Writing Tips has been archived and won’t be updated before it is permanently deleted.
For the most up-to-date content, please consult Writing Tips Plus, which combines content from Writing Tips and The Canadian Style. And don’t forget to update your bookmarks!
In such words as vapour, Canadians generally prefer the British ending ‑our to the American variant ‑or.
However, the u is dropped in vaporize and vaporous.
© Public Services and Procurement Canada, 2025
TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank
Writing tools – Writing Tips
A product of the Translation Bureau