Updated 10/25/06
Word 2003: Spelling, Grammar and AutoCorrect
1.5 hours
This workshop assumes some experience with Word. Topics include using the spelling and grammar command, using the thesaurus and create and apply frequently used text with AutoCorrect.
Worksheets: Spelling and AutoCorrect
Updated 10/25/06
Topics: - Spell Check
- Dialog box
- Right-click menu
- Add/Ignore/AutoCorrect
- Grammar Check
- Dialog box
- Right-click menu
- Ignore rule/Ignore sentence
- Spelling and Grammar Options
- Ignoring Spelling & Grammar Errors
- Thesaurus
- Hyphenation
- Word Count
- AutoCorrect
- AutoFormat as you Type
- AutoText
Updated 10/25/06
Worksheets:
Spelling and Grammar Options 3
Updated 10/25/06
Microsoft Word – Spelling and Grammar
Page 5
Spelling and Grammar
The spelling and grammar check can be run from the standard toolbar by clicking this button , by choosing S pelling and Grammar… from the T ools menu, or by pressing the shortcut function key F7. Any of these three methods will launch one of the following three windows.
Spelling Error (red text) Grammar Error (green text)
No Errors Found
When word finds an error it tells you why it has a problem. For example, the spelling error above shows “Not in Dictionary”, and the grammar error shows “Compound Words”. In either case you can skip the error by choosing the I gnore button.
With Spelling errors you can I g nore All occurrences of this odd word or misspelling. You can A dd that spelling of that word to the dictionary, this is especially useful for proper names you commonly use. Keep in mind though, if you add a word that should not have been the only way to get it back out of the dictionary is to reinstall that portion of word.
With Grammar errors you can I g nore Rule that is causing the problem. For example, you may want to ignore all the passive sentences in your document. Word may find several grammatical errors within the same sentence, so the third option available here is to ignore everything in this sentence and jump to the Ne x t Sentence.
In both cases of spelling and grammatical errors, word gives you suggestions. In either case you can choose the proper suggestion (if there is one) and C hange the original text to match.
In the case of spelling errors you can change every occurrence of this misspelling (C h ange All) or even set Word to AutoCo r rect, such that every time you type that misspelling it will change to that suggested answer.
Running the spelling and grammar tool, takes you through the entire document at once, but Word lets you know when you have made a mistake by putting wavy red lines under questionable spellings and wavy green lines under questionable grammar. When you see one of these wavy red or green lines you can right-click on the words that are underlined and you will get shortcut menus similar to the following:
Spelling Grammar
For spelling errors you can choose one of the suggestions, ignore all the occurrences of this word, add this word to the dictionary, create an AutoCorrect entry to fix this error automatically if it happens again, change the language that you are typing in, or launch the Spelling and Grammar window.
For grammar errors you can choose one of the suggestions, ignore this grammatical error, or launch the Spelling and Grammar Window.
Notice there is a small spelling book on the status bar at the bottom of the Word window. It should look very similar to these: . When you double-click on this spelling book, Word will take you to the first error it finds, highlights it and opens the short-cut (right-click) menu.
The automatic spelling and grammar check can be very helpful, however on occasion, such as lists of names and addresses, it gets in the way more than it helps. In these cases, we may want to turn off the auto spelling and grammar check for that document. If you right click on the spelling book on the status bar you will get the following menu:
If you choose Hide S pelling Errors all of the wavy red lines will disappear from your document. If you choose Hide G rammatical Errors all of the wavy green lines will disappear.
Updated 10/25/06
Microsoft Word – Spelling and Grammar
Page 5
Spelling and Grammar Options
There are three ways to access your Spelling and Grammar options. (1) From the Tools menu, choose Options and click on the Spelling & Grammar Tab. (2) Right-click on the spelling book on the status toolbar, choose Options. (3) While on the Spelling and Grammar dialog box, click the Options button.
