It is sometimes said that the United States and the United Kingdom are two countries separated by a common language. Despite the fact that English is the most widely used language in both countries, a distinction is often made between the English used in the United States—American English—and the English used in the United Kingdom—British English. The differences between the two varieties of English are usually subtle, but they exist nonetheless, particularly around spelling.
Favorite and favourite are both correct spellings, depending on whether you use American or British spelling standards. Favorite is preferred in American English, while favourite is preferred in British English. Sometimes, favorite or favourite can be used and the correct form depends on which style gu >Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing always looks great? Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite websites.
Содержание
- The Correct Way to Spell Favorite
- Definition of Favorite
- The Origins of the Two Spellings of Favorite
- Favorite vs. Favourite: Examples
- The Correct Way to Spell Favorite
- Definition of Favorite
- The Origins of the Two Spellings of Favorite
- Favorite vs. Favourite: Examples
- Examples
- Comments
The Correct Way to Spell Favorite
The answer to that question might depend on where you are. If you’re in the United States, you would hear that “favorite” is the correct spelling. If you were pretty much anywhere else in the world where English is spoken, you would hear that “favourite” is the spelling you should use. “Favourite” and “favorite” mean the same thing, are pronounced the same way (FAY-vuh-rit or FAY-vrit), and are both correct spellings.
Definition of Favorite
“Favorite” (or “favourite,” if that’s the spelling you favour) is a word that can be used both as a noun and as an adjective.
When used as a noun, “favorite” can have two meanings. When we like someone or something more than other people or things, we can use the word favorite to let the world know:
Favorite is also a word that pops up frequently in relation to competitions. We call the person most likely to win the competition “the favorite”
We mentioned that favorite can also be used as an adjective. When we use it like that, favorite has only one meaning—“most liked” or “preferred”:
The Origins of the Two Spellings of Favorite
“Favorite” and “favourite” share a common backstory with other words in the English language. The word “color,” for example, is spelled with an “-or” ending in American English, while in British English it’s spelled “colour.” There are plenty of other examples: “flavor” and “flavour,” “honor” and “honour,” “rumor” and “rumour.” The list could go on and on.
For a long time, there was no consensus on how words ending with -or or -our should be spelled in Britain. We know that Samuel Johnson, the famous British lexicographer, had a strong preference for the -our versions of words, as is evident from his 1755 dictionary. On the other side of the pond, an equally famous American lexicographer, Noah Webster, wanted to make the English language used in America truly American. So, his 1828 dictionary recommended the -or spellings of the disputed words. To this day, Webster gets a lot of credit for influencing the way Americans write English.
Favorite vs. Favourite: Examples
The easiest way to notice the difference in spelling and its national character is by looking through different national publications or international editions of media outlets.
It is sometimes said that the United States and the United Kingdom are two countries separated by a common language. Despite the fact that English is the most widely used language in both countries, a distinction is often made between the English used in the United States—American English—and the English used in the United Kingdom—British English. The differences between the two varieties of English are usually subtle, but they exist nonetheless, particularly around spelling.
Favorite and favourite are both correct spellings, depending on whether you use American or British spelling standards. Favorite is preferred in American English, while favourite is preferred in British English. Sometimes, favorite or favourite can be used and the correct form depends on which style gu >Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing always looks great? Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite websites.
The Correct Way to Spell Favorite
The answer to that question might depend on where you are. If you’re in the United States, you would hear that “favorite” is the correct spelling. If you were pretty much anywhere else in the world where English is spoken, you would hear that “favourite” is the spelling you should use. “Favourite” and “favorite” mean the same thing, are pronounced the same way (FAY-vuh-rit or FAY-vrit), and are both correct spellings.
Definition of Favorite
“Favorite” (or “favourite,” if that’s the spelling you favour) is a word that can be used both as a noun and as an adjective.
