This pair of heterographs (a subset of homophone) are dissimilar grammar-wise, and I can only imagine that someone was tired or not paying attention when “he overseas from oversees”.
To oversee from overseas makes much more sense in this word confusion.
Overseas is either an adjective, an adverb, or rarely a noun and refers to something or someone over the sea, from across the sea, or to a country (or countries) that are over the sea.
Oversees is strictly a verb indicating watching over something or someone.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Overseas | Oversees |
|---|---|
Guests from Overseas painting, 1901, by Nicholas Roerich is in the public domain, courtesy of the Tretyakov Gallery, via Jeni Kirby History. |
Security Personnel Oversee Dining at the Eloy Federal Contract Facility. is courtesy of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service and is in the public domain, via the NARA and DVIDS Public Domain Archive. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Adverb; Noun
Plural for the noun: overseas Alternate spelling: oversea [British] |
Morpheme: oversee
Verb, transitive Gerund: overseeing Third person present verb: oversees |
| Adjective: [Attrib.] From, to, or relating to a foreign country, especially one across the sea Of or relating to movement, transport, or communication over the sea Situated beyond the sea Pertaining to countries, associations, activities, etc., beyond the sea Adverb: Noun: |
Verb, transitive: Supervise (a person or work), especially in an official capacity To observe secretly or unintentionally To survey or watch, as from a higher position To examine
|
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: He took a number of overseas trips. He’s from overseas. The idiot bought himself an overseas liner. The government has a number of overseas installations. Don’t forget to allow time for overseas shipping. They have overseas commitments. Adverb: The troops were sent overseas. “The consequences of noncompliance are severe: forfeiting up to 50% of all undeclared assets held overseas” (Goodin). “Heat waves are even more impactful overseas, partly because people there are less likely to have air conditioning” (Berardelli). Noun: “If they go overseas they are on their own” (Child). |
Verb, transitive: A trustee was appointed to oversee Corrie’s finances. Get a surveyor to oversee and inspect the various stages of the work. He oversees production at the factory. He came to oversee the building of a fort. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Noun: overseer | |
| Phrasal Verb | |
| phrasal | |
| History of the Word: | |
| Before 1150; oversea Middle English overse, Old English ofer sǣ. | Old English ofersēon meaning look at from above. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Overseas versus Oversees
Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.
Apple Dictionary.com
Berardelli, Jeff. “Should We Name Heat Waves Like We Name Hurricanes?” CBS News. 6 Aug 2020. Web. 12 July 2023. <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/named-heat-waves-hurricanes/>.
Broadbent, Rick. “Coach Pays for KJT’s Rio Hell.” The Times. 23 Sept 2016. Web. 12 July 2023. <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/coach-pays-for-johnson-thompson-rio-hell-jjv58zh3n>.
“Child Models to Get Legal Protection.” The Australian. 2012. Web. 12 July 2023. <https://bit.ly/3XL602d>.
Collins Dictionary: overseas
Dictionary.com: overseas
The Free Dictionary: oversee
Goodin, Brett. “Americans Renouncing US Citizenship in Record Numbers.” The Conversation. US News. 9 Sept 2020. Web. 12 July 2023. <https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2020-09-09/americans-renouncing-us-citizenship-in-record-numbers>.
Merriam-Webster: overseas
Pinterest Photo Credits
US Overseas Administrative Divisions is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. The fonts were changed by edd3.