Spelling
Check sp e lling as you type: This option allows Word to check each word as you leave it (be it a space, or punctuation such as commas and periods).
Hide s pelling errors in this document: This option allows Word to place the wavy red lines under possible misspellings. Turning this feature off is the same as right clicking on the small spelling book on the status bar and selecting “Hide Spelling Errors”.
A l ways suggest corrections: This option allows Word to offer suggestions during the spell check. Turning this feature off will prevent those suggestions.
Suggest from m ain dictionary only: Turning this option on will tell Word to ignore any words that have been added to the “Custom Dictionaries”.
Ignore words in U PPERCASE: This option is often turned on when you first use Word. It is meant to ignore acronyms, but if you do any typing in all caps, be aware Word will not spell check them if this option is checked.
Ignore words with num b ers: This option tells Word to ignore words with numbers in them, such as 1stQuarter, Student007.
Ignore Internet and file addresses: This option tells Word to ignore words such as .edu. “edu” is not a known word, but the spell check will skip it when it’s in the full internet path.
Custom dictio n ary: When you “add” words during the spell check, Word places that word in the “Custom Dictionary”. You can load these files from one computer to another and even download custom-built dictionaries. You can add, remove and edit these dictionaries by clicking on Dictionaries…
Grammar
Check g rammar as you type: This option allows Word to check each sentence as you leave it (be it a space, or punctuation such as commas and periods).
H i de grammatical errors in this document: This option allows Word to place the wavy green lines under possible grammatical errors. Turning this feature off is the same as right clicking on the small spelling book on the status bar and selecting “Hide Grammar Errors”.
C h eck grammar with spelling: This option runs the grammar check when you run the spell check.
Show r eadability statistics: When this option is turned on, Word will display a window such as this one (shown on left), after you have run the spelling and grammar check. The statistics show a count of the number of words, characters (excluding spaces), paragraphs (counted by hard returns) and sentences (counted by punctuation).
W riting style: Word allows you to choose different writing styles to match your grammar.
Se t tings…: The Settings button allows you to customize the writing style that has been chosen.
Rechec k Document: This button allows you to check the spelling and grammar again, after changing the options. If you have not yet run the spell check on this document, the button will say “Check Document”. When you click this button Word resets all of its “ignore alls” that you have set for this document.
Updated 10/25/06
Page 7
AutoCorrect
Microsoft Word has many AutoCorrect features that assist in creating your documents. To access the options for these features, click A utoCorrect Options … from the T ools menu.
These are the features that allow word to “fix” possible errors you may type. If ever it makes a change you don’t want, simply Undo by clicking on the undo button, choosing Edit->Undo, or by using the shortcut key, Ctrl-Z.
Beginning in Word 2003, you will see an AutoCorrect button appear with the text that has been corrected. Usually it will only appear if you put your mouse over the word that has been corrected, and then you will see a lighten bolt button. If you click the arrow you will see options to undo the correction, to stop making that correction and to go straight to the AutoCorrect Options.
S h ow AutoCorrect Options buttons: If you would not like to see the AutoCorrect button after each change you can uncheck this option.
C o rrect TWo INitial CApitals: If you type two consecutive uppercase letters at the beginning of the word, this option will change the second uppercase letter to a lowercase letter.
Capitalize first letter of s entences: This option capitalizes the first word of each sentence. It sees a sentence as words followed by punctuation or a hard return (enter). This also works within tables, when you tab out of a cell it will capitalize the first word.
Capitalize first letter of table c ells : This option capitalizes the first word of each table cell.
Capitalize n ames of days: This option capitalizes the first letters for the days of the week. (sunday becomes Sunday).
Correct accidental usage of cAPS L OCK key: If you forget the caps lock is on and you begin to type in title case (first letter capital) such that only the first letter is lower case and the rest upper case (eXAMPLE), this option will correct the capitalization and turn off the CAPS LOCK.
