# Principal vs. principle - UK/US usage question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2015, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369 "2015-03-19T09:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/21 "2015-03-19T21:31:43Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Same here. The Principal runs the school and he’s your pal. I use principle in all other contexts. Well, that’s incorrect, then. The principal runs your school, but that’s because he’s the principal administrator. He may also be principled, but that’s a separate issue. You can also say something like “Working hard to provide for my family is my principal principle in life.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/22 "2015-03-19T22:55:44Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Yesterday, a (very smart) British colleague challenged me on my use of ‘principal’ vs ‘principal’. > > Usage 1: “There are three principle reasons for this approach.” > Usage 2: “There are three principal reasons for this approach.” Well, I think it’s settled, so I don’t have much to add except that obviously this “very smart” colleague isn’t as smart as you thought, at least in terms of his vocabulary. This is not “regional” usage, #1 is wrong everywhere, #2 is unambiguously correct everywhere. And as a Canadian, I speak a sort of hybrid of both US and British usage and am familiar with both. Of course it would be correct to say “there are three principled reasons for this approach” but that’s a completely different meaning, and a rather awkward sentence structure. To convey that meaning, I’d rather say “the reasons for this approach are based on three principles …” In any case the point is that “principal” and “principle” have completely different meanings – everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/23 "2015-03-20T00:46:51Z")
It seems like it’s a matter of principal… _Runs away_ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/24 "2015-03-20T03:39:44Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Per the OED, _principal_ can be a noun or an adjective - and an adverb when formed as _principally_ -whereas _principle_ can be a noun or a verb. The definitions in the OED are too lengthy to reproduce here. But the OED also marks this usage _Obs._ (obsolete), the most recent cite given being in 1823. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/25 "2015-03-20T05:02:20Z")
Since the OP’s dispute is explicitly over a British usage, the OED would be a principal reference for OP to cite. It would be hard to find a more authoritative source than that. How is _principle_ a verb? Is there an example of its usage as a verb? ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/26 "2015-03-20T06:18:36Z")
Or you could substitute ‘principle’ for ‘rationales’, ‘reasons’, ‘sets of reasons’ or ‘fundamental reasons’. Personally I prefer “There are three fundamental reasons for this approach…” as a nice hook, although I don’t know the context and you sticking to ‘principle’ could be more suitable. (English) English teacher ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/27 "2015-03-20T06:44:02Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Usage 2 is better, though not really correct, not because of the spelling, but because it suggests there can be three most important things", which would seem illogical in any language. I totally agree usage 2 is “right”, but not really correct. Having multiple “Principal reasons” conflict with the meaning of principal, in this case. That’s like saying “A unicycle with two wheels”. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/28 "2015-03-20T06:54:23Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > I totally agree usage 2 is “right”, but not really correct. Having multiple “Principal reasons” conflict with the meaning of principal, in this case. That’s like saying “A unicycle with two wheels”. Or “more unique”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/29 "2015-03-20T11:11:26Z")
> [@Saturn\_Dreams](#): > > I totally agree usage 2 is “right”, but not really correct. Having multiple “Principal reasons” conflict with the meaning of principal, in this case. That’s like saying “A unicycle with two wheels”. No, that’s an overly restrictive interpretation. The adjective “principal” can properly apply to a plural noun, not just a singular. Indeed, [the online Oxford dictionary](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/principal) offers “the country’s principal cities” as the first example of usage. Another dictionary has “vegetables are the principal ingredients in this soup”. “There are three principal reasons” follows the same usage and is unequivocally correct. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/30 "2015-03-20T11:40:22Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Same here. The Principal runs the school and he’s your pal. I use principle in all other contexts. I was taught that the initial drawdown for a mortage is the principal… That sents a princi… a precedent… perhaps money is my friend, but its not likely to be called my pal… When principal is used a noun, such a principle is the original or first or most important thing (or things, for the pendants, that is also correct. yes you can have three three principals at your school, you can have three principal reasons too … ) Principles are always nouns but they are ideas… certainly not people or amounts of money. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/31 "2015-03-20T14:11:17Z")
I think you mean _pedants_.\* > [@Senegoid](#): > > How is _principle_ a verb? Is there an example of its usage as a verb? You’ve probably seen it as an adjective, as in “he took a principled stand.” You need to go through a participle (i.e., verb) form to get there. \*This one is _actually_ ironic, not Alanis ironic, right? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369/32 "2015-03-21T02:20:28Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Concur. > One might say “There are three principles behind this approach” That’s exactly the route I went! Are you reading my documents? 🙂 I feel vindicated to have gotten this right. However, an odd twist here… in the company documents, I’ve found numerous occurrences of ‘principle’ as an adjective from multiple authors going years back. I wonder if this is a misuse that will someday be considered normal in the UK. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/principal-vs-principle-uk-us-usage-question/715369.md?page=1)