CHAPTER 10

Reviewing a Document with Language Tools

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Specifying the language used by language features
• Checking spelling and grammar
• Getting a dictionary and defining words
• Finding synonyms with the Thesaurus
• Researching a topic with the Research pane
• Translating and counting words

Word provides a variety of proofing tools, including a spelling and grammar checker, and a thesaurus. If you add a dictionary for definitions, you also can get definitions for words within documents. When you need to find facts to beef up a document, you can use Word's built-in research tools. You can even translate a selection of text to another language or count words in this document. Forge ahead to examine each of these tools on the Review tab now.

Choosing a Language

When you install Word or Office, it installs with one language selected as its default. This serves the needs of many users, but others have more specialized needs. You might correspond with relatives in a second language, write or translate documents for use in another country, or prepare information for an overseas customer. In such cases, you can install another editing language for use with Word's language features such as spelling and grammar checking. When you have multiple languages installed, you can then specify which one Word uses by default, switching between languages as needed.

Install another editing language in Word Options:

1. Click the File tab, and then click Options.
2. Click the Language tab at the left side of the Word Options dialog box.

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   As an alternative to Steps 1 and 2 above, you can click the Review tab, click Language in the Language group, and click Language Preferences.

3. Open the [Add additional editing languages] drop-down list under Choose Editing Languages, scroll down if needed, and click a language to add.
4. Click the Add button. As shown in Figure 10.1, the new language appears in the list of editing languages. If desired, at this point you can click a language in the list and click Set as Default to make it the default language used for editing. Or you can set the default later, as described after these steps.
5. Click OK, and then click OK again at the message that tells you to restart Office.
6. Exit and restart Word.

FIGURE 10.1

Add alternate editing languages in Word Options.

Once the alternate language has been added, you can determine which language to use as the default, if you didn't do so in the Word Options dialog box. You can instead click the Review tab, click the Language button in the Language group, and click Set Proofing Language. The Language dialog box shown in Figure 10.2 appears. Click the language to use in the Mark selected text as list, click the Set As Default button, and click OK. If you see a prompt about how the change will affect new documents based on the NORMAL template, click Yes.

FIGURE 10.2

You can choose the default editing language at any time in the Language dialog box.

You also may encounter times when two different languages might be used in a document. For example, a product manual might include setup or installation instructions in several different languages. In such a case, you can select text and use the Language dialog box to specify what language to use when checking the selection. Just open the dialog box and click the desired language in the Mark selected text list—be sure to choose one of the installed languages above the heavy border. Then click OK. When you make this change, you may see wavy underlines for spelling and grammar errors appear or disappear, after Word automatically checks for errors using the new language. See Figure 10.3.

FIGURE 10.3

Word checks spelling based on the specified language for checking a selection.

Checking Spelling and Grammar

Word can check the spelling and grammar of a word, a selection, or a whole document. By default, Word checks both spelling and grammar. For the spelling part of the check, Word can include not only the main built-in dictionary, but also custom word lists you create. It can also use third-party lists such as medical, legal, and technical dictionaries. The grammar check compares phrases and sentences against specified options or rules, and you can choose whether you agree with its suggestions. It's flexible enough that you can turn off specific rules to streamline checks.

Correcting flagged items

By default, Word displays wavy underlines under misspellings and grammar errors when it automatically checks grammar and spelling. It marks potential spelling errors with a wavy red underline and potential grammar errors with a wavy blue underline. One option for cleaning up a document is to right-click a wavy underline, and then click a correction in the shortcut menu that appears, as shown in Figure 10.4. You also can click Ignore, if for example the flagged item is a proper name and needs no correction. This method works well for shorter documents, where you might have fewer corrections or only a couple of pages of text to work through. However, for a lengthier document you can usually save time by running a full-fledged spelling and grammar check, as described next.

FIGURE 10.4

Right-click any wavy underline to see a shortcut menu with potential corrections.

