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)
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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
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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)
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
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.
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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
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