First, you'll need to be sure your word processing
program is set up to run spelling and grammar checks. In Microsoft Word, go to
the "Tools" menu and choose "Options." Click on the tab
that says "Spelling & Grammar." You can now decide what you would
like to have spell-check examine. (If spell-check is getting on your nerves,
you can use this menu to turn it off.)
Now that the program is set up, you are ready to
use it to check your document. Open up your paper. On the "Tools"
menu, select "Spelling and Grammar." (There may also be a button on
your toolbar that says "ABC"—if so, you can click this instead.) A
window will pop up and display a highlighted word or portion of your text. This
window is where spell-check will point out words and phrases that may be
incorrect. Ideally, it will also explain what is wrong and/or propose a
solution, in the lower box under the heading "Suggestions."
The buttons on the right represent your options
about how to respond to spell-check's comments. Not all of these will appear
every time; which ones show up depends on the nature of the (possible) error.
So: imagine that you have run spell-check and it has identified a particular
word or phrase as problematic. You need to decide whether to accept its advice.
Here's an overview of your options (there is a button for each one):
"Ignore
Once" means
you choose to leave this particular word or phrase as is, but that if
spell-check notices something similar again later, you want to know about it.
"Ignore
All" means
that you want to leave the word or phrase alone here and in any other place
where it may show up in this document.
"Change" means that you're taking
spell-check's advice and want to switch the current spelling or grammatical
construction to one of the suggestions it has generated for you. If you press
change, the spelling or construction that is highlighted under "Suggestions"
will be automatically substituted into your paper. If there is more than one
suggestion, this means you are accepting the one that appears at the top of the
list. You may choose a different suggestion instead by clicking on it.
"Change
All"
performs the same function instantly in every place the error appears
throughout the document.
"Ignore
Rule" means
that you don't want to hear any more about this particular issue anywhere in
the paper. You're doing things your own way, thank you very much.
"Explain" will make spell-check tell you
why it thinks there is a problem here. This option is usually only available
for grammatical or punctuation issues.
"Add
to Dictionary"
means to leave a word exactly as you typed it, and to add it to your personal
dictionary in Word. Once a word has been added, spell-check will always count
this word as correct, and will even try to correct you if you misspell it in
the future.
You can also consult spell-check on a case-by-case
basis without fully running the program.
You may notice as you work that colored squiggly lines appear under certain words or phrases that you write. That's spell-check trying to call your attention to something it thinks may be problematic. If you right-click on the squiggly line, a popup window will give you an abbreviated menu of the above options.
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/spellcheck.html#6