Starting the spelling and grammar check and handling corrections

When you want to check the spelling and grammar in a longer document or simply want to make sure that you don't overlook any wavy underlines, you can start a full spelling and grammar check. Here's how the process works:

1. Press Ctrl+Home to move the insertion point to the beginning of the document. Starting from the beginning helps ensure the check catches all errors.
2. Press F7 or in the Review tab of the Ribbon, click Spelling & Grammar in the Proofing group (shown in Figure 10.5). At this point, if the document doesn't contain any errors, the Spelling and grammar check completed dialog box appears and you can jump to Step 4. Otherwise, the Spelling pane (Figure 10.6) opens at the right side of Word. (Note that the name of the pane changes to Grammar when it stops on a grammar error.)

FIGURE 10.5

Click Spelling & Grammar at the left end of the Review tab of the Ribbon to display the Spelling pane.

FIGURE 10.6

The Spelling pane flags any spelling or grammar errors and gives correction options.

3a. If needed, click a suggested correction in the list of corrections, and then use one of the command buttons in the pane to specify how to handle the correction. Table 10.1 details the selections.

TABLE 10.1 Spelling Pane Choices

Ignore	Skips to the next questionable spelling or grammar error. Select this option if the word is acceptable to you in this context but you still want to see future occurrences.
Ignore All	Ignores this spelling for the rest of this spell check. Select this option if the spelling used is correct in all contexts in this document.
Add	Adds the spelling highlighted in red in the Not in Dictionary box to the default user spelling dictionary
Change	Changes the spelling of the flagged word or grammar error to the suggested correction or rule selected in the list of suggestions. Use this option if the suggestion is correct this time but might not be correct for future instances.
Change All	Changes the spelling of the flagged word to the selected suggestion throughout the current document. Use this option if you've reluctantly decided that Word is right, and you want to be spared any additional humiliation and embarrassment.
Dictionary Language	If the selected language is incorrect for the flagged word, use the drop-down arrow to select the correct proofing set.

3b. If none of the suggestions is correct, click to place the focus in the document and drag over the item to correct in the document, type the correction, and then click Resume in the Spelling pane.

4. Repeat the processes outlined in Step 3, until you see the dialog box shown in Figure 10.7.

5. Click OK.

FIGURE 10.7

Click OK when the Spelling and grammar check complete dialog box appears.

Setting spelling and grammar options

Word provides a variety of options to control proofing/spelling behavior not only in Word, but in other Office 2013 programs as well. Choose File Options Proofing tab to display the full set of options. Here we'll look only at the options in the When correcting spelling in Microsoft Office Programs, When correcting spelling and grammar in Word, and Exceptions for sections of the Word Options dialog box's Proofing tab, shown in Figure 10.8.

Correcting spelling in Office programs

Many of the settings are self-explanatory, but sometimes a reminder of how they work helps ensure that you select the correct ones. The first group of spelling options, When correcting spelling in Microsoft Office programs, has settings that apply throughout Office. Of special use and interest to technical writers are the first three options: Ignore words in UPPERCASE (which handles many acronyms), Ignore words that contain numbers (which handles hexadecimal numbers and many variable names), and Ignore Internet and file addresses. The latter includes not only URLs and UNC computer/disk/folder/file names, but also email addresses.

The fourth option is Flag repeated words—if your name is Dee Dee, you're probably very tired of seeing your name flagged. However, it's very common to double-type words such as a and the, so it is generally better to leave this option enabled.

The fifth option—Enforce accented uppercase in French—does just that. If you type Eclair, Word will suggest that you really meant Éclair.

FIGURE 10.8

Set detailed spelling and grammar options on the Proofing tab.

Custom dictionaries

The last check box in the section, Suggest from main dictionary only, might require a bit of explanation if you have only one custom dictionary, and you didn't even know about that one. You can have multiple custom dictionaries. Technical writers often have different “dictionaries” for different purposes and projects. While it might be OK generally to ignore words in uppercase or that contain numbers, it sometimes isn't. Therefore, you might want to create lists of the correct acronyms or variable names, and so forth, so that if you type one that the list doesn't “know” about, it will alert you.

