Occurred, Occured, or Ocurred—Which Spelling Is Right?

Spelling words isn’t always easy, especially when they contain double letters. In this case, the correct spelling is occurred. How can you remember it when you need it?

The best way to remember how to spell occurred is to remember its double set of double consonants. In English, the final letter is doubled when a word of two or more syllables has stress on the final syllable. Occur fits the rule, so there are two Cs and two Rs in occurred. Would you like to see some examples?

Examples

Anticipation! It occurred to him that his anticipation was more pleasant to him than the experiencing.

Patricia Highsmith, The Talented Mr. Ripley

The best thing about the bedroom was the bed. I liked to stay in bed for hours, even during the day with covers pulled up to my chin. It was good in there, nothing ever occurred in there, no people, nothing.

Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye

It’s never occurred to me that the stars are still up there shining even in the daytime when we can’t see them.

Jandy Nelson, I'll Give You the Sun

“Dad,” I said, grasping his hands and looking directly into his eyes. “I’m in the deepest love that has ever occurred in the history of the world.”

The Harvard Lampoon

The Basics on Subject and Object Pronouns: Answers

Answers:

1) Martha and Jim are in the office. Correct. 2) She is telling him a joke. Correct. 3) Jim made a copy of the report for Lucy and I. Incorrect. Jim made a copy of the report for Lucy and me. 4) I have to go. Mark is calling for Lucy and me. Correct. 5) Our co-workers love Martha’s cookies. Correct. 6) Jim and me are planning a surprise for Sue’s birthday. Incorrect. Jim and I are planning a surprise for Sue’s birthday. 7) We will give them extra cookies next week.Correct. 8) Who did you give the money to? Incorrect. Whom did you give the money to?

Center or Centre–Which Is Right?

Do you speak British or American English? Depending on your answer, you may differ on which spellings you favor.

Center and centre have the same meaning. Center is the correct spelling in American English, but British English writers usually prefer centre. Notice that center (and centre) can be a noun, adjective, or a verb. Seeing the two words in real-life examples may help you to visualize how to use them.

First, here are some sentences with centre and center.

Examples

The young athlete played center position on the ball team.

The discussion at the educational conference will center on childhood obesity.

The new doctor was very proud the first day he worked at the medical center.

Center in American Publications

Here are some quotes from the Internet.

The man at the center of the corruption case that led to the arrest of a former Suffolk police chief is expected to be released from prison and have his conviction tossed out on Tuesday.

Long Island News 12

Serbia on Wednesday introduced a lockdown for migrants in their refugee center outside Belgrade after an alleged attack against a woman walking with her children.

US News & World Report

Centre in British Publications

If the Countess of Wessex had been asked to hit a ball for a royal photo opportunity, rain would have stopped play. Fortunately, Sophie wasn’t required to participate, . . . merely to admire the facilities at the National Sports Centre in Bisham Abbey, Buckinghamshire.

Daily Mail

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths centre (STEM) at Airbus in Stevenage is based around the company’s Mars rover exploration programme.

BBC News

Center and centre are both correct spellings of the same world. However, where you live influences which spelling is most acceptable. If you like to learn about the differences between American and British English, you will enjoy researching the spelling of realize and dreamed.

I Before E Except After C: 9 Helpful Spelling Rules

Learning spelling conventions can help you write with confidence. Which of the following rules are new to you?

S or ies?

To make a noun plural, you usually add S. However, you might have noticed that some words that end in Y deviate from the norm. For example, babies is the plural form of baby. How do you know when to change Y to ies? Look at the letter before the Y to find out. If it is a vowel, then add S.

essay → essays ploy → ploys key → keys

If there is a consonant before the Y, replace the y with ies. daisy → daisies sky → skies

V doesn’t…

No English words end with the letter V. If you do see a word that ends in V, you can assume that it’s an abbreviation, acronym, or foreign word. If there is a V sound, the word will end in E. Think of glove, gave, sieve, or mauve. There’s another thing V doesn’t do—double. What about skivvies, a word used to refer to cotton undergarments, and divvy, a verb meaning to distribute or share? Dictionaries categorize them both as informal words. With rare exceptions, you also can’t double the letters K, J, W, or X.

Q is never alone.

