Month: October 2012

The Difference Between ‘Ambience’ and ‘Ambiance’

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I was writing a post for my food blog on a restaurant in Culver City, Calif., when I noticed the editing tool underlining ambience with a squiggly red line, so I thought that maybe I was spelling it wrong.

Concerned, I did some research, and it turns out that the word can be spelled with either the e or the a after the i. With the a, the word is in its French form (meaning it should properly be italicized if used in that spelling), and with the e, the word is Anglicized.

Either way, ambience (or ambiance) refers to the atmosphere or mood in a certain environment.

Touché.

Categories: Grammar Notes