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Using the Spell Checker and Other Tools

Spell Check

In business and schoolwork, it is important that there be no spelling mistakes in documents. Today, word processing software is programmed to help you with your spelling. If you spell a word wrnog, the software will underline it with a rede wavey liene. If you right click on the underlined word, you will get suggestions for the correct spelling. You have the option of choosing one of the program’s suggestions or ignoring all of them. Correcting as you go is a helpful feature, especially when keying long documents.

Correct the spelling of the words throughout this tutorial by right-clicking on them.

You may also choose to have the software go through all or part of your document at one time instead of clicking on each misspelt word individually. To use this feature in Word, click on the Spell Check icon or choose Spelling and Grammar from the Tools menu. Spell check will start to check the document from the piont at which you have placed your cursor. It will highlight words that the dictionary in your software does not recognize, showing you the word you have keyed and providing suggestions for the correct spelling.

Many people assume that if they use the Spell Check feature they do not have to proofread their work. This is not the case. The Spell Check occasionally misses mistakes like when you key “bet” instead of “get” or when you use “their” when you should have used “there.” Also, many Spell Checkers use an American dictionery and mark Canadian spellings such as “colour” and “favourite” as incorrect.

Read the poem in file called “Spell Checker Poem” in the Word Processing folder.

Grammar Check

Another automated feature in most word processing programs is the Grammar Checker, which is designed to check for alot of grammatical errors such as an overly long sentence or a misssing question mark. The software will underline the secction in question with a green wavy line. You can correct the eror as shown or ignore the sugestion. Again you should beware. The Grammar Check can be wrong and sometimes misinterprets the intended meaning of your sentence.

Place your cursor at the start of the document and use the Spelling and Grammar checker to correct this whole document.

Thesaurus

“What’s another word for . . . ?” How many times have you asked yourself this question while working on a document? The Thesaurus is the feature that can help you. Click your cursor on the word you want to replace, then, choose Thesaurus from the Tools > Language menu. This tool will list the different ways that the word you want to replace can be used. A word of warning, however. Do not just choose any word from the list the Thesaurus suggests. Not all words are necessarily an appropriate match for the word you want to replace. You must check the context carefully.

Use the thesaurus to find three appropriate replacements for the word “appropriate.”

Help

One of the most useful features of any software program is the Help Menu. The three common parts to most Help menus are -- the Contents (similar to a Table of Contents), the Index (list of all the topic headings) and Find (which locates every instance of a particular word). Microsoft Word also has the Office Assistant (little paper clip guy). This feature allows you to ask a question about any feature of the software.

Use the office assistant to find out how to determine the number of words in a document. Find out how many words are in this document.

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