"Practicing" vs "Practising"

Shanster · Mar 23, 2008

When is it correct to spell it with a c, and when to spell it with an s?

Eg. In my story, I have my MC "practicing her new power" every night to get better at controlling it, but a beta changed it to "practising" and now I don't know which one I'm supposed to use.

So are there any set rules for when to use each?

Haggis · Mar 23, 2008

Shanster said:
When is it correct to spell it with a c, and when to spell it with an s?

Eg. In my story, I have my MC "practicing her new power" every night to get better at controlling it, but a beta changed it to "practising" and now I don't know which one I'm supposed to use.

So are there any set rules for when to use each?

I believe it depends on your location in regards to the pond. East of the pond, "s." West of the pond, "c."

Bufty · Mar 23, 2008

In the UK, Shanster, it's practising. Check your dictionary -the verb here is 'practise'. Practice is a noun - 'Practicing' doesn't mean anything over here.

Haggis · Mar 23, 2008

Bufty said:
In the UK, Shanster, it's practising. Check your dictionary -the verb here is 'practise'. Practice is a noun - 'Practicing' doesn't mean anything over here.

Yet in the States, "practicing" would be correct. I'm unsure about the Canadian preference.

Maryn · Mar 23, 2008

In most matters of spelling and other writing mechanics, Canada sides with the UK.

Maryn, who looked into this once upon a time

HeronW · Mar 23, 2008

If you're sticking with American Eng throughout your novel: C.
British Eng: Canada, UK, Austrailia & South Africa: S.

Haggis · Mar 23, 2008

Maryn said:
In most matters of spelling and other writing mechanics, Canada sides with the UK.

Maryn, who looked into this once upon a time

I blame KTC.

mirrorkisses · Mar 23, 2008

Canada? I have a friend from canada and he spells it the american way.

illiterwrite · Mar 23, 2008

It's true, in Canada we spell the verb "practise." It was drummed into me in the third grade: practICE is the noun (because ICE is a noun); practise is the verb.

Bufty · Mar 23, 2008

So, he spells it wrong - he's not alone by a long shot.

mirrorkisses said:
Canada? I have a friend from canada and he spells it the american way.

Maryn · Mar 23, 2008

What, there are people who make mistakes in spelling? I had no idea!

Maryn, easily shocked

StephanieFox · Mar 23, 2008

As friend from Australia said:

'We spell 'practice' with a C and yes, we do use the word 'practicing' down here.'

blacbird · Mar 23, 2008

Haggis said:
Yet in the States, "practicing" would be correct. I'm unsure about the Canadian preference.

The Canadian preference is "practising, eh?"

caw

Judg · Mar 25, 2008

Canadians dabble so much in both the American and the British systems, it's hard to say how we do things. You can always find someone doing it one way or the other. It really does get confusing when you get taught the British way in public school, only to have it marked as a mistake by the university professor who hails from the US. And vice versa. I would get taught different sets of rules by different teachers over the years, with none of them specifying where they were coming from. They were just "the rules". This may explain my allergy to arbitrary rules. And my deep, abiding love for those that make sense.

Bufty · Mar 25, 2008

I moved to a junior school in England when I was a youngster. In Scotland we would spell words like 'door' - d-o-o-r.

The English pronunciation of the spelling would be 'd- double o- r'

Every time I was called upon to spell out loud any word containing a double letter and didn't say 'double -whatever', I was cut off at the first letter of the pair with "Wrong! Next!" and the next boy would spell it 'correctly' with that silly 'double'.

Didn't bother me because being educated in Scotland I knew how to spell - it just seemed strange and I didn't change my spelling pronunciations.

deepprincealain · Mar 26, 2008

Bufty said:
I moved to a junior school in England when I was a youngster. In Scotland we would spell words like 'door' - d-o-o-r.

The English pronunciation of the spelling would be 'd- double o- r'

Every time I was called upon to spell out loud any word containing a double letter and didn't say 'double -whatever', I was cut off at the first letter of the pair with "Wrong! Next!" and the next boy would spell it 'correctly' with that silly 'double'.

Didn't bother me because being educated in Scotland I knew how to spell - it just seemed strange and I didn't change my spelling pronunciations.

Seems odd to me. I'm from the States and teachers didn't seem to have a preference whether I said d- double o- r or d-o-o-r, as I did a mixture of both, depending on what sounded better to my ears.

Practising looks odd to me, but again I am from the States.

Bufty · Mar 26, 2008

It was odd - that's why I mentioned it. But it was a very l-o-o-o-ng time ago.

darkprincealain said:
Seems odd to me. I'm from the States and teachers didn't seem to have a preference whether I said d- double o- r or d-o-o-r, as I did a mixture of both, depending on what sounded better to my ears....

"Practicing" vs "Practising"

Shanster

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Maryn

I Tried

HeronW

Down Under Fan

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

mirrorkisses

illiterwrite

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

Maryn

I Tried

StephanieFox

Maybull the Bulldog

blacbird

Judg

DISENCHANTED coming soon

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

deepprincealain

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?