Is the word practice a verb

Even though English speakers in the U.K. and North America use English in mostly the same ways, small differences persist. Many of these differences are in the spelling of words.

Practice and practise are two spellings of the same word. The only differences in meaning are in their usage in American and British communities.

Continue reading to discover if you should choose practice or practise, depending on your intended audience.

What is Difference Between Practice and Practise?

In this article, I will compare practice vs. practise. I will use each in a sentence and outline when it is appropriate to use each spelling.

Then, I will show you a helpful trick to use when you can’t decide whether to use practise or practice in your own writing.

When to Use Practice

What does practice mean? Practice can be a noun or a verb.

As a noun, practice has many senses. It sometimes means repetition of a task or activity to increase skill level.

For example,

• If she puts in enough practice, Melissa can get better at writing.
• Their discipline and practice set Olympians apart from casual athletes.

Practice can also refer to a gathering or meeting where training takes place.

For example,

• Jerome, why weren’t you at soccer practice yesterday?
• The entire team must run drills at each practice.
• Panthers quarterback Cam Newton returned to practice Wednesday, although it remains unclear if the league’s MVP will play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. –The New York Times

Practice might also refer to real world application of a concept or method, like in this sentence:

• In practice, the designs are never perfect, so you will still need to measure carefully.

Sometimes, a practice can be a business, especially in medicine and law.

For example,

• Weingart left the children’s hospital to start his own private practice.

As a verb, practice means to repeat a task or activity to increase skill level or simply to perform an activity regularly, even without the goal of increasing aptitude.

For example,

• Practice your scales so you will improve as a pianist.
• You must practice your religious rituals to maintain holiness.

When to Use Practise

What does practise mean? Practise is the British English spelling of practice. It can be used in all contexts outlined above, with one caveat.

Before the 20th century, practise was used as the verb form of this word in both American and British English.

Today, British writers and editors still prefer to spell the verb as practise, but Americans have made practice the standard verb spelling. Practice is also the standard spelling of the noun in both American and British English.

• He grew up in Killaloe in Co Clare, down the street from Keith Wood, a fellow Munster legend, and the pair used to practise their hurling skills together. Both had notable rugby-playing dads; Brendan Foley won 11 caps and featured in the Munster side that beat the All Blacks in 1978. –The Guardian

Trick to Remember the Difference

Here is a trick to remember practise vs. practice.

If you are using this word as a noun, spell it with a C to form practice.

As a verb, you will need to consider your intended audience. British readers are used to seeing practise as a verb, while Americans have shifted to practice for the verb as well as the noun.

You can remember to use practise as a British verb since it shares an S with the Spring Bank Holiday, a holiday observed in the U.K. which you could use to practise a hobby instead of going to work or school.

Summary

Is it practice or practise? Practice is used as both a noun and a verb; in both cases, it can have any of several different meanings.

• The word is always spelled practice in American English. In British English, the noun form is also spelled practice.
• The word is spelled practise when used as a verb in British English.

You can remember this difference because Spring Bank Day is a U.K. holiday that shares the S with practise, so you can remember to use practise as a verb with British audiences by imagining yourself practising a hobby on your day off.

Published August 15, 2022

If you’ve ever wondered why it’s spelled practice in some contexts and practise in others, it mainly comes down to British versus American spelling. But which is which?

When to use practise or practice

In American English, the spelling practice is the only one commonly used—and it’s used for both the noun (commonly meaning “habit or custom” or “repeated exercise to acquire a skill”) and the verb (commonly meaning “to do something repeatedly in order to master it” or “to pursue as an occupation or art”).

In British English and other varieties (including those used in Canada, Australia, and other places), a distinction is made between the verb the noun form by varying the spelling: the noun is spelled practice (just like in American English) and the verb is spelled practise. 

For example, in these varieties, the following sentence may be used:

• It is good practice to practise daily.

In American English, the spelling practise is usually never used.

The distinction may sound strange, but there’s another case in which this happens, and it’s not unique to British English.

What other words can end in –ice and –ise?

While Britain and American can’t quite agree on how to use practice vs. practise, they can at least agree on advice and advise.

In this case, advise is used as the verb (as in She advised him against it), while advice is the noun (as in He ignored her advice and did it anyway).

However, the above convention is not true of all –ice words. Service is a word in which both the verb use (I asked them to service my car) and the noun use (They provide great service) use the same -ice ending.

Similarly, there are also several words that end in -ise for both the verb and noun forms, regardless of which variety of English is being used, such as promise, surprise, merchandise, and franchise.

Why do these endings vary?

The British often use -ise for verbs (organise, civilise, realise), but that doesn’t mean the -ize ending (organize, civilize, realize) is unique to American English. Preference is divided in the UK (with the Oxford English Dictionary favoring -ize, for example). Examples of organize date all the way back to 1425.

The use of -ise or -ize often depends in part on a word’s origin. The ending -ize corresponds to words of Greek origin, while -ise is often rooted in French. The variation seen in practice and practise is derived from the Old French words pratiser and practicer.

Curious about more differences between American and International English? Flip through this: A Glimpse Into The Differences Between US, UK, And Aussie English.

Although ‘practise’ and ‘practice’ sound exactly the same and have very similar spellings, the one letter difference indicates whether the word is being used as a verb or a noun.

Understandably, many people struggle to remember which term to use in any given situation, so spelling mistakes are common. In academic writing, this doesn’t give a good impression to the reader. With our help, though, you need never mix them up again!

Practise (Verb)

When ‘practise’ is spelled with an ‘s’, it’s a verb that usually means ‘regularly repeat an activity in order to get better’. It’s used when talking about skills, like speaking a foreign language, playing a sport or drawing. ‘Practise’ would therefore appear in a sentence such as:

I practise playing the piano for an hour per day.

It is also used to mean ‘carrying out an activity regularly or habitually’, especially when discussing someone’s religion or profession. For example, we could say:

He is a practising Catholic.

Or we could say:

She practises law.

In each case, ‘practise’ denotes a custom being carried out.

Practice (Noun)

When spelled with a ‘c’, ‘practice’ is a noun. This refers to a habitual or established way of doing something. If a doctor practises (verb) medicine, for example, she or he is engaged in medical practice (noun).

The word ‘practice’ can also be used to mean the physical place or building where a doctor or lawyer practises. For instance, a medical practice is somewhere you would go for a doctor’s appointment.

It can also be used a more general sense to mean ‘apply an idea or theory’, as in the phrases ‘she put her training into practice’ or ‘practice makes perfect’.

Practise or Practice?

Remember the basic rule: ‘practise’ with an ‘s’ is a verb and ‘practice’ with a ‘c’ is a noun. As such, if the sentence seems like it refers to an action, ‘practise’ is correct. If it refers to a thing, ‘practice’ will be the term to use.