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Using the Writing Tools of Word (3)

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When you are working with Word, you'll probably notice wavy red and green underlines beneath certain words or sections of text. These are Word's spelling and grammar tools at work.

The wavy red line underneath a certain word indicates that it is misspelled, while the wavy green line may indicate a violation of grammatical rules (such as double negatives, run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, passive sentences, and misused plurals or possessives) and stylistic rules (like unclear language).

Just as Word can check spelling as you type, you can correct it on the fly as well. To correct a flagged error, right click it to see a shortcut menu of suggested replacements and other options. Below shows the commands on the menu and their respective functions:

Alternate word spelling: Select it to replace the misspelled word.

Ignore All: Ignore current and all other occurrences of this spelling.

Add: Add this spelling to a custom spelling dictionary.

AutoCorrect: Open the 'AutoCorrect' dialog box to add this word to the list of words, if you mistype it frequently.

Language: Open the 'Language' dialog box to set a different language for the word if it's a foreign term.

Spelling: Open the 'Spelling and Grammar' dialog box for more options.

There are more spelling and grammar checking options available. You can access them in the 'Spelling and Grammar' dialog box shown after choosing 'Spelling and Grammar' from the 'Tools' menu. If Word has not been checking your document as you type when opening this dialog box, it will also start a spelling and grammar check first.

As you can see in the dialog box, the 'Not in Dictionary' box at the top shows the error in context, and the 'Suggestions' list at the bottom offers one or more solutions. You can directly edit the text in the 'Not in Dictionary' box or select one of the suggestions from the 'Suggestions' list, and then click a button on the right to fix the problem. As you decide how to handle each problem, Word resumes the check and displays the next problem it finds.

There are a number of extra options in the dialog box for resolving spelling problems:

Change: Word replaces the error in your document with the suggested word or with the text you have edited in the 'Not in Dictionary' box.

Change All: Word replaces all occurrences of the problem with the one you have selected in the dialog box.

Check Grammar check box: clear it to stop grammar checking, so you can concentrate on spelling problems.

Options: Word displays the spelling and grammar options.

Undo: Word cancels the last correction you applied.

When Word locates a grammar or style problem, the dialog box looks a little different. Likewise, the 'Suggestions' list shows one or more rewritten versions of your text that are grammatically correct. If you have the Office Assistant present, it will even offer general advice on how to avoid this kind of grammar problem again.

As with spelling errors, you can edit the text in the Problem box or select a suggested rewrite and then use one of the buttons at the right to fix the problem. In addition, the buttons are the same as for spelling errors, except the following:

Ignore Rule: Word marks this text as corrected without changing it. If you ignore a rule, it will be ignored throughout the document, so you may cause Word to miss other mistakes.

Next Sentence: Word skips over this problem and move on; however, Word will flag this sentence again during the next check.

Next time, I will talk about how to control the behavior of the spelling and grammar checkers by setting options.

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