Exceptions: The exceptions button pulls up the window shown here on the right. This allows you to enter items that you don’t want Word to fix automatically. You can add things for the first letter corrections, initial caps correction and add other corrections such as acronyms.
Replace text as you type: If you turn off this option, Word will stop automatically correcting and replacing text as you type. To add an item to this list put the misspelling on the left (Replace:) and the correct spelling on the right (With:) and click the Add button.
AutoCorrect Options
AutoFormat As You Type
These are the features that allow word to “fix” possible formatting errors you may type. If ever it makes a change you don’t want, simply Undo by clicking on the undo button, choosing Edit‑>Undo, or by using the shortcut key, Ctrl-Z.
Replace as you type
"Straight q uotes" with “smart quotes”: This option changes the straight quotation marks in to curly quotation marks. The curly quotation marks are supposed to help identify the beginning and ending of the quote.
Ordinals (1st) with superscript: This option changes the ordinals into superscripts. It changes 1st into 1st, 2nd into 2nd and so forth.
Fractions (1/2) with character (?): This option changes the most common fractions 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 into the corresponding fraction characters ?, ?, and ?.
Symbol characters (--) with symbols (–): This option will replace two hyphens (--) with an en dash (—). The en dash is a symbol used to connect continuing or inclusive numbers or to connect elements of a compound adjective when either of the elements is an open compound, as 1880—1945 or Princeton—New York trains.[1]
*Bold* and _italic_ with real formatting: This option will bold words that begin and end with an asterisk (*) and italicize words that begin and end with an underscore ( _ ). For example: *Bold* becomes Bold and _Italic_ becomes Italic.
Internet and network paths with hyperlinks: This option will change file paths and Internet addresses (such as web pages and email addresses) into active hyperlinks. You can click on a hyperlink to “jump” directly to an item. For example: http://www. ufl.edu will open your default Internet browser (i.e. Netscape, Internet Explorer) and take you to the UF home page.
Apply as you type
Automatic bulleted lists: This option automatically applies a bulleted-list if you type an asterisk (*), the greater-than sign (>) or a hyphen (-) followed by a space or tab at the beginning of a paragraph.
Automatic numbered lists: This option automatically applies a numbered-list formatting if you type a number or letter followed by a period and a space or tab at the beginning of the paragraph.
Borders Lines Automatically applies character and border styles. If you type three or more equal signs you will get a double line, underscores will give you a thick single line, and hyphens will yield a thin single line.
Tables: This option will automatically create a table when you type a series of plus signs and hyphens. (+---+---+---+) Word will create a column for each plus sign.
Built-in Heading Styles: Automatically applies Heading 1 through Heading 9 styles to headings. Headings are “titles” for paragraphs.
Automatically as you type
For m at beginning of list item like the one before it: This option carries the format from one item in a bulleted or numbered list to the next. For example, if the first word of a list item is bold, Word automatically applies bold formatting to the first word of the next list item.
Set left- and first-indent with tabs and backspaces: This option allows you to use the tab key to set indents and the backspace to remove the indents. Word has always behaved this way, this option allows us to "turn it off".
Define s tyles based on your formatting: This option allows Word to create paragraph styles based on the manual formatting you apply in your document. This is designed to give your document a consistent look.
AutoText
This feature will offer you suggestions to complete the word or phrase when you type the first four letters of certain items, such as dates or items in the AutoText list.
Suggestions will appear above your text in a yellow “tool tip” box. When you see it, you can press Enter or F3 to accept the suggestion, or you can just keep typing to reject the suggestion.
To add an AutoText, type and format it in your document, select the text, from the T ools menu choose AutoCorrect… and click on the AutoText tab. Enter a name for this entry in the Enter A u toText entries here: blank and click the add button.
AutoFormat
The AutoFormat options are the similar to the AutoFormat as you type options, but they allow you to apply all of these formatting features at once to an existing document. You do this through the F o rmat menu, A utoFormat…
Updated 10/25/06
[1] Definition from Dictionary.com