For users who have multiple dictionaries (word lists), the main dictionary refers to the one that comes with Word. That's the one that's used all the time. If you want to restrict language features to use only Word's main dictionary, check the Suggest from main dictionary only check box.

Optionally, Word can populate the Suggestions box with spellings from multiple lists. In this case, make sure the Suggest from main dictionary only check box is cleared. Then, if you have mistakenly added a word to your custom dictionary during a spelling correction, you can remove it:

1. On the Proofing tab of the Word Options dialog box, click the Custom Dictionaries button to open the Custom Dictionaries dialog box, shown in Figure 10.9. The top choice in the Dictionary List, under All Languages, is RoamingCustom.dic (Default). This is the default custom dictionary associated with your user account and is where Word places found words when you click Add in the Spelling pane.

   FIGURE 10.9

   The default RoamingCustom.dic dictionary is where the words you add go by default.

   

2. Make sure that RoamingCustom.dic (Default) is selected under All Languages in the Dictionary list, and click Edit Word List. A dialog box for the dictionary opens, as shown in Figure 10.10.

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   To choose a different default dictionary, click the desired dictionary under All Languages in the Dictionary List, and then click Change Default.

3. In the Dictionary list, click the word you want to delete.
4. Click Delete.
5. Click OK.
6. Click OK to close the Custom Dictionaries dialog box.

FIGURE 10.10

Add and delete words in the custom dictionary using this dialog box.

You can add words in the dialog box for the custom dictionary as well. Type the new entry in the Word(s) text box; click Add, and then click OK twice.

Note that you can't remove words from the main dictionary this way. Instead, you would need to create an exception list. See “Exception lists (exclude dictionaries)” later in this chapter, for more on that fascinating topic!

Creating custom dictionaries

Note the New button in Figure 10.9. If you need a specialized word list, click New, type a name for the list in the File name text box of the Create Custom Dictionary dialog box, and then click Save. Back in the Custom Dictionaries list, select the new list you just created, and click Edit Word List. Initially it will be empty. Type each new entry into the Word(s) text box, and click Add. Click OK twice to finish.

Note that Word's .dic files are plain text files. Therefore, you don't need to use Word to open them and edit them. Instead, you can use Notepad or any other plain-text editor. If you already have a word list, rename it, giving it a .dic extension, and tell Word to use it by opening the Custom Dictionaries dialog box from the Proofing tab of Word Options, clicking Add, navigating to the file location in the Add Custom dictionary dialog box, selecting the file, and clicking Open. Then you can click OK twice.

Modes

Referring back to Figure 10.8, the last two options under When correcting spelling in Microsoft Office programs are French modes and Spanish modes. Depending on what language packs you have installed, you might also see Portuguese or other modes. From the mode drop-down list for whichever language you want to check, choose the setting appropriate for whatever you're writing.

Correcting spelling and grammar in Word

The next section of options shown in Figure 10.8, When correcting spelling and grammar in Word, includes settings applicable in Word only.

The first two options, Check spelling as you type and Mark grammar errors as you type, govern whether Word marks your documents with red and blue zigzags each time you make a mistake. Turn these options off if you never make mistakes and don't like it when Word second-guesses you. You can also turn it off if you like to check your spelling and grammar in one fell swoop in the Spelling pane after you've written your ideas.

The Frequently confused words setting is a renamed version of the Use contextual spelling setting from Word 2010. When enabled, this option will use the blue underline to flag any instances of words that are frequently confused, such as if you type He was over their rather than He was over there.

Clearing the check box beside Check grammar with spelling turns off grammar checking. When Show readability statistics is checked, at the end of the spelling and grammar check, Word displays a Readability Statistics dialog box rather than the dialog box informing you that the spelling and grammar check is complete. Click OK to close it after reading the statistics.

Writing Style and Settings

You can use the Writing Style drop-down list to determine whether Word checks Grammar Only or Grammar & Style. Then, click the Settings button beside the drop-down list to open the Grammar Settings dialog box shown in Figure 10.11.

