Practice and practise are both correct spellings, but the choice depends on English variety and grammatical function. American English uses practice for both nouns and verbs. British, Australian, and traditionally New Zealand English use practice as a noun and practise as a verb, while Canadian usage commonly uses practice for both.
Key Facts at a Glance
- American English uses practice for both the noun and the verb.
- British English uses practice as a noun and practise as a verb.
- Australian English follows the British noun-verb distinction.
- Canadian English commonly uses practice for both forms, although some publishers retain practise for verbs.
- The noun refers to an activity, routine, or professional business; the verb refers to performing or repeating an action.
- In British-style spelling, practising and practised retain the s.
Is Practice or Practise the Correct Spelling?
Both spellings are correct, but they are not interchangeable in every variety of English. Use practice in American English regardless of whether the word is a noun or verb; use practice for a noun and practise for a verb in British and Australian English.
The sentence’s audience matters first. Grammar matters second. For example, an American writer uses “She practices piano,” while a British writer uses “She practises piano.” Both sentences follow their local standard.
The distinction resembles advice and advise, although the pronunciation pattern differs. In British spelling, the letter c identifies the noun and s identifies the verb. That mnemonic works for ordinary forms, participles, and professional expressions when the writer maintains the same regional convention.
When Is Practice the Noun?
Practice is the noun when it names an activity, repeated training, a customary method, or a professional business. The noun can usually follow an article, determiner, adjective, or possessive, as in “the practice,” “regular practice,” or “her practice.”
Common noun meanings include:
- Training: “Daily practice improved his tennis serve.”
- A customary method: “The company follows a practice of publishing invoices monthly.”
- A professional business: “The dental practice opened in 2018.”
- A professional activity: “She has a busy legal practice.”
- A religious or social activity: “Meditation is part of his daily practice.”
A useful test is substitution with activity, method, or business. If one replacement fits without changing the sentence’s basic meaning, practice is probably the noun.
| Meaning | Correct example | Replacement test |
|---|---|---|
| Training | “Piano practice starts at 6 p.m.” | Repeated training |
| Method | “That practice reduces waste.” | Established method |
| Business | “The medical practice employs six doctors.” | Professional business |
| Habit | “Regular practice builds accuracy.” | Repeated activity |
When Is Practise the Verb?
Practise is the verb in British and Australian English when it describes performing, repeating, or applying an activity. The verb can follow to, a modal such as will, or a subject such as she or they.
Examples include:
- “I practise the violin for thirty minutes each morning.”
- “The surgeon practises medicine in Bristol.”
- “You should practise the presentation twice.”
- “They practise free throws after school.”
- “She practises mindfulness before work.”
American English spells every example with practice: “I practice the violin,” “The surgeon practices medicine,” and “You should practice the presentation.”
The professional sense is especially useful because the spelling changes with the variety of English, not with the occupation. A British doctor practises medicine, but the doctor works in a medical practice. An American doctor practices medicine and works in a medical practice.
Which Spelling Does American English Use?
American English uses practice as both a noun and a verb. Standard US dictionaries, including Merriam-Webster, list practice as the verb form, so “practise” is normally treated as a spelling error in American professional, academic, and general writing.
Merriam-Webster states, “In American English, practice is used as both a noun and a verb.” That rule covers the full verb system:
| Grammatical form | American English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Base verb | practice | “Practice the scale slowly.” |
| Third-person singular | practices | “She practices daily.” |
| Present participle | practicing | “He is practicing now.” |
| Past tense | practiced | “They practiced yesterday.” |
| Past participle | practiced | “She has practiced for years.” |
The US convention is simpler because spelling does not signal the part of speech. A US publisher should not change practice to practise merely because the sentence uses an action.
How Do British and Australian Rules Work?
British and Australian English use practice for nouns and practise for verbs. The same distinction generally appears in New Zealand and South African English, although individual publishers, dictionaries, and style guides can set house preferences.
| Variety | Noun | Verb | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | practice | practice | “She practices law.” |
| United Kingdom | practice | practise | “She practises law.” |
| Australia | practice | practise | “She practises law.” |
| New Zealand | practice | practise | “She practises law.” |
| Canada | practice | practice commonly | “She practices law.” |
The phrase Commonwealth English is useful but imperfect. Canada has substantial US influence and commonly uses practice as the verb, whereas Australia and the United Kingdom preserve the c-versus-s distinction more consistently.
A publisher’s style guide can override a broad regional tendency. The Canadian Style and Canadian publishers may differ, so a Canadian academic should follow the required institutional guide rather than assume that geography alone settles every editorial decision.
Does Canada Use Practice or Practise?
Canadian English commonly uses practice for both noun and verb, especially in contemporary business, government, education, and digital writing. Some Canadian dictionaries and publishers also recognize the British distinction, so practise may appear in carefully edited Canadian texts.
