Capitalise vs Capitalize: British vs American Spelling Guide
Capitalise is the British English spelling; Capitalize is American. Both mean “to write or print with an initial capital letter” or “to invest with capital.” Neither is wrong—choose the one that matches your audience’s English.
In one Slack thread, a London startup’s CEO writes “Capitalise the brand name,” while their New York investor replies, “Let’s Capitalize the Series A.” Same goal, different spell-check squiggles—confusion arises because global teams read the same docs.
Key Differences
Only the “-ise” vs “-ize” suffix changes. British English accepts both, but favours “-ise.” American English sticks rigidly to “-ize.” Spell-checkers flag the other variant, so set your language preference once and forget it.
Which One Should You Choose?
Match your reader’s locale: use “Capitalise” for UK, AU, NZ; “Capitalize” for US, CA. In global or mixed audiences, pick one and stay consistent—style guides like AP or Oxford will back you.
Examples and Daily Life
CV heading: “Capitalise Key Skills.” US résumé: “Capitalize Key Skills.” In code comments, consistency prevents merge-conflict headaches.
Is “Capitalise” ever accepted in the US?
Yes, but it’s marked as British; US editors will change it to “Capitalize.”
Does Google Docs auto-correct to the wrong version?
It follows your document language setting—switch it to English (UK) or (US) once.