Offence vs. Offense—What Is the Difference? | Grammarly

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. Real-timesuggestions,whereveryouwrite.GetGrammarlyIt'sFreeReal-timesuggestions,whereveryouwrite.GetGrammarlyIt'sFreeOffencevs.Offense—WhatIstheDifference?MarkoTicakGrammar Offenceandoffensearebothcorrect. OffenceisthespellingmorecommonlyusedoutsideoftheUnitedStates. OffenseisthespellingmorecommonlyusedintheUnitedStates. Offenseisspelleddifferentlybasedonwhereyou,oryouraudience,are.Butneitheroffensenoroffencearewrong. Offencevs.Offense—WhichIsCorrect? Inonesense,offensemeansanattack.Butitalsomeansanaffrontorinsult.Offensecanalsobespelledoffence.ThedifferenceisthatoffenseisthestandardspellingintheUnitedStates,whileoffenceisstandardinotherEnglish-speakingcountries: Theteamhadtroubleswiththeiroffense becausetheykeyplayerwasinjured. Nooffense meant. Theoffence wasclearlymuchlighterthanthepunishment. Theadjectivederivedfromoffense,offensive,isspelledwithansinAmericanandBritishEnglishalike.Itdoesn’thaveaversionthat’sspelledwithc: Ifoundthecomedian’sremarksaboutHerMajestyveryoffensive . Theycouldhavewonthegameiftheyweremoreoffensive . It’sthesamewiththeadverboffensively—it’sneverspelledwithac: Heoffensively proddedtheairwithtwofingers,makingarudegesture. Playingthegameoffensively isn’talwaysthebeststrategy. Here’satip:Wanttomakesureyourwritingalwayslooksgreat?Grammarlycansaveyoufrommisspellings,grammaticalandpunctuationmistakes,andotherwritingissuesonallyourfavoritewebsites. Examples OffensiveinAmericanPublications Itdidn’tseemtobeinawaythatmeantoffense,butheseemedsoaccustomedtoalcoholbeingatweddingsthathewasperplexed. TheHuffingtonPost CalquarterbackDavisWebbpacedtheGoldenBears’offensebycompleting32ofhis48passattemptstofinishwith301yardsandtwotouchdowns. LosAngelesTimes OffenceoutsidetheUS HenryalsodeclinedtoanswerfurtherquestionsyesterdayafterissuingastatementonSaturdaynightsayinghe“meantnooffence”tothetwowomenhespokeabouttoBruce. TheNewZealandHerald Mountiessaydriversaresentanemailthatstatesthey’vecommittedadrivingoffenceandafinewillbemailedtothem. GlobalNews AndspeakingofwordsspelleddifferentlyinAmericanandBritishEnglish,didyouknowthatomelet(oromelette)isoneofthem?Catalogisanotherone—itcanalsobespelledcatalogue.Andbenefittedcanalsobespelledwithonlyonet—that’showtheydoitintheUnitedStates. Yourwriting,atitsbest.GetGrammarlyforfreeWorksonallyourfavoritewebsitesRelatedArticlesGrammar80MostCommonPhrasalVerbsGrammarWhatIsanAdjectivePhrase?GrammarPronounsGrammarHowtoUseIrregularVerbsGrammarWhatAreModalVerbs?GrammarIndirectObjectsinEnglish(withExamples)Writing,grammar,andcommunicationtipsforyourinbox.subscribeYouhavebeensuccessfullysubscribedtotheGrammarlyblog.Writewithconfidence.Getreal-timesuggestionswhereveryouwrite.GetGrammarlyIt'sFree“Grammarlyquicklyandeasilymakesyourwritingbetter.”—Forbes