They BROUGHT their books home. bouncy (not -ey) See ADDING ENDINGS (ii). brackets Round brackets enclose additional information which the writer wants to keep separate from the main body of the sentence. Jane Austen (born in 1775) died in Winchester. My neighbour (have you met her?) has won £250,000. Notice how sentences in brackets are not fully punctuated. They don't begin with a capital letter or have a full stop at the end if they occur within another sentence as in the example above. They do, however, have a question mark or an exclamation mark, if appropriate. Square brackets indicate that the material has been added to the original by another writer: When I [Hilaire Belloc] am dead, I hope it may be said: 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.' breath or breathe? BREATH is the noun, and rhymes with 'death'. He called for help with his dying BREATH. BREATHE is the verb and rhymes with 'seethe'. BREATHE deeply and fill those lungs! brief, briefly (not -ei-) Britain (not -ian) 34 BOUNCY BUT Brittany (not Britanny) broach or brooch? You BROACH a difficult topic or BROACH a bottle. You wear a BROOCH. broccoli (not brocolli) broken (not brocken) brought See BOUGHT OR BROUGHT?. buffalo (singular) buffalo, buffaloes (plural) See PLURALS (iv). building (not -iu-) buisness Wrong spelling. See BUSINESS. bureau bureaux, bureaus (plural) Both forms are correct. See FOREIGN PLURALS. bureaucracy (not -sy) burglar (not burgular, as often mispronounced) burned/burnt Both forms are correct. business (not buisness) but See AND/BUT. 35 buy/by Use these exemplar sentences as a guide: I need to BUY some new jeans. The book is BY Charlotte Bronte. Wait BY the gate. The children rushed BY. 36 BUY/BY cactus (singular) cactuses or cacti (plural) See FOREIGN PLURALS. caffeine (not -ie-) -cal/-cle Adjectives end in -cal. Nouns end in -cle. e.g. critical logical magical musical nautical physical practical theatrical tropical whimsical calculator (not -er) calendar article bicycle circle cubicle cuticle miracle particle spectacle uncle vehicle calf (singular) calves (plural) See PLURALS (v). callous or callus? CALLOUS means cruel, insensitive, not caring about how others feel. CALLUS means a hard patch of skin or tissue. Interestingly, skin may be CALLOUSED (made hard) or CALLUSED (having calluses). can or may? Strictly speaking, CAN means 'being able' and MAY means 'having permission'. It is best to preserve this 37 H CANING OR CANNING? distinction in formal contexts. However, informally, CAN is used to cover both meanings: You CAN go now (= are permitted). caning or canning? cane + ing = caning CANING is now banned in all schools. Can + ing = canning The CANNING factory is closing down. See ADDING ENDINGS (i) and (ii). canister (not -nn-) cannon or canon? A CANON is a cleric. A CANNON is a large gun. cannot or can not? Both forms are acceptable but the second is rarely seen. canoe canoed, canoeing, canoeist See ADDING ENDINGS (ii). canon See CANNON OR CANON?. can't Contraction of CANNOT. canvas or canvass? CANVAS is a rough cloth. To CANVASS is to ask for votes. capital letters Use a capital letter in these circumstances: to begin a sentence: 38 CAPITAL LETTERS My father will be fifty tomorrow, to begin sentences of direct speech: 'You will be sorry for this in the morning,' she said. She said, 'You will be sorry for this in the morning. You never learn.' for the pronoun T wherever it comes in the sentence: You know that I have no money, for all proper nouns - names of: people (Mary Browne) countries (Malta) languages (French) religious festivals (Easter, Diwali) firms (Express Cleaners) organisations (the British Broadcasting Corporation) historical periods (the Renaissance) (the Neolithic Period) days of the week (Monday) months of the year (September) but not usually the seasons Note these adjectives derived from proper nouns also have a capital letter: a Jewish festival; a German poet However, the capital is dropped when the connection with the proper noun becomes lost: Venetian blinds, french windows Note also that titles are capitalised only when part of a proper noun: Bishop Christopher Budd, otherwise the bishop Aunt Gladys, otherwise my aunt 39 . sentences of direct speech: 'You will be sorry for this in the morning,' she said. She said, 'You will be sorry for this in the morning. You never learn.' for . to the original by another writer: When I [Hilaire Belloc] am dead, I hope it may be said: 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.' breath or breathe? BREATH