diff --git a/README b/README
index 8b2e5df7..c403179a 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -415,9 +415,9 @@ guidelines in mind:
   enable you to avoid the use of external programs, which are
   expensive to fork and execute, so do make full use of those:
 
-  ?(pattern-list) - match zero or one occurences of patterns
-  *(pattern-list) - match zero or more occurences of patterns
-  +(pattern-list) - match one or more occurences of patterns
+  ?(pattern-list) - match zero or one occurrences of patterns
+  *(pattern-list) - match zero or more occurrences of patterns
+  +(pattern-list) - match one or more occurrences of patterns
   @(pattern-list) - match exactly one of the given patterns
   !(pattern-list) - match anything except one of the given patterns