The dialog box offers many settings that you can use to fine-tune what grammar errors Word checks for. These settings appear in the Grammar and style options list, and are grouped by Require, Grammar, and Style. (The Style settings only apply when you've selected Grammar & Style from the Writing Style drop-down list.) For example, by default, Fragments and Run-ons under Grammar is not checked. If you have a tendency to type incomplete sentences, checking this option could help you catch and correct such mistakes more frequently.

FIGURE 10.11

The Grammar Settings dialog box has many Grammar and Style settings.

The Style settings enable the grammar check to flag such formalities as Contractions or Passive sentences. You can experiment with the settings in the dialog box, or search for the topic Select grammar and writing style options in the Word Help window to read a description of each option. The Grammar Settings dialog box also includes a Reset All button at the bottom left that you can use to clear any changes you've made to the settings. Click the OK button when you finish to return to the Proofing settings in Word Options, and then click OK again to finish changing options.

Recheck Document

Recheck Document is active only after you've finished checking spelling in a document. Clicking this button resets all Ignore decisions for spelling and grammar. If you previously clicked Ignore or Ignore All, those decisions are all reset as if they hadn't occurred. Choose Recheck Document when you inadvertently tell Word to ignore or otherwise bypass something it questioned. The dialog box shown in Figure 10.12 appears.

FIGURE 10.12

Choose File Options Proofing Recheck Document to undo any decisions to ignore word misspellings and grammar rules.

Exceptions for current document

Sometimes, for whatever reason, you might choose to hide all the spelling and/or grammar errors in a particular document, while continuing to monitor spelling and grammar in other open documents. Or you might generally have errors hidden, but choose to display them at other times. The Exceptions for settings, shown in Figure 10.13, give you independent control over the display of grammar and spelling errors on a document-by-document basis. Scroll down to the bottom of the Proofing tab to see the settings, if needed. You can leave the current document selected from the drop-down list to change settings for it only, or open the drop-down list and choose All New Documents. Then check the Hide spelling errors in this document only and/or Hide grammar errors in this document only.

FIGURE 10.13

If you usually hide spelling and grammar errors, you can selectively choose to display them for individual documents.

Exception lists (exclude dictionaries)

Earlier I noted that you cannot remove words from the main spelling dictionary that comes with Word. However, you can create an exception list, sometimes called an exclude dictionary. You place into that list words that Word considers correct, but that you want flagged as possible misspellings. When Word is opened, it checks whether there are entries in the exception list. If there are, then Word will flag those words as if they were misspelled, even if they aren't.

During installation Microsoft creates an empty file named ExcludeDictionaryEN0409.lex (for English U.S.) in a folder named C:Usersuser nameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftUProof.

You can edit this plain-text file in Notepad or any other plain-text editor. You also can .edit this file using Word, but you need to remember to save it as plain text in order for it to work.

If you have an existing exception list from previous versions of Word, you can either copy existing exceptions into the new file or simply rename your existing .EXC list. Once you're finished, save the file to the folder indicated above. The file will be incorporated into Word's spelling function the next time you start Word.

If you installed additional sets of proofing tools with Word 2013, there will be one .lex file in the UProof folder for each language. For French (France) and Spanish (Spain), the files are as follows (with variations for different versions of Spanish):

ExcludeDictionaryES0c0a.lex
ExcludeDictionaryFR040c.lex

As with the English exception lists, you can edit either of the above files to add entries. Then close and restart Word for the changes to take effect.

Finding Definitions

A document's purpose defines the writing style you should use. If you're writing a quick note to a friend, your language can be loose, and word choice may not be all that important. If you're writing a moody work of fiction or a scientific paper, on the other hand, you need to choose words that are adequately vivid or precise. The Define tool available on the Review tab can assist you with word choice. If you're not sure whether the word you've typed conveys your intended meaning, you can select the word and then use Define to find out.

Obtaining a definitions dictionary from the Office Store

By default, Word does not include an installed dictionary for the Define tool. It prompts you to download one:

1. Double-click a word you might want to define to select it.
2. Click Define in the Proofing group of the Review tab, or press Ctrl+F7. The Dictionaries pane opens at the right, as shown in Figure 10.14.
3. Click the Download button below the dictionary you want to download.

