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by Spixxy on September 21st, 2004

Spixxy

Question

Help answer this question below.

Which is correct, gray or grey?

Answers. 25 helpful answers below.

  • by katscratcedme on December 7th, 2004

    katscratcedme

    "Grey is used primarily in areas that use UK English. Gray is used primarily in areas that use US English." ––– (Kim Siever)

    That's right. I'm in Australia and doing a Master's degree in Writing at University (College) and we discussed this in class the other day, because a student wrote gray in a short story and was told to change it to grey.

    Similarly, if you are in the States you will be encouraged to use gray.

    There are many other differences too. For example, we write travelled, in the US it has only one 'l', there's centre and center, theatre and theater etc, colour and color, labour and labor, defence/defense, jewellery and jewelry, kerb and curb, litre/liter/metre/meter, tyre and tire and so on.

    The American spelling's often a little more phonetic.

    6 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Worzel on October 5th, 2007

    Worzel

    Grey! In the UK Gray is also a name :o)

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by Kim Siever on November 11th, 2004

    Kim Siever

    Grey is used primarily in areas that use UK English. Gray is used primarily in areas that use US English.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by labgirl on October 5th, 2007

    labgirl

    Depends on if you are in U.S. or U.K.

    3 comments | Post one | Permalink

  • by Kevisaurus is a Carnotaurus today on October 5th, 2007

    Kevisaurus is a Carnotaurus today

    Gray because my spell checker says Grey is correct too.
    It doesn't matter in my opinion.
    Of course Lord Earl is Grey

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by maddock on April 3rd, 2007

    maddock

    None at all: Grey is the standard British English spelling and Gray is the standard American English spelling. The pronunciation and meaning are the same.

    Both are acceptable in the USA, but 'gray' is the official spelling.

    1 comment | Post one | Permalink

  • by Tallyman on September 16th, 2008

    Tallyman

    I like grey better, but either is correct.

    I'm from the USA.

  • by SweetW on September 16th, 2008

    SweetW

    Of course both gray and grey are correct. Even though this answer box just flagged grey as incorrect! lol. But as the others have pointed out, gray is more generally used in the US and grey in the UK.

    It is generally more respectable to use one or the other consistently, although some of us are quite visual and regularly spell words the latest way we have been reading them.

    The one place you must not make a mistake is in proper nouns: Earl Grey cannot be spelled Gray, nor Zane Grey, either. And L.H. Gray must be spelled Gray.

    Also be careful of the compound word greyhound, which is spelled grey-.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Brian I on October 5th, 2007

    Brian I

    I spell it with an E, but then I put what somebody on this site told me was a spurious U in colour and humour.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Babycakes on October 5th, 2007

    Babycakes

    Gray....as in my hair if I didn't color it every once in a while.

  • by KagomeShuko on April 3rd, 2007

    KagomeShuko

    There's no difference. The two different spellings are correct for the same color.

  • by findmeharry on November 12th, 2009

    findmeharry

    It appears that the "gray" varient appeared later, as an American English varient of "grey". Both have mostly the same many meanings. So yes, "grey" is a color, and was always so. Us Americans had to go
    and be different with "gray."
    A few meanings are unique, however, to the "gray" varient.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Grant aka Guybrush Threepwood on October 15th, 2009

    Grant aka Guybrush Threepwood

    i spell it as grey.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by McFingon on September 18th, 2009

    McFingon

    Depends where you live, I write grey and humour and colour. Those who live south of me would say that is incorrect ;-)

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Shanel with an S on September 18th, 2009

    Shanel with an S

    i say grey.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by moodycow665 on September 16th, 2008

    moodycow665

    grey!!

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Anonymous on February 2nd, 2008

    Anonymous

    katscratcedme6 wrote on Dec 7, 2004 at 5:34 pm

    "The American spelling's often a little more phonetic."

    The above claim is false.

    Spelling can never be phoentic. Letters are symbols that represent bits of sound.

    Spelling can be consistent or inconsistent, yet not "more phonetic".

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Firebrand on October 5th, 2007

    Firebrand

    Colour Grey

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by johngo on September 18th, 2009

    johngo

    It depends where you live. In Scotland both spellings occur, though as an English speaker and writer of English I prefer _grey_. I can't see that there's much point in getting upset about it. _Gray_ is a common surname in England and Scotland.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by tenchukii on October 8th, 2009

    tenchukii

    I read over at http://www.greyorgray.com that according to a survey conducted both in the U.S. and England, many people believe grey is an actual color perceived as the hue of "silver", and gray is a sliding scale of values from black to white. See my screenshot that I attached from there.

    So,I did some further research and found this was believed in both regions so it appears that aside from grammatical reasoning there is a connotative attitude toward the two. In short Gray is a Color and Grey is a Colour.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Rude Bear Ready for Winter on October 15th, 2009

    Rude Bear Ready for  Winter

    Depends. In the US Gray is correct. but in other English speaking countries it is spelled Grey. Funny, I was just answering a "what color" question... my answer was grey till spell check told me I was wrong :-)

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Jenniferocious on October 15th, 2009

    Jenniferocious

    I think both are technically correct.

    I use grey.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Gina.Intoxicates.You on October 15th, 2009

    Gina.Intoxicates.You

    gray

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by 8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009 on October 8th, 2009

    8 Jan 2004-10 Dec 2009

    Depends on where you are.

    I tend to throw people for a loop because I use grey, though I tend to spell most other words the American way.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

  • by Thom64 on September 22nd, 2004

    Thom64

    "Grey" appears to be a legitimate modern American alternate spelling of "gray." There may be regional or historical preferences but Merriam-Webster just lists grey as a variant of gray. On a spelling test, I would mark it wrong if the student used the spelling not on the spelling list that was provided, but I don't think I would take off points for using either in a composition provided the student was consistent - I don't think I would let a student get away using both spellings in the same writing.

    I would personally encourage using "gray" since that is the way I learned it and that is the main entry in my dictionary.

    No comments. Post one | Permalink

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