About spelling, grammar, and the thesaurus

When the spelling checker encounters a word it doesn't recognize, it determines which words in its dictionary are similarly spelled and displays a list of those words, with the most likely match highlighted. The contents of the list are determined only by spelling, so any instances of terms that seem inappropriate in context are completely coincidental.

The thesaurus provides a list of synonyms for the text you look up. As with the spelling checker, any instances of seemingly inappropriate terms are coincidental.

The grammar checker is a "natural language" grammar checker that flags possible problems by performing a comprehensive analysis of the text. The grammar checker may not look for all types of problems; it's designed to focus on those that are most typical or frequent.

To fine-tune the way Microsoft Word proofs your document, you can do any of the following:

• Set preferences such as skipping text during a spelling and grammar check or choosing a preferred spelling for a word.
• Select the grammar and style rules used during a grammar check.
• Show or hide the wavy underlines used to mark possible spelling and grammar problems.
• Use custom dictionaries to prevent the spelling checker from questioning specific words, such as technical terms, acronyms, or other specialized terms that might not be included in the main dictionary. Word shares custom dictionaries with other Microsoft Office programs.

You can proof text in different languages— for example, check spelling or look up words in the thesaurus— provided that the tools are installed for the language you want to check. Proofing tools for several languages may be installed with your language version of Microsoft Word.

You can obtain additional proofing tools by purchasing the Microsoft Office Proofing Tools, which are available at shop.microsoft.com, or outside the United States from a licensed reseller. For more information about Proofing Tools, visit the Microsoft Office Online Web site.

In addition, when you create or add a custom dictionary, you can associate it with a particular language so that Word only uses it when checking text in that language. All of the dictionaries are then grouped by language in the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.