A spell checker is a rather potent feature of any word processor document that helps you reduce the number of grammatical errors and typos. You may have to carry out proofreading manually to maintain the quality of your tasks. But spell check will significantly minimise the time and effort you put into that process.
Now, everyone knows how to use spell check, but these tips will help you use this feature more efficiently. This way, if you ever feel, “How do I grade my paper for accuracy?” you can quickly use these tools.
- Ignore or change them all
Spell checker tools will stop at every instance of a misspelt word until you instruct it not to. Repeatedly stopping for the same word only takes up a lot of time, when the “ignore” feature can deal with the same words with one click.
The first of at least the second time spell-check tool stops at the same word, choose “Ignore All” if the word, such as a proper noun, is spelt incorrectly. Or you can click “Change All” to modify all instances of the misspelt word.
- Add words to the custom dictionary
Spell check tools rely on a large dictionary, but it’s not all-inclusive. Sometimes it stops at words it can't find. You'll need to add these terms to the custom dictionary. This way, spell check will skip the same words in subsequent documents.
Spell check tools include both the main and custom dictionary. If your custom dictionary is vast, spell check sessions will slow down. In such cases, consider the option “suppress the office custom dictionary” for faster spell checking to learn how to disable a custom dictionary when it isn't needed.
- Skip text using the Language setting
You can also skip text with the help of the language setting. Here are the steps-
- Choose the text you want to skip and click on the Review tab.
- Click Language in the Language group option and choose Set Language Proofing.
- Check the Don’t check spelling and grammar option.
- Take nothing for granted
Spell check tools work best most of the time, but sometimes the best isn't good enough. You’ll have instances when it’ll suggest a change that's just plain wrong. For instance, if you write the phrase “please advise”, spell check may recommend that you change advise to advice, which is inaccurate.
So, just be careful and pay attention to the spellings, so you don't inadvertently commit an error when you think you're correcting one.
Remember these ideas when you use a spell check for your academic papers the next time.
Summary: While spell checker tools are nothing new, it’s best to know a few things before you use it for your academic papers. This post consists of some useful details that students should learn about these tools.
