Knowing whether to use ‘practice’ or ‘practise’ can be tricky. Because these words are homophones, and the spelling is very similar, it is easy to make mistakes.
Practice is the noun:
I need more practice.
Practice is key to being a good pianist.
Practise is the verb:
I must practise if I’m going to get this right.
I used to practise on the piano for an hour every day.
There is one easy way to remember which is which: these words follow the same spelling rule as ‘advice’ and ‘advise’.
Advice is a thing you give or receive. Advise is something you do.
Because that pair of words don’t sound the same, it’s easy to remember which is which.
You can also think of the ending – ‘ice’ – which we know is a thing, and that reminds us which one of the pair is the noun.
Fun fact: In British and Australian English, ‘licence’ and ‘license’ follow the same rule.
I have my driver’s licence. I am licensed to drive.
However, American English spells both the noun and the verb as license.
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