'Benefited' vs. 'benefitted': Which spelling is correct in Australian English?

Is 'benefited' missing a 't', or is 'benefitted' the one bending the rules? Find out which spelling wins and why.

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Have you gotten stuck on whether to spell the word benefited or benefitted? You're not alone!

The meaning

Both benefited and benefitted mean the same thing: to have gained an advantage or positive result from something.

The dog benefited from the backyard BBQ when someone dropped a sausage roll.

The general writing rule

In British and Australian English, there’s a two-step guideline for when to double the last letter of a verb before adding -ed.

Step 1: Look at the last two letters of the word. If there's a single vowel (a, e, i, o, or u) followed by a single consonant (b, c, d, f, g, etc.), the last letter may need doubling.

Step 2: Listen to which part of the word you say more strongly. If the stress, or the strongest part of the word, is at the end, double the last letter. If the stress is earlier in the word, don't double it.

Examples where the stress is at the end:

• admit → admitted

• commit → committed

• occur → occurred

• overlap → overlapped

Examples where the stress is at the start or middle:

• visit → visited

• offer → offered

• benefit → benefited

• remember → remembered

Because we say BEN‑e‑fit, with the emphasis at the start, we don't double the final t.

And then English does what English always does

Sadly, the rules don't always stick. Some words ignore stress patterns entirely, usually for historical reasons or because usage settled before anyone tried to tidy things up.

Some rule-breakers:

• travel → travelled

• label → labelled

• cancel → cancelled

These double the consonant in British and Australian English despite the stress falling earlier. Ah, the joys of the English language.

Why does 'benefited' look wrong, even when it isn't?

English quietly trains us to expect double consonants. We see them everywhere: transferred, regretted, omitted, controlled. So when benefited shows up with a single t, it can feel unfinished or suspicious. It's not that benefited is wrong — it just breaks the visual pattern that English has taught us to anticipate.

Is 'benefited' or 'benefitted' the correct spelling in AU English?

Both benefited and benefitted are considered correct. However, in Australian English (as well as UK English and US English), benefited is more widely accepted. Several major UK dictionaries don't treat benefitted as a standard headword or even list it at all — both the Oxford Dictionary and Cambridge Dictionary give benefited as the correct past tense form.

Benefitted does appear occasionally, but it's far less common and more likely to be flagged by editors and spell-checkers.

Want the version that aligns with dictionary preference and fewer red squiggles? Benefited is the safe choice to go with.

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Stella Logan is a freelance Australian copyeditor, proofreader and localisation linguist who has benefited from overthinking spelling, so you don't have to.