History or historycal corres 8 docx

O

oasis (singular) oases (plural)

See FOREIGN PLURALS.

obedience (not -ance)

obedient (not -ant)

occasion occasional (not -ss-)

occasionally occasional + ly

occur occurred, occurring, occurrence

See ADDING ENDINGS (iv).

o’clock Take care with the punctuation of this

contraction. The apostrophe represents the

omission of four letters:

o’clock = of the clock

Do not write: o’Clock, O’Clock or

o,clock.

of or off? These exemplar sentences may help:

He is the youngest OF four children.

(pronounced ov)

Jump OFF the bus. (rhymes with cough)

Avoid the clumsy construction:

 Jump off of the bus.

 Jump off the bus.

official or officious? OFFICIAL = authorised, formal

an OFFICIAL visit

an OFFICIAL invitation

OFFICIOUS = fussy, self-important,

interfering

an OFFICIOUS secretary

an OFFICIOUS waiter

127