

Re-write it, until you get the correct one. If it isn’t DO NOT right click and choose the correct spelling. My advice for those who have a recurring problem with spelling certain words is to write them out (ON PAPER!) and then type it into Word to see if it’s correct. Minor ones that “taht” and “teh” and obviously typing errors, and with a bad or broken keyboard it can be worse. I would say that Word, is only a tool for typing and editing, not a tool for language correction. Speaking of Word’s English competence, I was extremely shocked when once it asked me if I wanted to change “they’re” to “their” and vice versa! I don’t if in America these words are now accepted as interchangeable, but in other countries they sure aren’t! ģ4 Responses to “Warning: Microsoft Did Not Invent Grammar!” One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish.Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below: Once you accept that the MS Word grammar checker can get it wrong, it’s amazing how many mistakes you will spot. So, what’s a poor writer to do? The answer is to get some grammar help from different sources, and to proofread. The study concluded that the grammar check worked better for good writers than for those who needed a lot of help. (Check out the letter from Karen for a laugh.) The University of Washington has some demos of where the grammar checker went wrong. Proper names that end in an ‘s’ also confuse the grammar checker, and that’s not all. The grammar checker will remind me about every instance of using passive sentences, but has some strange attitudes to noun and verb agreements. Generally, I write grammatically correct British English, but it only takes one typo to confuse the tool. These match my own experience with the tool. Ignore that if you want, but the Seattle Post Intelligencer, which presumably has no ax to grind, also wrote a piece on the failings of Word’s grammar checker. Neurogrammar, which is admittedly biased, compares the results from its own grammar checker and Word. In fact, people have been complaining about it for years. However, the MS Word grammar checker leaves a lot to be desired. In general, I don’t have an issue with the spell checker, though mine occasionally has a problem with the correct spelling of liaison. Many of us use Microsoft Word for writing, and its built-in spelling and grammar checker for checking our work.

However, the trouble is that the tools we often use just aren’t up to the job. Most people who advise on writing tell you to check the spelling and grammar on your work.

If your Mac has a Touch Bar, you can set an option to show typing suggestions in the Touch Bar.Warning: Microsoft Did Not Invent Grammar! By Sharon While typing, you can display a list of suggested words by pressing F5 (you may need to also press the Fn key, depending on your Mac model). If an app’s Edit menu doesn’t include a spelling or grammar command, check its preferences or menus to see if it has its own spell checker. To turn off autocorrection for a specific app, open the app, then choose Edit > Spelling and Grammar > Correct Spelling Automatically (it’s off when a checkmark isn’t shown). You can also Control-click the word to show your spelling, then choose it. To revert to your original spelling, put the insertion point after the word to show your original spelling, then choose your spelling.

Undo autocorrections: An automatically corrected word is briefly underlined in blue. Ignore suggestions: Press Esc, then continue typing. If two or more suggestions are shown, choose one. Select the “Correct spelling automatically” checkbox.Īs misspelled words are detected, do one of the following:Īccept suggestions: If there’s only one suggestion, just keep typing to have the word autocorrected. On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Keyboard, then click Text. When your spelling is checked, misspelled words are underlined in red, and suggested corrections are shown.
