English can be a tricky language to learn, and that’s why we write these blog posts!
Spellings can differ between countries that use English as their main language: the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia are among those that have their own quirky little ways.
Read on for help deciding when to use cancelled and when to use canceled. You can apply the same steps to other words that end in the letter “l.”
When the last two letters of a word are a vowel followed by “l”, such as in cancel, and we want to add a suffix that starts with a vowel, standard British English doubles the “l”:
But this is not the case in American English:
Australian English follows the British rule in this instance.
We might add a suffix beginning with a vowel for several reasons, including to change the tense of a verb, to produce a comparative or superlative adjective, and to derive a noun from a verb.
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Yes, and they apply to er, or, and est endings as well because these also start with a vowel.
Yes, other examples are travel and counsel. The general doubling up rule and its exceptions can seem quite complicated, but our blog about it makes it easier to understand.
To help you decide whether to use cancelled or canceled (and how to handle other words with similar endings), ask yourself these questions:
If you can answer “yes” to the last two questions, and if you’re writing in standard British (UK) English or Australian English, double the letter “l,” then add the suffix you need.
If you’re writing in American English, leave the letter “l” as a single “l” and add your suffix.
The English language can seem complicated. If you’d like an expert to check your writing, Proofed can do just that, so follow the link.
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