Entering text, checking spelling and grammar  

Activity 1: Entering text, checking spelling and grammar  

1. Open Word to a new, blank document. 

2. Save it into your folder as "Spelling and Grammar."

3. Type the text below (the six paragraphs in the blue section) exactly as it is, without worrying about any formatting, spelling or grammar errors at this point. Errors are in green or red text. Do not correct them as you type. Word will automatically correct many of the spelling errors and will put red squiggly lines under others. Grammar mistakes will appear with green squiggles.

4. To correct the errors, right click and then select one of the suggestions from the pop up menu.

5. When you are through exploring spelling and grammar checking options, close Word.

Word XP has many option with spelling and grammar. With Word XP, the writer can specify the set of grammar and writing style rules used in the grammar checker. Just select Options on the Tools menu, and then select Spelling and Grammar. Word XP provides several ways to check spelling and grammer.

Automatically correct spelling and grammar. To fix spelling and grammatical errors without having to confirm each correction, use the AutoCorrect feature. For example, if you type definately, and then type a space or other punctuation, AutoCorrect replaces it with "definitely". 

Automatically check spelling and grammer as you type. To check for spelling and grammatical errors "behind the scenes," use automatic spelling and grammar checking. As you type, the spelling and grammar checkers check the text and then mark possible errors with wavy underlines. To correct an error, right click on the underlined words to display a shortcut menu and select the correction you want.

Check spelling and grammar all at once. You can check for spelling and grammatical errors and then confirm each coorrection. this method is useful if you want tto postpone proofing a document until after you finish revising or editing it. Place the cursor at the beginning of the document and click the Spell Check button on the Standard toolbar.

You have the option to change or ignore spelling and grammar mistakes. Caution: if you click the Add button, that misspelled word or grammatical error is added to your dictionary and will not be flagged as incorrect again.

You can also use the Find and Replace commands in the Edit menu to search for and correct words in a document. for example, if you have created an assinment to use during January 2001 and now want to use the same assignment in March of 2002, you can have Word find all instances of "January" and "2001" and replace tthem with "March" and "2002."

You have now completed this module. Take a few minutes to review and practice what you have learned. If you are through for this session, close all programs, being sure to save any work. You may now begin the next module by clicking on the Back to Index link on this page and then clicking on the next module on the homepage of this course.