History or historycal corres 5 potx

livelihood loaf (singular) loaves (plural) See PLURALS (v). loath, loathe or loth? LOATH and LOTH are interchangeable spellings and mean unwilling or reluctant: IwasLOATH/LOTH to hurt his feelings. LOATHE means to detest: I LOATHE snobbery. loathsome loathe + some = loathsome This word means detestable. loaves See LOAF. lonely (not lonley) loose or lose? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide: IhaveaLOOSE tooth. (rhymes with moose) Don’t LOSE your temper. (rhymes with snooze) loping or lopping? lope + ing = loping He was LOPING along with long strides. lop + ing = lopping LOPPING the trees will just encourage them to grow taller. See ADDING ENDINGS (i) and (ii). alot (never alot) Remember that this is a slang expression and should never be used in a formal context. Substitute ‘many’ or recast the sentence altogether. lovable/loveable Both spellings are correct. luggage (not lugage) 112 LIVELIHOOD luxuriant or LUXURIANT = growing abundantly luxurious? LUXURIANT vegetation LUXURIOUS = rich and costly, sumptuous a LUXURIOUS hotel luxury -ly Take care when adding this suffix to a word already ending in -l. You will have double -l: real + ly = really ideal + ly = ideally special + ly = specially usual + ly = usually lying See LAY OR LIE?. LYING 113 TEAMFLY Team-Fly ® M machinery (not -ary) madam or madame? Use MADAM: " as a polite term of respect: Can I help you, madam? " in letter writing: Dear Madam (note capital letter) " as a formal title of respect: Thank you, Madam Speaker (note capital letter) Use MADAME as the French equivalent: " We are going to Madame Tussaud’s. " The famous French physicist, Madame Curie, was born in Poland. magic -e Also known as silent -e and mute -e. See ADDING ENDINGS (ii). mahogany maintain maintenance (not maintainance) manageable See SOFT C AND SOFT G. manager (not manger, as is so often written!) mango (singular) mangoes or mangos (plural) See PLURALS (iv). manoeuvre mantelpiece (not mantle-) mantelshelf (not mantle-) margarine (not margerine) 114  marihuana/marijuana Both spellings are correct. marriage marvel marvelled, marvelling marvellous masterful or masterly? MASTERFUL = dominating MASTERLY = very skilful mathematics (not mathmatics) mating or matting? mate + ing = mating mat + ing = matting See ADDING ENDINGS (i) + (ii). matrix (singular) matrices or matrixes (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. may See CAN OR MAY?. may or might? (i) Use may/might in a present context and might in a past context: If I receive a written invitation, I MAY/MIGHT accept. (still possible) If I had received a written invitation, I MIGHT HAVE accepted. (possibility over now) If I don’t hurry, I MAY/MIGHT miss the bus. (possibility exists) If I hadn’t hurried, I MIGHT HAVE missed the bus. (risk now over) (ii) Convert ‘may’ to ‘might’ when changing direct speech to indirect or reported speech: ‘MAY I come in?’ she asked. She asked if she MIGHT come in. ‘You MAY be lucky,’ she said. She said that I MIGHT be lucky. (iii) There is a slight difference between the meaning of ‘may’ and ‘might’ in the present tense when they are used in the sense of ‘asking permission’: MAY OR MIGHT? 115 MAY I suggest that we adjourn the meeting? (agreement assured) MIGHT I suggest that we adjourn the meeting? (suggestion more tentative) me See I/ME/MYSELF. meant (not ment, not mean’t) medal or meddle? MEDAL = a small metal disc given as an honour to MEDDLE =tointerfere mediaeval/medieval Both spellings are correct. medicine (not medecine) medicinal mediocre Mediterranean medium (singular) media or mediums (plural) Note, however, that the two plurals differ in meaning. The MEDIA hounded him to his death. (= radio, television, newspaper journalists) She consulted a dozen MEDIUMS in the hope of making contact with her dead husband. (= people through whom the spirits of the dead are said to communicate) mediums See MEDIUM. meet, meet up, meet British English distinguishes between the up with, or meet with? first and last of these: You MEET aperson. You MEET WITH an accident. Avoid using ‘meet up’ and ‘meet up with’. They are clumsy expressions.  When shall we MEET UP?  When shall we MEET?  We MET UP with friends in town.  We MET friends in town. 116 ME memento (singular) mementoes or mementos (plural) See PLURALS (iv). memorandum (singular) memoranda or memorandums (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. memory (singular) memories (plural) See PLURALS (iii). ment Wrong spelling. See MEANT. mention mentioned, mentioning. Mesdames (i) Plural of French Madame. (ii) Used as a plural title before a number of ladies’ names: Mesdames Smith, Green, Brown and Kelly won prizes. Always used with an initial capital letter. message messenger (not messanger) metaphor (not metaphore) A metaphor is a compressed comparison: He wolfed his food. (note the apparent identification with a wolf’s eating habits) Compare SIMILE. meteorology (six syllables) meter or metre? Use these exemplar sentences as a guide: Put these coins in the parking METER. You’ll need a METRE of material to make a skirt. Sonnets are always written in iambic METRE. might See MAY OR MIGHT?. might of This is an incorrect construction. See COULD OF. MIGHT OF 117 . town. 116 ME memento (singular) mementoes or mementos (plural) See PLURALS (iv). memorandum (singular) memoranda or memorandums (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. memory (singular) memories (plural) See PLURALS. matting See ADDING ENDINGS (i) + (ii). matrix (singular) matrices or matrixes (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. may See CAN OR MAY?. may or might? (i) Use may/might in a present context and might in. never be used in a formal context. Substitute ‘many’ or recast the sentence altogether. lovable/loveable Both spellings are correct. luggage (not lugage) 112 LIVELIHOOD luxuriant or LUXURIANT = growing