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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

NEITHER NOR.
nouns
There
are
four
kinds
of
nouns: common,
proper,
abstract
and
collective.
144