This variation results from Canada’s mixed linguistic influences. British traditions shaped Canadian spelling, while proximity to the United States reinforced forms such as practice as a verb. Canadian readers generally understand both systems, but a document should use one system consistently.
| Canadian writing situation | Safer choice | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| General business copy | practice for both | Widely recognized across Canada |
| Government document | Follow department style | Federal and provincial guides can differ |
| University assignment | Follow instructor or style guide | MLA, APA, and local rules may vary |
| British-oriented publisher | practice noun, practise verb | Matches the publisher’s house style |
| US-facing website | practice for both | Aligns with the target audience |
Canadian usage is therefore a genuine edge case. Calling practise universally wrong in Canada is too strong, but calling the British distinction mandatory for all Canadian writing is also inaccurate.
How Do Practising and Practised Work?
In British and Australian English, practising and practised keep the s because they derive from the verb practise. In American English, the corresponding forms are practicing and practiced.
| Meaning | US English | UK and Australian English |
|---|---|---|
| Present participle | practicing | practising |
| Past tense | practiced | practised |
| Past participle | practiced | practised |
| Noun, plural businesses | practices | practices |
| Verb, third-person singular | practices | practises |
Examples make the difference visible:
- US: “The athlete is practicing for the tournament.”
- UK: “The athlete is practising for the tournament.”
- US: “The team practiced for two hours.”
- UK: “The team practised for two hours.”
The plural noun remains practices in both systems: “The hospital has three practices.” The final s does not create the noun-verb distinction in that form, so context and sentence function still matter.
Which Spelling Belongs in Medical and Legal Writing?
Practice is the correct noun for a medical office, dental business, law firm, or accounting business in every major English variety. The verb changes by region: American writers use practice medicine, while British and Australian writers use practise medicine.
| Expression | US English | UK and Australian English |
|---|---|---|
| Medical business | medical practice | medical practice |
| Dental business | dental practice | dental practice |
| Law firm | legal practice | legal practice |
| Performing the profession | practice law | practise law |
| Performing medicine | practice medicine | practise medicine |
The sentence “He works at a legal practise” is incorrect under both systems because the word names a business. The sentence “He practises law” is correct in British English, while “He practices law” is correct in US and commonly accepted Canadian English.
This distinction prevents a frequent professional error: writers identify the subject as an occupation but fail to identify the word’s grammatical role. Occupation does not automatically make practice a verb.
Are Practice and Practise Pronounced Differently?
In standard modern English, practice and practise are usually pronounced the same way. The noun and verb distinction is primarily orthographic, meaning it appears in writing rather than in ordinary speech.
Both forms are commonly pronounced /ˈpræk.tɪs/, approximately PRAK-tiss. Because the final sound is generally an s sound, pronunciation cannot reliably tell a writer which spelling to select.
The related pair advice and advise differs more clearly in pronunciation. Advice ends with an s sound, while advise generally ends with a z sound. That makes advice and advise a useful grammatical analogy, but not a perfect sound-based substitute for practice and practise.
What Is the Fastest Memory Rule?
The fastest British-style memory rule is “C for the concept or thing, S for the skill or action.” Practice is the noun, and practise is the verb. American English ignores this distinction and uses practice in both positions.
Three checks make the rule reliable:
- Replace the word with activity, method, or business. If the replacement works, choose practice in every variety.
- Replace the word with an action such as train, perform, or work professionally. Choose practise in British or Australian English.
- Check the language setting before changing a flagged word.
The visual mnemonic practice contains “ice” can help remember the noun, because ice is a noun. It does not identify the verb by itself, so the c-for-noun and s-for-verb rule is more complete.
How Should You Decide in Four Editing Steps?
Use a four-step decision process: identify the audience, identify the grammar, apply the regional rule, and scan related forms. The complete check usually takes less than one minute for a short passage.
- Identify the target variety. Determine whether the document follows US, UK, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, or another house style.
- Identify the part of speech. Ask whether the word means an activity or business, or whether it describes doing something.
- Apply the spelling. Use practice for both roles in US English; use practice for nouns and practise for verbs in British-style English.
- Search the whole document. Check practicing/practising, practiced/practised, and professional phrases such as medical practice.
A consistency scan matters more than correcting one isolated word. Mixed forms can signal that a document combined US and UK sources, which creates an editorial problem even when individual readers understand every sentence.
Which Related Forms Are Easily Confused?
The most common confusion involves verb inflections, plural nouns, and the similarly patterned pairs advice/advise and licence/license. The correct form depends on both regional convention and grammatical role.
| Word pair | British noun | British verb | American usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practice pair | practice | practise | practice for both |
| Advice pair | advice | advise | advice and advise |
| Licence pair | licence | license | license for noun and verb |
| Prophecy pair | prophecy | prophesy | prophecy and prophesy |
| Device pair | device | devise | device and devise |
The licence/license comparison requires care. British English normally uses licence as the noun and license as the verb, while American English uses license for both. That pattern resembles practice/practise but reverses the letter associated with the noun.
Plural and possessive forms create separate issues. Practices can be plural nouns or a third-person verb, as in “the practices” versus “she practices.” Practice’s is a singular possessive form, as in “the practice’s policy.”
