Customizing the way Word checks spelling and grammar
To fine-tune the way Microsoft Word proofs your document, you can do any of the following:
1. Set preferences such as skipping text during a spelling and grammar check or choosing a preferred spelling for a
word.
2. Select the grammar and style rules used during a grammar check.
3. Show or hide the wavy underlines used to mark possible spelling and grammar problems.
4. 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.
Set spelling and grammar preferences
1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
2. Under Spelling or Grammar, select the options that you want.
3. Click Settings. (Many settings are available to check anything from use of slang, passive voice, possessives and
plurals, fragments, etc. You just have to check the boxes for each setting you want checked.)
4. In the Writing style box, select whether you want to check grammar and style, or grammar only.
5. In the Grammar and style options box, do one or both of the following:
1. Under Require, select the options that you want for serial commas, punctuation within quotation marks,
and number of spaces between sentences.
2. Under Grammar and Style, select or clear the check boxes next to the rules that you want the grammar
checker to check or ignore.
Note To restore the original rules of the selected grammar and writing style, click Reset All.
Checking Readability Statistics
1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Spelling & Grammar tab.
2. Select the Check grammar with spelling check box.
3. Select the Show readability statistics check box, and then click OK.
4. On the Standard toolbar, click Spelling and Grammar
.
When Microsoft Word finishes checking spelling and grammar, it can display information about the reading level of the
document, including the following readability scores. Each readability score bases its rating on the average number of
syllables per word and words per sentence.
Flesch Reading Ease score
Rates text on a 100-point scale; the higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document. For most standard
documents, aim for a score of approximately 60 to 70.
The formula for the Flesch Reading Ease score is: 206.835 – (1.015 x ASL) – (84.6 x ASW)
ASL = average sentence length (the number of words divided by the number of sentences)
ASW = average number of syllables per word (the number of syllables divided by the number of words)
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score
Rates text on a U.S. school grade level. For example, a score of 8.0 means that an eighth grader can understand the
document. For most documents, aim for a score of approximately 7.0 to 8.0.
The formula for the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score is: (.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) – 15.59
ASL = average sentence length (the number of words divided by the number of sentences)
ASW = average number of syllables per word (the number of syllables divided by the number of words)