FIGURE 10.14

Add a free dictionary for the Define tool.

The dictionary ratings are based on actual customer reviews. You can get more information about a particular definitions dictionary by using another method to download a dictionary. This also happens to be the method you can use when you've already installed one dictionary and want to install another:

1. Click the Insert tab, and in the Apps group, click the down arrow on the Apps for Office button.
2. Click See All in the menu that appears. The Apps for Office window shown in Figure 10.15 appears.
3. Click the Find more apps at the Office Store link at the bottom of the window. Your web browser launches and displays available Apps for Word 2013.
4. Scroll down to until you see another dictionary to add, as shown in the example in Figure 10.16.

   FIGURE 10.15

   Use the Apps for Office window to add a dictionary for definitions.

   

   FIGURE 10.16

   Add another dictionary, such as the one from Merriam-Webster.

   

5. Click Add. A description page for the app appears. At this point, if you wanted more information about the app rating reviews, you could click the number in parentheses, if any, to the right of the Average Rating stars.
6. Click Add again.
7. Click Continue to confirm the download. The dictionary downloads from the Office Store and installs, becoming the new primary dictionary. (You may see a prompt to insert the dictionary using the Apps for Office button. That may or may not be necessary, depending on the nature of the app.)

Defining a term

Once you have a dictionary installed, you can select a word and use one of two methods to define it:

• Right-click, and click Define in the shortcut menu.
• Click Define in the Proofing group of the Review tab, or press Ctrl+F7.

The word definition appears in the Dictionary pane at right, as shown in the example in Figure 10.17. You can click the See more link, if it appears, to open a web page with further definitions and other information. To see the definition for another word, double-click it in the document. Click the pane's Close (X) button when you finish working with definitions.

Choosing a Better Word with the Thesaurus

Word's proofing tools also include the thesaurus, which is useful for finding the right word to use in a particular sentence. Use the thesaurus to find and use synonyms, which can help your writing sound livelier and less repetitive (unless you intentionally want to use repetition for emphasis or poetic effect).

One way to engage the thesaurus is to right-click the word in question and point to Synonyms in the shortcut menu, as shown in Figure 10.18. Click any word in the Synonyms list to replace the word you right-clicked.

FIGURE 10.17

The Dictionary pane shows the definition for the selected word.

FIGURE 10.18

Use the shortcut menu Synonyms list to find a better or different word.

If you want to browse more word choices for a selected word, click Thesaurus at the bottom of the shortcut menu, click Thesaurus in the Proofing group of the Review tab, or press Shift+F7. The Thesaurus pane shown in Figure 10.19 appears at the right. You can click any synonym it lists to see synonyms for that word instead. The Thesaurus pane also sometime lists antonyms. When you see the replacement word you want, move your mouse pointer over it, click the drop-down arrow that appears to the right of it, and click Insert. Click the pane's Close (X) button when you finish using it.

FIGURE 10.19

Use the Thesaurus pane to find a better or different word.

Using the Research Pane

Word's Research feature can look up a wide variety of concepts using a variety of different research resources. You can look up something that's in your document, or you can open the Research task pane and use it as you would a small information browser.

Using the Research Task Pane

To look up something that's in your document, select it and Alt+click on it. The selection can be a word, phrase, or name. You might use it, for example, if you come across an unfamiliar name and want to see if it's someone you should know about. It's also useful for looking up unfamiliar places. Figure 10.20 shows the Research pane that appears at the right after you Alt+click. The term(s) you selected and Alt+clicked appears in the first text box under Search for. To search for something else, type it in the top text box under Search for, and click the Start searching right arrow button to the right of the text box. After you perform a second search, the Back and Forward buttons in the Research pane become active, so you can browse between the topics you've looked up.

FIGURE 10.20

The Research task pane puts numerous free and paid research services at your beck and call.

To change the Research resource, click the drop-down arrow for the second text box below Search for, and in the list that appears click the Research resource that is likely to provide the kind of information you want to find. Then edit the Search for word or phrase and click the Start searching button. If you scroll to the bottom of the search results shown in the Research pane, you'll see that All Reference Books and All Research Sites are additional options for showing more results, but a specific resource often provides better targeted results. Note also that some of the Research Sites sources—such as Factiva iWorks™ and HighBeam™ Research—are paid services, while Bing is free.

