the present time (as in CURRENT affairs,
CURRENT practice).
curriculum (singular) curriculums/curricula (plural)
See
FOREIGN PLURALS.
curriculum vitae (abbreviation: CV)
curtain See
CERTAIN OR CURTAIN?.
CURTAIN
53
TEAMFLY
Team-Fly
®

D
daily (not dayly)
This is an exception to the -y rule.
See
ADDING ENDINGS (iii).
dairy or diary? We buy our cream at a local DAIRY.
Kate writes in her DIARY every day.
dangling participles See
PARTICIPLES.
dashes Dashes are used widely in informal notes
and letters.
(i) A dash can be used to attach an
afterthought:
Ishouldlovetocome–that’sifIcan
get the time off.
(ii) A dash can replace a colon before a
list in informal writing:
The thieves took everything – video,
television, cassettes, computer,
camera, the lot.
(iii) A dash can precede a summary:
Video, television, cassettes, computer,
camera – the thieves took the lot.
(iv) A pair of dashes can be used like a

students.
dates See
NUMBERS for a discussion of how to
set out dates.
deceased or diseased? DECEASED means dead.
DISEASED means affected by illness or
infection.
deceit (not -ie)
See
EI/IE SPELLING RULE.
deceive
decent or descent? DECENT means fair, upright, reasonable.
DESCENT means act of coming down,
ancestry.
decide decided, deciding (not decied-)
deciet Wrong spelling. See
DECEIT.
DECIET
55
decieve Wrong spelling. See DECEIVE.
decision
de
´
colletage (not de-)
decrepit (not -id)
defective or deficient? DEFECTIVE means not working properly
(a DEFECTIVE machine).
DEFICIENT means lacking something vital
(a diet DEFICIENT in vitamin C).
defer deferred, deferring, deference

has now spread here. Either spelling is
now considered correct for the noun but
DECIEVE
56

be aware that some conservative readers
would consider this slipshod.
She has five DEPENDANTS/
DEPENDENTS.
descent See
DECENT OR DESCENT?.
describe (not dis-)
description (not -scrib-)
desease Wrong spelling. See
DISEASE.
desert or dessert? A DESERT is sandy.
A DESSERT is a pudding.
desiccated (not dess-)
desirable (not desireable)
See
ADDING ENDINGS (ii).
desperate (not desparate)
The word is derived from spes (Latin
word for hope). This may help you to
remember the e in the middle syllable.
dessert See
DESERT OR DESSERT?.
dessiccated Wrong spelling. See
DESICCATED.
destroy destroyed, destroying (not dis-)

dictionary (singular) dictionaries (plural) (not -nn-)
See
PLURALS (iii).
didn’t (not did’nt)
See CONTRACTIONS.
diesel (not deisel)
See
EI/IE SPELLING RULE.
dietician/dietitian Both spellings are correct.
differcult Wrong spelling. See
DIFFICULT.
difference (not -ance)
different (not -ant)
different from/to/than ‘Different from’ and ‘different to’ are now
both considered acceptable forms.
My tastes are DIFFERENT FROM yours.
My tastes are DIFFERENT TO yours.
Conservative users would, however, much
prefer the preposition ‘from’ and this is
widely used in formal contexts.
‘Different than’ is acceptable in
American English but is not yet fully
acceptable in British English.
difficult (not differcult, not difficalt)
DIAGNOSIS
58
dilapidated (not delapidated)
dilemma This word is often used loosely to mean
‘a problem’. Strictly speaking it means a
difficult choice between two possibilities.

star).

DISCOVER OR INVENT?
59
You INVENT something if you create it
for the first time (e.g. a time machine).
discreet or discrete? You are DISCREET if you can keep
secrets and behave diplomatically.
Subject areas are DISCRETE if they are
quite separate and unrelated.
discrepancy (singular) discrepancies (plural)
discribe Wrong spelling. See
DESCRIBE.
discribtion Wrong spelling. See
DESCRIPTION.
discription Wrong spelling. See
DESCRIPTION.
discuss discussed, discussing
discussion
disease
diseased See
DECEASED OR DISEASED?.
dishevelled
disintegrate (not disintergrate)
disinterested or Careful users would wish to preserve a
uninterested? distinction in meaning between these two
words. Use the word DISINTERESTED to
mean ‘impartial, unselfish, acting for the
good of others and not for yourself’.
My motives are entirely

DISAPPEAR.
dissappoint Wrong spelling. See
DISAPPOINT.
dissapprove Wrong spelling. See DISAPPROVE.
dissatisfied (dis + satisfied)
dissociate See
DISASSOCIATE OR DISSOCIATE?.
distroy Wrong spelling. See
DESTROY.
divers or diverse The first is rarely used nowadays except
jokingly or in mistake for the second.
DIVERS means ‘several’, ‘of varying
types’: DIVERS reference books.
DIVERSE means ‘very different’:
DIVERSE opinions, DIVERSE interests.
does or dose? DOES he take sugar? He DOES.
(pronounced ‘duz’).
Take a DOSE of cough mixture every
three hours.
doesn’t (not does’nt)
See
CONTRACTIONS.
DOESN’T
61
domino (singular) dominoes (plural)
See
PLURALS (iv).
don’t (not do’nt)
See CONTRACTIONS.
dose See

Mr Brown denied vehemently that it was
DOMINO
62