Microsoft Proofing Tools

MICROSOFT PROOFING TOOLS

What are the Microsoft Proofing Tools?

The Microsoft Proofing Tools consist of four modules:

Spell check
Grammar check
Thesaurus
Hyphenation

For what languages do we have the Microsoft Proofing Tools?

All four modules of the Microsoft Proofing Tools are available for French, German and Spanish.

Where are the proofing tools available?

The Microsoft Proofing tools have been installed on all the PCs in the LRC, on the PC in the faculty development work room (FH 207C), and on all four computers in the Language House.

With which applications will the proofing tools work?

All four modules are available within MS Word. The spell check tool only is available from within the rest of the MS Office applications (Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook).

How do I set the default language?

By default, the language set on all our computers is English. If you make no changes to this default and try to spell check a document in Spanish, it won't work. You have to tell the computer that you're no longer working in English. In other words, you have to set the language. There are two ways to do this. The first is used BEFORE you begin typing a document. The second way is used when you have already produced a document (using English as the default) and want to check it.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN WORKING ON A DOCUMENT

You can set the language you wish to use before starting a document. In MS Word, click on "Tools" (toolbar at the top of the screen), then "Language," then "Set Language." A dialogue box will pop up listing all the languages. Notice that there are many variations available for each language. We recommend the "standard" form for French, German and Spanish. Highlight the language of your choice, then click OK. From here on, anything you type will be checked in that language.

USING THE PROOFING TOOLS WITH A DOCUMENT ALREADY CREATED USING THE ENGLISH DEFAULT

Many students will probably want to create their papers and assignments on their own computers and then bring them to the lab to check them. In this case, the computer assumes that the document was written in English and will check it according to English rules of spelling and grammar. That's no good for a paper written in German! So, here's what you need to do:
First, highlight the entire document. You can either click on "Edit" then "Select All" or you can use the key combination of CTRL + A to select the entire document. Then set the language as above by clicking on "Tools" then "Language" then "Set Language." Choose your language from the list presented, click OK and the document will now be checked in the language you have selected.
Note that it is possible to set more than one language within a document. For example, let's suppose you're writing a paper in English and have a six-line block quote in German followed by more English text. You would simply highlight the block quote and set the language as German for those six lines. The rest of the paper will remain set in English. When you run the spell check or the grammar check the proofing tools with check the English portion using the English spell and grammar check and the German portion using the German proofing tools.

OK, I've set the language. Now how do I use the tools?

Spell check

Once the language is set, you can access the spell check at any time by clicking on "Tools" then "Spelling and Grammar." The following dialogue box will open up:

Notice that suggested corrections are given, but it will be up to the student to make the correct choice. Faced with this box, the student may choose to ignore the problem, ignore all occurrences of the word, add the word to a custom dictionary (not recommended in the LRC; the centurions will wipe out all additions to a custom dictionary), change the word to the highlighted suggestion, change all occurences of the word to the highlighted suggestion or autocorrect the word on the fly each time it is typed in.

Grammar check

To use the grammar tool, be sure you have set the language and then click on "Tools" then "Spelling and Grammar." Be sure the "Check grammar" box is checked and grammar will be verified along with spelling:

A word of warning is in order here. The grammar check is the weakest module of the four. There is no danger that students will produce "perfect" papers using these grammar checks. The foreign language grammar checks have all the warts of the English one. However, you can increase the efficiency of the grammar module by clicking on the "options" button in the box above. The following box will appear:

You can check spelling and grammar as you type or uncheck these boxes so that the red (spelling) squiggly lines and the green (grammar) squiggly lines do not appear as you type. If you choose the latter, you can run the spelling and grammar check when you have finished without being constantly annoyed by the squiggles. You can also refine the grammar check, but clicking on the "Setting" button in the box above (next to "Writing Style" then "Vérification Rapide." The following box will appear:

You can check or uncheck as many options as you wish to have verified when the grammar check runs.

Thesaurus
To use the Thesaurus, place your cursor in the word you want to check and then click on "Tools" then "Language" then "Thesaurus." Or, if you prefer keyboard commands, you can place your cursor on the word and then press SHIFT + F7. A dialogue box will pop up offering you a list of options.

Hyphenation

The default setting in all languages is no hyphenation. However, if you wish to hyphenate words in your document, you may do so following the rules for hyphenation in each language. To turn this option on (the default is off), click on "Tools" then "Language" then "Hyphenation." Check the "Automatically hyphenate document" option in the dialogue box and your document will be hyphenated according to the rules of the language you have set.

This tutorial was prepared by Pat Pecoy
Language Resource Center
Furman University
Sept. 20, 1999