Program and programme are two words in English that are liable to cause confusion for users. The post: Program or Programme – Definitions, Usage and Examples handles this confusion by way of defining the two words and explaining their use/usage with illustrative examples.
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Program
Program is the American spelling for the British variant, ‘programme’ and as a noun, it connotes a lot of things among which are:
A series of steps to be carried out or goals to be accomplished as in:
- The Committee came up with a five-step program
A television or radio broadcast or show as we have in:
- We saw the program at 9 a. m.
- The program will be on air tomorrow.
An integrated course of academic studies as in:
- She got admission to study a new program at the university.
A system of projects or services intended to meet a public need as in:
- Working mothers rely on the day care program
- He proposed an elaborate program of public works.
A performance or series of performances at a public presentation as in:
- The program lasted more than two hours
A document stating the aims and principles of a political party as in:
- The party won the election but offered no positive program
- Their candidate simply ignored the party political program
In computing, program means the following among others:
A sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute; list of instructions in a programming language that tells a computer to perform a task; set of coded operating instructions used to run a machine automatically as we have in these examples:
- The program required several hundred lines of code
- He installed a new program on the system.
- The program can run effectively on the application.
Programme
This is the British spelling for the American variant, program and it has the same meaning with it as we have highlighted above. It is both a noun and a verb. Let us see some of its meaning as a verb as we have considered the noun meaning of its variant program.
Programme means ‘to plan or to schedule’, as in:
- He programmed the trip for tomorrow.
- He programmed the alarm to go off by 6 a. m.
- The enemy programmed the bomb to detonate at midnight.
It also means ‘to cause something to conform to a particular set of instructions’, as in:
- The hotel programmed the central heating system.
- Can you programme the cell phone to run the application?
- The spy programmed the car to shut down intermittently.
In addition, it means, ‘to cause someone to behave in a particular way, especially to conform to particular instructions’, as in:
- They have been programmed to behave that way.
- The Company programmed its buses not to exceed the stipulated speed limit.
- Her parents have programmed her to obey them implicitly.
- His foreign exposure programmed her to be a conservative.
Programmed and Programming
In the computing sense, programming or to program means ‘to provide with a series of coded instructions’, the verb is spelt program and the ‘m’ is doubled to form the past participle, past tense and present participle, as programmed and programming. In American English program is the accepted spelling for all senses of both noun and verb.
Difference between Program and Programme
Is it program or programme? Many people ask this question in trying to differentiate between program and programme. The simple answer is this: the main difference between these two words is that one is one is American spelling while the other is British spelling. Both are acceptable usage.
In British English, programme is the accepted spelling in such senses as in:
- It was a widely viewed television programme.
- They put on a varied programme of entertainment.
- That part of the show was not on the programme of event.
- She wants to buy a theatre programme.
- The board plans to launch an ambitious programme of expansion.
When to use programme and program
Of course, if you are in America, writing or typing in American English, you can write it as ‘program’. For those in Britain and others who subscribe to the British English spelling convention, they write or type programme. It is a case of which spelling convention you subscribe to.
There are some international examinations like the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), TOEFL, IELTS, etc. some of which are either purely American or British examination, if you must undertake such examination, you must stick to the spelling convention required. (See the post Top GRE Words) If American spelling is necessary, stick to it; and if British spelling, stick to it.
However, it is important to stress that consistency matters. When you write in American English, you must be consistent in all your writing; the same goes for British English. Consistency is the key. (See the post British and American Spelling)
Summary
This post has focused on program and programme and explains the two concepts with copious examples and proper usage depending on the spelling convention of your choice. Both words are correct; so feel free to use them but ensure consistency. See other related posts like:
- Ok and okay
- Toward and towards
- Elder and older
- Further and farther
- Emoticon and emoji
- Surpass and supersede
- Stationary and stationery
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