Why Does a Spellchecker Mark Practise Wrong?
A spellchecker marks practise as wrong when its dictionary is set to English United States or another variety that uses practice for the verb. The flagged word may be correct for the document’s audience, so the language setting should be checked before replacing it.
In Microsoft Word, select the text, open the language preferences, and choose English United Kingdom, English Australia, or the required regional dictionary. Browser spellcheckers and writing assistants use similar language settings, though their menus differ by product and operating system.
| Problem | Likely cause | Corrective action |
|---|---|---|
| “Practise” underlined | US dictionary selected | Change to UK or Australian English |
| “Practice” questioned as a verb | British dictionary selected | Keep it only for US or Canadian style |
| Mixed forms in one file | Multiple source documents | Run a global search and style review |
| Correct word changed automatically | Autocorrect rule | Remove or edit the replacement rule |
A spellchecker does not understand every audience decision. It validates against a selected dictionary, not against the intended readership, publisher, or contract style.
How Should Academic Writers Choose?
Academic writers should follow the institution, journal, or assigned style guide before choosing a regional spelling. APA publications generally use American spelling in US contexts, while Oxford University Press publications commonly follow British conventions, but local submission instructions take priority.
A paper should not alternate between practise and practice as a verb unless it deliberately quotes sources from different varieties. Consistent spelling improves editorial credibility and prevents a reader from mistaking regional variation for careless proofreading.
For a dissertation, the practical order is:
- Read the university’s thesis regulations.
- Check the department’s preferred style guide.
- Inspect recent articles from the target journal.
- Set the word processor dictionary accordingly.
- Search for both spelling families before submission.
The same principle applies to edited books, examinations, grant applications, and professional certifications. Style consistency is usually more important than choosing one regional standard over another.
How Should Global Organizations Choose?
Global organizations should choose spelling by audience and product locale, not by the headquarters’ country alone. A US product page can use practice for every role, while a UK or Australian version should use practise for verbs and practice for nouns.
A localization system should store regional variants in a style guide or translation memory. Writers should avoid manually mixing forms across pages, because inconsistent spelling can reveal that content was copied from a different market.
| Audience or market | Verb recommendation | Noun recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| United States | practice | practice |
| United Kingdom | practise | practice |
| Australia | practise | practice |
| Canada | practice commonly | practice |
| Mixed global audience | Follow primary locale | Practice is broadly understood |
A global brand does not need separate pages for every spelling difference. It does need a deliberate primary locale, a documented exception policy, and quality assurance that checks inflected forms rather than only the headline word.
What Are the Most Common Errors?
The most common errors are using practise as a US verb, using practise for a professional business, and changing only the base form while leaving participles inconsistent. Each error has a simple correction once the grammar and audience are separated.
- US error: “She practises yoga.”
Correction: “She practices yoga.” - UK noun error: “The doctor opened a medical practise.”
Correction: “The doctor opened a medical practice.” - UK participle error: “He is practicing daily.”
Correction: “He is practising daily.” - Mixed-style error: “She practices daily and has practised for years.”
Correction: Use practices/practiced or practises/practised consistently. - Plural confusion: “The clinic runs two practise.”
Correction: “The clinic runs two practices.”
The counterintuitive point is that medical practice never becomes medical practise merely because the sentence concerns a doctor. The noun names the professional business.
The Bottom Line
The answer to is practice or practise the correct spelling depends on region and grammar. Choose practice for every use in American English, choose practice for nouns and practise for verbs in British and Australian English, and use practice for both in most contemporary Canadian writing.
Check the audience before checking the letter. Then scan the related forms, including practising, practised, and practices, so the entire document follows one coherent spelling system.
FAQ
Is practise accepted in American English?
Practise is not the standard American English spelling of the verb. US dictionaries and style guides use practice for both noun and verb, so American writers should write “I practice every day” and “a daily practice.” A quoted British source may retain practise, but ordinary US prose should use practice.
Is practice wrong in British English?
Practice is correct in British English when it functions as a noun, such as “legal practice,” “regular practice,” or “standard practice.” British English normally uses practise as the verb, as in “They practise law.” Therefore, practice is not wrong in Britain; it is wrong only when used as the ordinary verb in a British-style sentence.
Is it piano practice or piano practise?
Piano practice is correct because the phrase names a training activity, making practice a noun. The verb changes by region: an American writes “I practice the piano,” while a British or Australian writer generally writes “I practise the piano.” The noun phrase remains piano practice in both varieties.
Is it practice makes perfect or practise makes perfect?
Practice makes perfect is the standard form because practice is the subject noun naming repeated training. The phrase remains practice makes perfect in American, British, Australian, and Canadian English. The verb spelling is irrelevant because the sentence does not use practise or practice as an action.
Can I use both spellings in one document?
Use both spellings in one document only when the content intentionally preserves different source varieties, such as quotations or localized examples. Otherwise, choose one regional style and apply it to every verb and participle. A US document should use practice, practicing, and practiced; a British document should use practise, practising, and practised.
