Whenever I use the verb license, LanguageTool rather unhelpfully tells me that in British English this must be spelt with a C when used as a noun. I know this. I’m using the verb license. I know the noun is spelt licence.
Note that LanguageTool is able to handle advice and advise without issues. It correctly flags:
- I will advice you of the consequences.
- I gave him some advise.
And is OK with:
- I will advise you of the consequences.
- I gave him some advice.
So LT is able to tell the difference between nouns and verbs.
So, why is it fannying around with licence and license, which are exactly the same?
Hi Paul,
I’d like to take a closer look at this for you. Could you let me know the sentence that is triggering the false alarm?
I’ve tried several and have not been able to reproduce the issue.
I have LT set to British English.
It will flag:
- The verb licenses a bare infinitive.
Note that this is correct in both BrE and AmE)
It does not flag (and this is correct):
- The player practises football.
But, it also does not flag (though it should):
- The verb licences a bare infinitive.
It also doesn’t flag licencing as a misspelling in BrE (it does correctly flag practicing).
It also does not flag practice when used as a verb (though it should):
- The player practices football.