S/z
 

There are words that can be written in a different way in British and American English, above all these words with s/z, I mean, words like: analyse/analyze, realise/realize, etc. I know that those words written with "s" are British, although I know that they can be written wit "z" in British English as well.

I'd like to know if British English people prefer to write those words with "s" or with "z" and, if they preferred "s", would they/you distinguish if a text is written by an American or not when you're reading a text with "z" (if there aren't another words like colour/color, etc., of course, which could give you a clue)?

Another question: if I had to write several words like those in a text, would it be important (gramatically) if I wrote some with "z" and some with "s"?

These questions could look like stupid ones, but I'm very interested in your answers. Thanks. :)

Inglés bien hablado o sea británico o americano es casi igual menos pequeñas diferéncias como el modo que deletreamos o pronunciamos unas palabras. Las diferencias se ponen más promenente (y interesante) cuando el inglés es menos bien hablado y con accentos regionales.

Hi Irmamar - I have an online student of English in Maylasia where they
use BrE. When editing her articles for publication I am careful to use ONLY BrE spelling for consistency...

There is no clearly correct answer to this question because we don't have grammar police.

The long answer for BrE is that all these words are derived from the Greek ending -zein, so any word taken directly from the Greek can be s or z.

Words taken from French, however, who have systematically adopted the s for the Greek zeta, have a compulsory s in English: advertise, advise, apprise, arise, chastise, circumcise, comprise, compromise, demise, devise, disenfranchise, disguise, enterprise, excise, exercise, franchise, improvise, incise, merchandise, prise, revise, supervise, surmise, surprise, televise.

The short answer is that nobody really knows, so do what you like, except I think it would look odd if mixed in a sentence. Select one or the other, but don't mix. :)

*sigh* Hete ahí. :worried:

Y 'heta' allá. :wicked: :lol:

I strongly prefer to write them with an 's'. Use of a 'z' is suggestive of en-us but less so than 'color'. Consistency is good.

Irmamar.

My teacher taught me I could use the word S instead of Z, because it's very used for the American people in the United Stated, but I have asked here in the forum time before and the people prefer use the Z ( Realize ). Although they are correct in English and it doesn't affect the word, also I could to say it's a clue of the word you want to use, because literally you can use them in both cases.

Realize, Realise, although the orographic corrector, always highlight me the phrase Realise wrote with the letter S, then well I believe each person have the capacity to decide above what word should to use.

Do you really sink we zhould worry about this izzue? :wicked:

Just kidding. I agree with all the above... and most likely, apply the consistency point mentioned, and "When in Rome, do as Romans do;" when in Oxford, do as Oxfordians do; when in Haaavaaad, do as Haaavaaadians do... and you may become a plugging success!

You could start by calling them Oxonians :p

(Well, there may be some disagreement over whether Oxonians applies to people from Oxford or just members of the university, but I don't think "Oxfordians" is common currency).

What does "en-us" mean? :thinking:

OK, thank you everybody. I asked this question because maybe (I'm not sure yet) next year I'm going to study American Literature. The teacher said that we can write the exam in American or British English, but never mix. However, this year I've studied that some words ending in -ise (in BrE) are able to be transformed into -ize, and that would be correct (in BrE, of course). An example was "realize", which I have seen with "z" in BrE texts (and which I often write with "z"). I am worried because if I'm writing my exam in BrE (for instance, "colour"/"color" is a word which appears often in the text) and I write some word with "z" (not all of them, just one or two) I'd like to know if my teacher could mark those words as American words and... (well, I don't know how to say in English "bajar mi puntuación"). :thinking: :worried:

Thanks again. :)

Oops! You're right. Thank you for letting me know. It reminds me "los vallisoletanos" :)
In Cambridge, then, do as the Cambridgeans :?:

US English, I believe.
Probably you could say, "lower my score".

That's E-Z. :)

The OED gives both, but usually the university.

Cantabrigians. :thumbsup:

Thank you, Perikles. Reminds me of the "cántabros", but that's another tribe.

I take this thread again because casually I've found the following page, where they say that "-ize" ending is correct in British English. What do you think?

I'm sorry, soy pesada por naturaleza. :D

I think the article is exactly right. :thumbsup:

There is an interesting comment about analyse

I prefer ..ize because it more-closely resembles the word as it is pronounced.

No se me había ocurrido :thinking: . Buena idea, Poli. :thumbsup: :)

It's not incorrect, but I think it's less common than -ise. Picking a few common words and running them through BNC:

Organise: 60.5%
Realise: 64.0%
Civilised: 57.3%
Recognise: 63.3%

Yes, I know it, but there is a sentence which has attracted my attention:

I've seen/heard/read Spanish people saying too technical or cultivated words deliberately to show their high linguistic level, without realising that sometimes they sound ridiculous. A veces, demasiado celo es peligroso. ;)

Well, it is what you call "hyper-correction" as in "bacalado de Bilbado" instead of the correct "bacalao de Bilbao"... :)