Offence vs. Offense—What Is the Difference?

• Offence and offense are both correct.
• Offence is the spelling more commonly used outside of the United States.
• Offense is the spelling more commonly used in the United States.

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Offense is spelled differently based on where you, or your audience, are. But neither offense nor offence are wrong.

Offence vs. Offense—Which Is Correct?

In one sense, offense means an attack.

Program vs. Programme–What’s the Difference?

In American English, program is the correct spelling. In Australian English, program and programme are both acceptable. In British English, programme is the prefered spelling, although program is often used in computing contexts.

Decades ago, program appeared in American and British writing. In the nineteenth century, the Brits started to favor the French way of spelling it—programme.

Center or Centre–Which Is Right?

Do you speak British or American English? Depending on your answer, you may differ on which spellings you favor.

Center and centre have the same meaning. Center is the correct spelling in American English, but British English writers usually prefer centre. Notice that center (and centre) can be a noun, adjective, or a verb. Seeing the two words in real-life examples may help you to visualize how to use them.

Is vs. Are

• Use is with singular subjects and are with plural subjects.
• Collective nouns usually take is, but you can use are if you need to emphasize the individuals who belong to the group.
• Phrases like a number of… usually take a plural verb.

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When deciding whether to use is or are, look at whether the noun is plural or singular. If the noun is singular, use is.