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Deepa Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

-ise suffix

most verbs ending in -ise, e.g. realise, authorise, can also be spelled -ize. is there any general rule for when to use what?
  

Top answer

I'm not sure about this - it has puzzled me too! I wonder if it dates back to different traditions in spellings in the USA compared to the UK when Webster compiled his USA dictionary?

— Suzi

  • I'm not sure about this - it has puzzled me too!
  • I wonder if it dates back to different traditions in spellings in the USA compared to the UK when Webster compiled his USA dictionary?
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6 Answers
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I'm not sure about this - it has puzzled me too!
I wonder if it dates back to different traditions in spellings in the USA compared to the UK when Webster compiled his USA dictionary?
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In -ise versions, the syllable before "ise" gets stressed, whereas in -ize versions, the syllable "ize" gets stressed.
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I've read that '-ize' is American spelling and '-ise' is British spelling.
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oh! but we use both for realize/realise and authorize/authorise!! thats so confusing!!
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-ise is more British/Commonwealth, but the OED says -ize which is more seen as an Americanism (with Canada in many cases) but in the overall scheme of things both are acceptable in any case unless there is a style guide in play (eg most academic journals require -ize even in Australia, Britain & New Zealand)
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Deepa,

I think ise and ize used in the same context due to the fact that those being suffixes originated from Greek .

To my knowledge both are correct in the occasions you have stated in the question,but there are times that this gets specific.For instance victimize and franchise.
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