Читать книгу Effective Writing - Elizabeth Manning Murphy - Страница 18

Poor spelling is one of the characteristics of poor writing. It defeats the purpose of words, which is to communicate meaning. It annoys readers and it is avoidable. Here are some hints for helping you to spell better than you do.

Spelling conventions vary among English-speaking countries. In Australian English we tend to write ‘recognise’ rather than ‘recognize’, whereas in British English it’s optional and in US English the first choice is ‘recognize’. Similar variable conventions apply to ‘colour’/ ‘color’ and ‘licence’ / ‘license’ – meaning the actual document. In Australian and British English we distinguish between ‘licence’ (the document) and ‘license’ – the verb meaning to permit something. US English spells both the document and the permitting verb ‘license’. Be aware that there are such differences, and consult a British English or US English dictionary if necessary. I have chosen to follow Australian English conventions of spelling for this book, using the Macquarie Dictionary as the reference.