Page "Comparison of American and British English" Paragraph 20

* Lit as the past tense of light is more common than lighted in the UK ; American English uses lit to mean " set afire " / " kindled " / " made to emit light " but lighted to mean " cast light upon " ( e. g., " The stagehand lighted the set and then lit a cigarette .").

Conversely, British English favours fitted as the past tense of fit generally, whereas the preference of American English is more complex: AmEng prefers fitted for the metaphorical sense of having made an object " fit " ( i. e., suited ) for a purpose ; in spatial transitive contexts, AmEng uses fitted for the sense of having made an object conform to an unchanged object that it surrounds ( e. g., " fitted X around Y ") but fit for the sense of having made an object conform to an unchanged object that surrounds it ( e. g., " fit X into Y "); and for the spatial senses ( both intransitive and transitive ) of having been matching with respect to contour, with no alteration of either object implied, AmEng prefers fit (" The clothes fit.

"; " The clothes fit me well.

").