment. Both judgment and judgement are in use interchangeably everywhere, although the former prevails in the US and the latter prevails in the UK^[94] except in the practice of law, where judgment is standard. This also holds for abridgment and acknowledgment. Both systems prefer fledgling to fledgeling, but ridgeling to ridgling. Both acknowledgment, acknowledgement, abridgment and abridgement are used in Australia; the shorter forms are endorsed by the Australian Capital Territory Government.^[8]^[95] Apart from when the "e" is dropped and in the word gaol and some pronunciations of margarine, "g" can only be soft when followed by an "e", "i", or "y".
The word "blue" always drops the "e" when forming "bluish" or "bluing".

Hard and soft "c"[edit]

A "c" is generally soft when followed by an "e", "i", or "y". One word with a pronunciation that is an exception in British English, "sceptic", is spelled "skeptic" in American English. See "Miscellaneous spelling differences" below.

Past tense differences[edit]

This is a particular case of #Different spellings for different pronunciations.

In the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, it is more common to end some past tense verbs with a "t" as in learnt or dreamt rather than learned or dreamed.^[96]However, such spellings are also found in American English.

Several verbs have different past tenses or past participles in American and British English:

The past tense of the verb "to dive" is most commonly found as "dived" in British, Australian, and New Zealand English. "Dove" is usually used in its place in American English. Both terms are understood in Canada, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect in America.
The past participle and past tense of the verb "to get" is most commonly found as "got" in British and New Zealand English. "Gotten" is also used in its place in American and Canadian, and occasionally in Australian English, as a past participle, though "got" is widely used as a past tense. The main exception is in the phrase "ill-gotten", which is widely used in British, Australian and New Zealand English. Both terms are understood, and may be found either in minority use or in regional dialect. This does not affect "forget" and "beget", whose past participles are "forgotten" and "begotten" in all varieties.

Different spellings for different meanings[edit]

dependant or dependent (noun): British dictionaries distinguish between dependent (adjective) and dependant (noun). In the US, dependent is usual for both noun and adjective, regardless of dependant also being an acceptable variant for the noun form in the US.^[97]
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).^[98] For this limited application, these spellings are used in both the US and the Commonwealth. Solid-state devices also use the spelling "disk".^{[dubious – discuss]}
enquiry or inquiry:^[99] 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, in their entry dating from 1900, lists inquiry and enquiry as equal alternatives, in that order (with the addition of "public inquiry" in a 1993 addition). Some British dictionaries, such as Chambers 21st Century Dictionary,^[100] 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.^[101] Both are current in Canada, where enquiry is often associated with scholarly or intellectual research.^{[citation needed]}
ensure or insure: In the UK (and Australia and New Zealand), 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.^[102] In American usage, insure may also be used in the former sense, but ensure may not be used in the latter sense. 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>."^[103]
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.^[104]
programme or program: The British programme is from post-classical Latin programma and French programme. Program first appeared in Scotland in 1633 (earlier than programme in England in 1671) and is the only spelling found in the US. The OED entry, updated in 2007, says that program conforms 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. New Zealand also follows this pattern. In Australia, program has been endorsed by government writing standards for all meanings since the 1960s,^[105] and is listed as the official spelling in the Macquarie Dictionary;^[8] see also the name of The Micallef P(r)ogram(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 for all meanings of the word – and also to match the spelling of the French equivalent.^[105]
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 called a metric ton. The unqualified ton usually refers to the long ton (2,240 pounds or 1,016 kilograms) in the UK and to the short ton (2,000 pounds or 907 kilograms) 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 standard American spelling is "meter". The spelling used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is "metre".^[106] This spelling is also the usual one for the unit of length in most English-speaking countries, but only the spelling "meter" is used in American English, and this is officially endorsed by the United States.^[107]

Compounds and hyphens[edit]

British English often prefers hyphenated compounds, such as anti-smoking, whereas American English discourages the use of hyphens in compounds where there is no compelling reason, so antismoking 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).^[197] Commander-in-chief prevails 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.^[198] 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.^[199]
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".^[200] In British usage today, however, forever prevails in the "for eternity" sense as well,^[201] in spite of several style guides maintaining the distinction.^[202] 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".^[203] In American English, the one-word spelling is standard for both forms.
per cent or percent: It can be correctly spelled as either one or two words, depending on the Anglophone country, but either spelling must always be consistent with its usage. British English predominantly spells it as two words, so does English in Ireland and countries in the Commonwealth of Nations such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. American English predominantly spells it as one word. Historically, it used to be spelled as two words in the United States, but its usage is diminishing; nevertheless it is a variant spelling in American English today. The spelling difference is reflected in the style guides of newspapers and other media agencies in the US, Ireland, and countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. In Canada (and sometimes in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, other Commonwealth countries, and Ireland) percent is also found, mostly sourced from American press agencies.

Acronyms and abbreviations[edit]

Acronyms pronounced as words are often written in title case by Commonwealth writers, but usually as upper case by Americans: for example, Nasa / NASA or Unicef / UNICEF.^[204] This does not apply to abbreviations that are pronounced as individual letters (referred to by some as "initialisms"), such as US, IBM, or PRC (the People's Republic of China), which are always written as upper case. However, sometimes title case is still used in the UK, such as Pc (Police Constable).^[205]

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 full stops/periods. Some initials are usually upper case in the US but lower case in the UK: liter/litre and its compounds ("2 L or 25 mL" vs "2 l or 25 ml");^[206]^[207] and ante meridiem and post meridiem (10 P.M. or 10 PM vs 10 p.m. or 10 pm).^[208]^[209]^[210] Both AM/PM and a.m./p.m. are acceptable in American English, though AM/PM is more common.

Punctuation[edit]

Further information: Quotation marks in English § Typographical considerations, and Comparison of American and British English § Quoting

The use of quotation marks, also called inverted commas or speech marks, is complicated by the fact that there are two kinds: single quotation marks (') and double quotation marks ("). British usage, at one stage in the recent past, preferred single quotation marks for ordinary use, but double quotation marks are again now increasingly common; American usage has always preferred double quotation marks, as does Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand English. It is the practice to alternate the type of quotation marks used where there is a quotation within a quotation.^[211]

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 from this style while American English has kept 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. Formal British English practice requires a full stop to be put inside the quotation marks if the quoted item is a full sentence that ends where the main sentence ends, but it is common to see the stop outside the ending quotation marks.^[212]

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