Offence vs. Offense

Is the correct spelling offence with a "C" or offense with an "S"?

The correct answer is…

It depends on what part of the world you are in.

In British English, offence is the correct spelling. Meanwhile, in American English, offense with an S is the only correct spelling.

Canada, Australia, and New Zealand tend to follow British English, so your best bet is spelling the word with a "C" as offence, but be sure to check with your instructor in school or superior at work.

Example sentences

The two spellings offence and offense have the same meaning, so it does not matter which one you use if you can write in either British or American English. Just be sure to stay consistent with the rest of your writing.

I take offense at your backhanded compliment.
The American football team in the red uniform will be playing offense first.
That was the criminal’s four offence, which means he will be sentenced to jail for at least two years.
No offense, but I think you must have cheated your way through medical school.
She was convicted of a criminal offence which will come up in any background checks that companies do on her.
Jonathan, who committed a severe offense, will hire a criminal defense attorney to help him in court.
He quickly realised that he might be charged with a new offence while on probation.

Notice that in the last two examples, the writer stays consistent in writing style. In the sixth example, offense and defense are both written with S in the American English style. Meanwhile, in the seventh example, realised and offence are spelled in the British English style. Make sure you choose one style and stay consistent with it throughout your piece of writing.

Other differently spelled words

There are many other words that are spelled differently in American English than they are in British English. Here are some prime examples of spelling differences. "AE" stands for American English and "BE" stands for British English.

S vs. C

The following word pairs are pronounced the same yet have different spelling.

defense (AE) vs. defence (BE)
However, the derivative defensive is spelled with an S for both AE and BE.

offense (AE) vs. offence (BE)
However, the derivative offensive is spelled with an S for both AE and BE.

pretense (AE) vs. pretence (BE)
However, the derivative pretension is spelled with an S for both AE and BE.

license (AE, verb in BE) vs. licence (noun in BE)
American English uses license with an S for both the noun and verb form of the word. British English, however, uses licence with a C for the noun form and license with an S for the verb form of the word.

practice (AE, noun in BE), practise (verb in BE)
American English uses practice with a C for both the noun and verb form of the word. British English, however, uses practice with a C for the noun form and practise with an S for the verb form of the word.

Z vs. S

Note that in British English, the letter "Z" is pronounced as zed while in American English, "Z" is pronounced as zee. The following word pairs are pronounced the same with a "Z" sound.

apologize (AE) vs. apologise (BE)
organize (AE) vs. organise (BE)
recognize (AE) vs. recognise (BE)
realize (AE) vs. realise (BE)
analyze (AE) vs. analyse (BE)
paralyze (AE) vs. paralyse (BE)

The differences in spelling between American and British English do not just end here. There are more patterns of differences and some exceptions, so be sure to study up on all the differences if you need to switch from one to the other.