Have you noticed that Q seems to have a constant vowel companion? In English, the letter Q is always followed by U. That’s not the case in Arabic and other languages, so borrowed words like Qatar, the name of a country along the Persian Gulf, don’t follow the English pattern.

Is this E a keeper or not?

When the noun fate becomes the adjective fateful, you add -ful to the end without dropping the E. On the other hand, the noun love loses its final E to become the adjective lovable. When do you omit the E? It depends on the suffix. You keep the final E when adding suffixes that begin with consonants. Suffixes that begin with a vowel, such as -able, require you to eliminate the final E.

Adding -ing Do you need to double the final letter of a verb when you add the -ing ending? For certain verbs, like stop, the answer is yes. For others, like go, the answer is no. The determining factors are the number of syllables and whether the last letter of the verb is a vowel or a consonant. If the verb has only one syllable and a consonant at the end, you must double the consonant before adding a suffix that begins with a vowel. These suffixes include -ing, -ed, -er, and -est. This is called the 1-1-1 rule because you double the final consonant of verbs that contain one syllable, one vowel in the middle, and one consonant at the end. If music helps you to memorize information, listen to the 1-1-1 Spelling Rule song featured on the Garden of Praise website.

All aboard?

When adding all- as a prefix, you usually shorten it to al-. All + together → altogether all + ready → already You might want to read up about all right and alright; the controversy is quite interesting.

Specific Words

If one particular word gives you trouble, you might want to search for a mnemonic device. Chances are, you are not the only person who has trouble with that word. For example, lots of people find it difficult to master the c’s and s’s of “necessary,” If you remember the phrase “one coffee, two sugars,” it will remind you that there is one c and two s’s, and that they appear in that order. If you can’t find a suitable mnemonic, make up your own! Rhymes and acronyms work well.

Consciously or unconsciously, you probably use this spelling rule: “I before E, except after C.” Because of this mnemonic, you spell words like achieve, receive, and believe with ease. English language textbooks are full of helpful rules to help people learn to spell. But even native speakers find some words challenging. It doesn’t have to be that way. Why not boost your spelling prowess by using a few of the useful principles you read about today?

6 Commonly Misheard Song Lyrics

You know that embarrassing moment when you’re part of a bar sing-along, and as you confidently wail gibberish lyrics to a classic song, the other patrons turn to look at and silently judge you for being totally clueless? Misheard lyrics, while hilarious, are a sure way to lose your credibility as a music lover. Help prevent a friend or even yourself from ruining a sing-along to a classic hit by finally learning the real lyrics to these often misquoted hits.

“Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix

This is one of Jimi Hendrix’s most famous compositions. However, it also contains one of the most commonly misheard lyric lines in history, “… ‘scuse me while I kiss the sky,” which countless listeners have heard as, “…’scuse me while I kiss this guy.” In fact, this misquote is so ubiquitous, it’s the name of a website devoted to misheard song lyrics.

“Tiny Dancer” by Elton John 

One of the funniest and strangest misheard lyrics of all time comes from Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” While the music was composed by Sir Elton, the lyrics were written by songwriter Bernie Taupin, who based the title line, “… hold me closer, tiny dancer” on his then-girlfriend. She was a dancer, not a 1980s sitcom star, as suggested by the popular misquote, “… hold me closer, Tony Danza.”

“Royals” by Lorde

Lorde’s Grammy-winning single “Royals” put her at the forefront of American pop music. However, the lyrics of this song have earned a bit more than top-level music recognition. The line, “Let me be your ruler, you can call me queen bee” is the source of one of the funniest musical malapropisms in recent memory. For some, royalty is not about being “queen bee,” but about being a “green bean.”

“Drunk in Love” by Beyoncé

The true Queen B, Beyoncé, churns out so many hits that it’s difficult to keep up with her newest chart-toppers. “Drunk in Love” is one of her biggest in recent memory. Being such a popular club song, the lyrics “I’ve been drinking, I’ve been drinking…” kept club-goers partying all night long. However, some seem to believe that Beyoncé is a bit of a Game of Thrones fan, as “I’m a dragon, I’m a dragon…” is commonly heard in place of the real lyrics.

“Because of You” by Kelly Clarkson

America’s first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, is one of the few winning Idols to have a legitimate music career, and it all began with her first big hit, “Because of You.” Kelly reassured listeners that, “Because of you, I never stray too far from the sidewalk,” but many buffet enthusiasts seem only to hear “Because of you, I never stray too far from the salad bowl.”

