For the English natives, and others too, "practice" and "practise" can be an important source of confusion. This distinction can be difficult for those who learn English language, but also for those who navigating between two languages, and particularly between English and American language.
Definition and linguistic context for these words
It seems as if these two words are quite similar, because they have the same linguistic root. Nevertheless, their use is different, it depends on the English that is used.
In American English, “practice” can be a noun, but also a verb. Consequently, its use is simple. In British English, there is a distinction that is made, that the word “practice” is a noun, and the word “practise” is a verb.
It is necessary to know how each of them must be used, for a better communication and a better understanding too.
These two words are just an example of the similarities and of the differences that exist between two forms of language, close but also different. For any time, there were differences between American English and British English. Some forms are streamlined in a language whereas preserved in the other.
English language has known a lot of evolutions through the years, and according to the countries, this evolution was different as far as linguistic is concerned.
In British language, there is a distinction that is made between the verb and the noun, whereas in American, this difference has been eliminated.
Why does the difference exist? As an answer, it is possible to say that this difference is very old. In fact, it comes from the Middle English, and it is influenced by two other languages, French and Latin.
Today, it is a fact that grammar tends to be simplified in American English when it is possible to do it. It is the reason why the word practice is used both as a verb and as a noun. History seems to take a most important place in English, hence the difference in the use of some words.
Practice
In American language, the word “practice” is both a noun and a verb. Therefore, the use is simplest that it could be in English language.
It enables to reduce the confusion when people are speaking, but also when they’re writing. The communication is simplified, whereas in British English, the things are quite different.
For example:
In American and British English:
“I went to tennis practice yesterday”.
“He learned a new entertainment practice”
In these two examples, the word practice is a noun.
In American English, the word practice, as we said it before, is also a verb.
“He wants to practice his English”
“He practices medicine in New York”
Practise
In British English, the word practise is just used as a verb.
If we come back to the examples that we used a few lines earlier:
“He wants to practise his English”
We can see the difference between the two forms of languages and the difficulty of the British English compared to the American one.
Some examples
1 “After he has trained every day during months, his practice finally paid off”
In this example, the word practice is a noun, both used in British and American English.
2 “Chloé needs to practise tennis more often”
To practise is a verb, and it is used in English only.
3 “You should practise your French before going in Paris”: practise is also a verb in this case.
4 “Tom practises guitar for one hour every Wednesday”: practise is also a verb.
5 “His French has improved with constant practice”: practice is a noun.
How to differentiate them?
There are some tricks enables you to differentiate them.
The main difficulty is whatever they don’t write the same way, their pronunciation is quite identical, so it is even more difficult to make the difference.
A way to know which of these it should be used in a sentence is to replace them with words like them, for example “advice” and “advise” or “license” and “licence”.
However, it is important to keep in mind that contrary to the words “practice” and “practise”, the word “advice” and “advise” are not pronounced the same way. If the sentence has a sense when you exchange the words, it is simply because the right word was finally found. It is a manner to remind what word is to employ in a sentence.
For example, in the sentence “Théo could not wait for more tennis practise”/ advise: incorrect. In fact, it is impossible to exchange the two words, because the sentence does not make sense anymore.
But in the sentence “Théo could not wait for more tennis practice”/ advice: correct. You can change the words, so it is right.
Cultural and historical connotations
As we said it before, these two different words reflect some historical and cultural connotations in the English or American language.
First, the connotation of repetition, because the word “practice” gives the idea of the need for a repetitive work. It is generally found in studies or in sports, as we explained it earlier.
Secondly, there is also the connotation of something more professional, in medical context for example, or in legal one. There is an idea of something where expertise is necessary.
Also, there is important to talk about the linguistic evolution in the language. In fact, American English is considered as simplest, with an historical tendency to simplify the grammar rules to facilitate daily use, in the oral language, but also in the written one.
Conclusion
From a semantic point of view, the two words “practice” and “practise” found themselves in several contexts and are different, whether they are employed in American English or in British English. Both take in a repetitive exercise, in different contexts, studies or professional. To appreciate communication with others, it is important and even necessary to know how to employ the two terms.
This kind of differences, that exists too in words such as “license” and “licence” or “advise” and “advice”, show the richness and diversity of the language in its cultural acceptation.