MOPING OR MOPPING? mischief See EI/IE SPELLING RULE. mischievous (not mischievious, as it is often mispronounced) misplace See DISPLACE OR MISPLACE?. misrelated participles See PARTICIPLES. misspell mis + spell misspelled/misspelt Both spellings are correct. mistletoe moccasin modern (not modren) moment (not momment) momentary or momentous? MOMENTARY = lasting for only a very short time MOMENTOUS = of great significance monastery (singular) monasteries (plural) (not monastry/monastries) See PLURALS (iii). mongoose (singular) mongooses (plural) (not mongeese) monotonous moping or mopping? mope + ing = moping mop + ing = mopping See ADDING ENDINGS (i) + (ii). 139 MORAL OR MORALE? moral or morale? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide: Denise is guided by strong MORAL principles. My MORALE suffered badly when I failed my exams and I lost all faith in myself for years. Morocco mortgage (not morgage as it is pronounced) mosquito (singular) mosquitoes (plural) See PLURALS (iv). motto (singular) mottoes or mottos (plural) See PLURALS (iv). mould mouldy moustache mucous or mucus? MUCOUS is an adjective, as in MUCOUS membrane. The name of the thick secretion of the mucous membrane is MUCUS. murmur murmured, murmuring (not murmer-) mustn't This is the contracted form of 'must not'. Take care to place the apostrophe carefully. must of This is an incorrect construction. See COULD OF. mute -e Also known as magic -e and silent -e. See ADDING ENDINGS (ii). 140 MYTH mutual reciprocal Our dislike was MUTUAL. Their marriage is based on MUTUAL respect. Some would avoid the use of 'mutual' in expressions such as 'our mutual friend' because a third person is then introduced and the feelings of each person for the other two are not necessarily identical. It might be best here to describe the friend as one 'we have in common'. myself See I/ME/MYSELF. myth See LEGEND OR MYTH?. 141 naive/naive Both forms are correct. naivete/naivete/naivety/naivety All these forms are correct. nationalise or naturalise? to NATIONALISE = to transfer ownership from the private sector to the state to NATURALISE = to confer full citizenship on a foreigner nebula (singular) nebulae or nebulas (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. necessary necessity negatives See DOUBLE NEGATIVES. neighbour See EI/IE SPELLING RULE. neither See EI/IE SPELLING RULE. neither .nor Compare EITHER OR. nephew -ness Take care when adding this suffix to a word already ending in -n. You will have double n: cleanness openness suddenness 142 ra NONE neumonia Wrong spelling. See PNEUMONIA. new See KNEW OR NEW?. niece See EI/IE SPELLING RULE. nine ninth nineteen nineteenth ninety ninetieth no See KNOW OR NO?. no body or nobody? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide: It was believed that he had been murdered but NO BODY was ever found, and so nothing could be proved. (= no corpse) NOBODY likes going to the dentist. (= no one) none The problem with 'none' is deciding whether to use with it a singular or a plural verb. Strictly speaking, a singular verb should accompany 'none': NONE of the passengers WAS hurt. (= not one) NONE of the milk WAS spilt. (= not any) Colloquially, a plural verb is often used when plural nouns follow the 'none of ' construction: NONE of the passengers WERE hurt. NONE of my friends LIKE pop music. 143 NO ONE NONE of the children WANT an ice-cream. Some reserve plural verbs in these cases for informal occasions; others would see them as perfectly acceptable formally as well. no one 'No one' is singular and requires a singular verb: NO ONE likes meanness. 'No one' should be written as two words and not hyphenated. nosey/nosy Both spellings are correct. Note-, for informal use only. noticeable (not noticable) See SOFT c AND SOFT G. not only but also Take care with the positioning of each part of this pair: Denise not only enjoys composing but also conducting. Denise enjoys two musical activities: composing, conducting. Put 'not only' in front of the first and 'but also' in front of the second, and let 'enjoys' refer to both. Denise enjoys NOT ONLY composing BUT ALSO conducting. Compare BOTH AND ; EITHER OR ; NEITHER NOR. nouns There are four kinds of nouns: common, proper, abstract and collective. 144 . mopping See ADDING ENDINGS (i) + (ii). 13 9 MORAL OR MORALE? moral or morale? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide: Denise is guided by strong MORAL principles. My MORALE suffered . as one 'we have in common'. myself See I/ME/MYSELF. myth See LEGEND OR MYTH?. 14 1 naive/naive Both forms are correct. naivete/naivete/naivety/naivety All these forms are . construction. See COULD OF. mute -e Also known as magic -e and silent -e. See ADDING ENDINGS (ii). 14 0 MYTH mutual reciprocal Our dislike was MUTUAL. Their marriage is based on MUTUAL respect. Some