When used as a noun, “favorite” can have two meanings. When we like someone or something more than other people or things, we can use the word favorite to let the world know:
Favorite is also a word that pops up frequently in relation to competitions. We call the person most likely to win the competition “the favorite”
We mentioned that favorite can also be used as an adjective. When we use it like that, favorite has only one meaning—“most liked” or “preferred”:
The Origins of the Two Spellings of Favorite
“Favorite” and “favourite” share a common backstory with other words in the English language. The word “color,” for example, is spelled with an “-or” ending in American English, while in British English it’s spelled “colour.” There are plenty of other examples: “flavor” and “flavour,” “honor” and “honour,” “rumor” and “rumour.” The list could go on and on.
For a long time, there was no consensus on how words ending with -or or -our should be spelled in Britain. We know that Samuel Johnson, the famous British lexicographer, had a strong preference for the -our versions of words, as is evident from his 1755 dictionary. On the other side of the pond, an equally famous American lexicographer, Noah Webster, wanted to make the English language used in America truly American. So, his 1828 dictionary recommended the -or spellings of the disputed words. To this day, Webster gets a lot of credit for influencing the way Americans write English.
Favorite vs. Favourite: Examples
The easiest way to notice the difference in spelling and its national character is by looking through different national publications or international editions of media outlets.
Favorite and favourite are different spellings of the same word. Favorite is the preferred spelling in the U.S., while favourite is preferred in all the other main varieties of English. These preferences extend to all derivatives, including favorites/favourites, favoritism/favouritism, and favorited/favourited.
Favourite has been the preferred spelling in British English for several centuries, but this does not mean that favorite is a late arrival to the language or even American in origin. In fact, the OED lists instances of favorite from as long ago as the 17th century. Milton used it in Paradise Lost and, and William Wordsworth used it around 1800 (and many more examples are easily found in historical Google Books searches). The preference for favourite was not well established in British English until the first half of the 19th century, which, as the below ngram shows, is around the same time Americans settled on what is now their spelling:
This ngram graphs the occurrence of favorite and favourite in a large number of American texts published between 1800 and 2000:
Examples
These U.S. publications spell favorite without the u:
He even once agreed to have a bull session over milkshakes with Vice Magazine, which noted his favorite flavor is chocolate. [Salon]
Windward School is showing why it was a big favorite to win the Southern Section Division 4AA crown. [Los Angeles Times]
Sheen’s favorite women seem to be 20-years-younger prostitutes, but women keep tuning in. [New York Daily News]
A new Mardi Gras parade group named after Chewbacca will give sci-fi fans a chance to break out their favorite intergalactic costumes. [Wired]
And these non-U.S. publication use favourite:
A mother trashed a cake shop after being told they had run out of her favourite flavour of cupcake. [Daily Mail]
The 45-year-old radio talk show host was a clear favourite among Island voters. [Vancouver Sun]
For Melburnians who leave behind the city’s bars and laneways in search of new experiences on foreign shores, favourite-food cravings are familiar. [Sydney Morning Herald]
It opened just a few weeks ago in what used to be Odyssey restaurant and, by the time I visited, already seemed to be a firm local favourite. [Liverpool Echo]
Comments
Very useful post. Thank you.
It’s FAVORITE….lol. It just sounds so silly spelling it “favourite” UGH.
Once again, another close-minded American… I’m American and even I can admit it…
Well, the English complain more about this more than Americans. When it comes to the English language, the Brits are far more provincial about “Americanizations” without the understanding that a lot of American usage are actually original forms going centuries back.
No, most of them are not.
My issues with Americanization are that American dominated spell-check dictionaries don’t include the alternative spellings and it’s annoying to see “errors” reported about words which I know are spelt correctly.
The simplification of spelling that Americans have undertaken removes etymological clues that can help in understanding words one has never seen before.
English is already a confusing language, but making the etymology more difficult to recognise causes grief for people who actually love their language.