“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” by Creedence Clearwater Revival 

Creedence Clearwater Revival is the quintessential classic American rock and roll band, and the famously misinterpreted lyrics in their hit song “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” are equally iconic and memorable. The real lyrics say, “It will rain a sunny day; I know, shinin’ down like water,” but the admittedly anachronistic misheard lyrics go a little something like, “It will rain of Sunny-D; I know, China don’t like water.”

While these are some of the more hilarious misheard lyrics out there, we all know that there are countless songs with even more twisted and hilarious translations. Which of these are you most excited to correct your friends and family about next time you hear them belt out the wrong words?

What Is a Subordinate Clause?

A subordinate clause is a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence; it merely complements a sentence’s main clause, thereby adding to the whole unit of meaning. Because a subordinate clause is dependent upon a main clause to be meaningful, it is also referred to as a dependent clause.

Whether you use the term subordinate or dependent to describe the clause, this clause’s function is clear: it provides informational support to the main event of the sentence. This main clause will be independent: it can stand on its own as a complete sentence.

We can all go for ice cream.

This sentence is an independent clause. It has a subject and a verb, and on its own, it presents a complete unit of meaning: all of us are able to go out and have ice cream. (Hooray!)

But perhaps this isn’t all we need to convey.

We can all go for ice cream if I can find my wallet.

If I can find my wallet adds substantially to the meaning of the sentence. It is too soon to celebrate about our ice cream outing because there is a task at hand. We have to first find that wallet.

On its own, if I can find my wallet is a subordinate clause; it is not a full unit of meaning. If it was written separately as a sentence, the result would be a sentence fragment—your English teacher’s pet peeve.

If I can find my wallet.

What will happen if I can find my wallet? If a clause in your sentence leaves us hanging like this when set apart on its own, it is a subordinate clause.

Words That Begin Subordinate Clauses

Subordinate clauses will often begin with subordinating conjunctions, which are words that link dependent clauses to independent clauses, such as for, as, since, therefore, hence, consequently, though, due to, provided that, because, unless, once, while, when, whenever, where, wherever, before, and after.

They can also begin with relative pronouns such as that, which, who, whom, whichever, whoever, whomever, and whose. Spotting these words can tip you off that you are dealing with a subordinate clause rather than a main clause.

Why Do I Need to Know Which Clauses Are Subordinate?

Now that you can identify a subordinate or dependent clause, you may wonder how this information can be helpful to you. The answer to that is simple. It will help you to avoid hearing the words (from a teacher, editor, or coworker), “You should put a comma there.” Or the equally delightful, “You shouldn’t have put a comma there.”

Knowing which clauses are main (independent) and which are subordinate (dependent) will help you organize your ideas and place your commas correctly. The best part is, it is actually quite simple. When a subordinate clause begins a sentence, it has a comma after it. When the main clause begins the sentence, there is no comma to separate it from the dependent clause.

If I can find my wallet we can all go for ice cream.

We can all go for ice cream, if I can find my wallet.

If I can find my wallet, we can all go for ice cream.

We can all go for ice cream if I can find my wallet.

Comma Placement Level 2: Restrictive vs. Nonrestrictive Clauses

Punctuating subordinate clauses only gets tricky when they begin with relative pronouns such as that, which, who, when, where, and whose. Conveniently, this type of subordinate clause can be referred to as a relative clause. There are two types of relative clauses: restrictivenonrestrictive.

Restrictive clauses are sometimes referred to as essential clauses. This is because they are essential to the meaning of the sentences they are a part of. Elements of a sentence that are essential should not be set apart with commas.

I enjoy watching movies that employ lots of special effects.

There should be no comma separating the restrictive clause that employ lots of special effects from the main clause I enjoy watching movies because it is essential to the meaning of the sentence.

The opposite is true with nonrestrictive clauses: they can be excised from a sentence without altering its core meaning. Since they are nonessential, they should always be set apart with commas in a sentence. Often, nonrestrictive clauses will “interrupt” a main clause, as in the example below, and when that happens, you should insert a comma both before and after the clause.

Watching Star Wars, which has lots of special effects, is my favorite thing to do.

Without the nonrestrictive clause which has lots of special effects, the core idea of the sentence, Watching Star Wars is my favorite thing to do, is still intact.

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