Counseling and Counselor in Kitchener-Waterloo

Counseling and Counselor: The American English Spelling

If you are reading this page then you likely completed an online search using the words: counseling or counselor. The words counseling and counselor include a long list of words which are spelled differently in American English versus British English. Since Canadians are so often exposed to American English, using counseling and counselor is a common mistake.

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Counseling and Counselor: A Common Mistake as a Result of Numerous Influences

There are numerous influences on Canadians which result in spelling counseling and counselor in this way. Software, such as Microsoft Word, suggests the correct spelling is counseling and counselor. Literature or print media published in the United States also uses American English, so Canadians would read counseling and counselor. There is also no phonetic difference between counseling and counselor and it's British English counterpart to help Canadians differentiate.

Counseling and Counselor: Historical Origins

The different spelling of counseling and counselor originated in the early 18th century when the United States emancipated from the Commonwealth. Influential dictionaries, such as the Webster's dictionary (1828), formalized the spelling differences.

Counseling and Counselor: The Rule describing the Difference in Spelling

The rule describing the difference in the spelling of counseling and counselor is as follows. When the word’s final syllable ends with a single vowel followed by a single consonant, a final -l is often doubled. This rule is applied not only to counseling and counselor, but also traveling, fueling, and modeling. The rule changes words to travelling, fuelling, and modelling.

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