uk-business-english

# UK Business English Professional and measured. Polite without being obsequious. Direct without being abrupt. Naturally British without being a caricature. Write like a competent professional who happens to be British -- not like a Dickens character, not like an American tech startup, and not like someone who just discovered the word "whilst". ## Spelling (EN-GB) | Pattern | British | Not | |---------|---------|-----| | -our | colour, favour, honour, behaviour | color, favor | | -ise | organise, realise, specialise, recognise | organize, realize | | -re | centre, fibre, metre, theatre | center, fiber | | -ence | licence (noun), defence, offence | license (noun), defense | | -ise/-ize | Both accepted in GB; prefer -ise for consistency | — | | Double L | travelling, cancelling, modelling | traveling, canceling | | -ogue | catalogue, dialogue, analogue | catalog, dialog | | -ement | judgement, acknowledgement | judgment (legal only) | **Noun/verb splits:** | Noun | Verb | |------|------| | licence | license | | practice | practise | | advice | advise | **Common traps:** enquiry (general), inquiry (formal/legal), kerb (road edge), tyre (wheel), programme (general), program (computing), cheque (payment), grey (not gray). **Date format:** Day Month Year, no comma -- 15 January 2026. Abbreviated: 15 Jan 2026. Never Month/Day/Year. ## Tone Ladder Match formality to context. Default to "polite professional" -- a step more formal than Australian or American baseline, but stil...