Grigor – That is clearly not the case here as explained in the initial post…
it’s soccer, not football, just saying lol
In all seriousness, this is a different of Dialects. Both are correct for their respective regions. just like in the southern US Ya’ll is the correct abbreviation for “you all” whereas in the northern states just “you” is used.
Favorite, I’m not even American
If you’re not American, then you’re spelling it wrong. Everywhere else it’s spelt “favourite”.
shut up american idiot
Well then. You’re not my “favorite” person right now lol.
Honestly, I like ‘favourite’ better, as well as ‘colour’ and other words of the same category. I live in the U.S., and I think it’s PERFECTLY FINE to spell it that way even when there’s a dashed red line under the above words that I typed a while ago(favourite and colour).
I agree, I used to type favourite all the time until the day I realized that everyone spelled it favorite….favorite without the “u” just seems like there’s something missing. 😛
What’s your favourite colour? HEHEHEHEHEH
I’m not really sure I have one, but since you put me on the spot, I’d have to say ourange.
it’s spelled norange actually
orange*
(replying to comemnts from two years ago lalalalaa)
s/he was kidding tho and btw, comments*
(replying to your comment from two months ago)
*though* (replying to your comment from two months ago)
Since I am Canadian and we usually add the u in there that is the way it looks the best to me. When I see it spelled favorite I tend to break it up and read it as fav-o-right. The word confuses me without the u. I assume I am saying it wrong. Where as favourite, I world pronounce “favour-rit” which I suppose to Americans that would be weird too because of the u.
My favorite color is grey or gray!
Tell that to George Lucas. In Return of the Jedi, Jaba the Hut uses the word and in the sub title they use “favourite” referring to his favorite decoration……. Han Solo.
At least I know my brain’s working when spelling!
Americans have managed to over – simplify a language that
has been developing rather well for over a thousand years – I was going to say
vulgarise, but I thought that might be provocative.
Simplification is a development. The English language generally is clearly not “original,” whatever that means. Using the term “vulgarize” would be inaccurate, not provocative.
It is very useful information. Even, now I’m gonna ask my professor of communication skills that,
what’s the difference between them. 🙂
techincally, english originates from england. therefore, favourite is the “correct” spelling
So people in Mexico who speak Mexican Spanish are wrong about their dialect because it’s not the same as how the Spanish in Spain speak it? What about the dozens of other Spanish dialects?
I am American and I am from the south. You all is spelled you all. It is pronounced differently in the south but it is not correctly spelled in all those other ways. Y’all & Ya’ll and all the other variations are incorrect spellings of the words ‘You All’. That is a fairly simple concept to understand but unfortunately we have more than a few IQ challenged folks down here, just look at where our primary education ratings are. And there is nothing wrong with the word favourite. I’ve seen it in books all my life. It doesn’t matter what country we are in BOTH spellings are correct. Saying it is UGH. is another example of someone being IQ challenged. Favorite and Favourite are both nice words. There isn’t anything wrong with either of them. Why would people think such nonsense?
my girlfriend landmagrulan said I was wrong
favourite feels right , favorite? ughhhh gross american crap
“U” in favourite obviously mean ur very own .. favoured one .. where as favorite simply assume as the one which other “excluding ” ” U ” may have chosen to like it.
I’m american and I only use British spelling cause I’m the british weeaboo, or so called “tea-aboo”
The English complain simply because their lack of understanding the origins in which their own words come from. The word “favorite or favourits” first off originated as a Latin word which started off with the beginning letters “favor”. So the Americans took the word and spelled it as it was originally spelled and changed the ending. This dates back to the late 16th century. Where as England took the word as well and added the “U” because their pronunciation with words has more of a hint of a French type sounding influence dating back to the early 17th century then the Americans did. So really their both wrong if you wanna get technical about it. But between the two the Americans actual have the more correct spelling of it and according to the earliest recordings found, the Americans also used the Latin word before the English as well by a small margin. But neither can take claim of its origin considering its a Latin word not English.
Источник: