English, baby!

Program or Programme?

Date: Apr 14 2008

Topic: British English

Author: rhyme_reason

Lesson

The Noun: Program or Programme?

The basic difference is between different languages:

American English always uses program
British English uses programme unless referring to computers
Australian English recommends program for official usage, but programme is still in common use.

The word “program” was predominant in the UK until the 19th century, when the spelling “programme” became more common — largely as a result of influence from French, which has the same word “programme”.

So, if you’re writing in British English (either as part of an examination, if you’re studying English, or for a British publication), here’s some examples of how to use programme and program correctly:

We’re still drawing up the programme for the concert.
This computer program won’t run on my PC.
I missed my favourite television programme last night.

The Verb: To Program, Programmed, Programming

The word program is also a verb, as in “I’ll program the computer today.” In this case, both American and British English use “to program”.

These forms are also valid in American English:

programed
programing

But the Oxford English Dictionary recommends the double-m instead, which is in far more widespread usage:

programmed
programming

If in doubt, and writing for a publication, check whether or not they have a style guide or a rule on which form of the verb to use. When you’re writing for yourself, just make sure you’re consistent.

Comments

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mahmoud17

Jordan

that is good thanks

lw715

China

it's a very useful lesson!

askim

Germany

thx. a lot ♥

huaizhi

China

i see, thanx!

Fred

China

i even didn't notice the difference any more before take part in these lesson, that very useful to distinguish american and england's usage of english.

samsonfd

Cameroon

Thanks for the lesson for i've been making mistakes using these two words

Berchta

Indonesia

Thank you for this lesson, I really need to know about the real british english, because in my school, they like to combine both of them!

sadstep

Syrian Arab Republic

hi
thanks for this new information .at least for me its usefule
thanksssssssssss

Trang69

Viet Nam

Now I know how to use this word correctly!Thanks alot!

sadapkhan

India

Every time i make mistake in grammmer and understanding of the pharse

mydrems

Germany

It's very useful. Thanks

JOSEFRANCISCO

Colombia

The use make a rule

imranzaidi

Pakistan

Nice and Knowledgeable .. thanks a lot

jorge andres morales

Ecuador

STAR'B

China

Nobody told me when i made such a poor mistake.

mafia123

Viet Nam

yeah! if it is posible Could you make a topic talking about American English and British English? i think have alot of things to talk about except the word " programe or programme".