'Ageing' or 'aging'; which should it be? With only a letter's difference between the two, it can be confusing to know which of the two to use. But fear not; in this article, you'll learn the difference between the two and when to use each one.
The short version is that 'ageing' is the British English preferred spelling and 'aging' is the U.S. English preferred version.
The difference between 'ageing' and 'aging' is simply a question of where you're located or the audience you're writing for. That's right; 'ageing' is the spelling used in British English and 'aging' is the spelling used in American English.
The reason for the difference between the two spelling is that Americans often drop the final -e in words when adding a suffix.
This difference in spelling is far from uncommon. Indeed, we've already covered many British vs U.S. spellings on our blog. Here are just a few:
So what does the word mean? The term 'aging' or 'ageing' refers to the process of getting older. It can be either an adjective, verb (the present participle tense), or gerund.
In this article, we'll use the spelling 'aging' from here on out since we're based in the United States.
The International Phonetics Alphabet states that the pronunciation of the word should be as such:
/ˈeɪdʒɪŋ/
And it sounds like this:
eyj-ing
We'll now move on to viewing some examples of the word 'aging' in sentences. Since the term can be either an adjective, verb, or gerund, I'll state for each sentence which role the word plays. Just look out for the parenthesis at the end of each sentence.
He finds the concept of aging to be quite daunting. (adjective)
He's already worried about the aging process despite his young age of just 30 years old. (adjective)
I believe I'm aging quite well if I might say so myself. (verb)
Aging is a natural thing that happens to everyone, whether we like it or not. (gerund)
She was faced with an aging man, resembling in no way the memory she had of her father. (adjective)
His daily aging reminded him to live life to the fullest and seize the moment. (gerund)
I have every intention of aging gracefully. (verb)
Anti-aging products are the hype these days. (gerund)
They were quite aware of the fact they were rapidly aging, though they would never have admitted it. (verb)
So now you know: the difference between these two words and the choice of which one to use is simply based on where you are located or the audience you're writing for.
To read more articles on American vs British spellings, visit our blog.
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