As with other panes in Word, click the Research pane Close (X) button to close it when you finish performing your research.

Choosing Research options

To set your overall research strategy, click Research options at the bottom of the Research pane. This opens the Research Options dialog box, shown in Figure 10.21.

FIGURE 10.21

Use Research Options to add and remove services, as well as to exercise Parental Control over what research services can be accessed.

Use Add Services to add a new research service. You can specify the URL of any you know about. Additionally, over time, the list of advertised services will be populated by research providers—maybe. At this writing, however, the Add Services list says only “No advertised services are currently available.” Use Update/Remove to get the latest updates from specific servers or groups of servers, as well as to remove certain services. Note that a number of the built-in services cannot be removed, such as Translation (Installed Dictionaries).

The Parental Control option is described next. After making your choices in the Research Options dialog box, of course click OK to close the dialog box and return to using the Research pane.

Setting Parental Controls

Clicking Parental Control in the Research Options dialog box shown in Figure 10.21 enables you to limit the Research pane to just those services that (claim to) block “offensive content.” Note that you must start Word using the Run as administrator option in order to be able to use the Parental Control settings. To do this, open a folder window from the desktop and navigate to the folder holding the Word startup command (usually C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft OfficeOffice15 for the 32-bit version or C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeOffice15), right-click the WINWORD.exe startup command, and click Run as administrator.

As shown in Figure 10.22, there are two levels of Parental Control. The first, Turn on content filtering to make services block offensive results, is supposed to instruct all services to block offensive results (whether they claim to be able to or not). You must check this option to enable it in order for the next option to become active. The second, Allow users to search only the services that can block offensive results, limits services to those that claim to be able to block offensive results. Using Parental Control requires that you set a password, so type the desired password in the Specify a password for the Parental Control settings text box before clicking OK to return to the Research Options dialog box.

FIGURE 10.22

If you forget or lose your password, it cannot be recovered, and you'll be stuck with Parental Control!

If both levels are set, noncompliant services will be grayed out in the list of resources.

Translating Text

Do you have a complete report, letter, or other document you need to have translated? Word can translate all or part of it.

Select text in the document, and then click Translate in the Language group of the Review tab. Click Translate Selected Text. In the Research pane that appears, change the From and To languages, and then click the Start searching button above, beside the Search for text box. Figure 10.23 shows selected text in a report document translated from English to French. In addition to Spanish or French, you can translate to a number of other languages, including Russian, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (PRC and Taiwan), Dutch, Greek, and Portuguese.

FIGURE 10.23

Word can translate whole sentences and paragraphs in the Research pane.

Word uses the Microsoft Translator service to perform its translation. As with any language translation, it can't translate proper names (such as The Grand Canyon, as shown in Figure 10.23), certain words, or idiomatic phrases (phrases that are unique to the original language). To insert the translation into the document, scroll down in the Research pane, if needed, and to display the Insert button that appears below the translated text, and then click it to insert the translation. Alternately, you can click the Insert button's down arrow, and then click Copy, so that you can paste the translation to another location in the current document or another document.

If you want the full document translated, just click the button under Translate the whole document in the Research pane. In the Translate Whole Document confirmation dialog box, click Send. Or, if the Research pane isn't already open and you want to translate the whole document, click Translate in the Language group of the Review tab, and then click Translate Document. In the Translation Language Options dialog box, choose Translate from and Translate to languages, and then click OK. Then at the Translate the Whole Document confirmation dialog box, click Send. Word sends the current document to the Microsoft Translator service, and the translation quickly (depending on your connection speed) appears in your default web browser, as shown in Figure 10.24.

FIGURE 10.24

To translate an entire document, Word uses the web-based Microsoft Translator service.

A quick machine translation likely may not be as perfect or as good as a competent professional translation service. However, it's certainly a leap beyond other available free tools.

Translating on the fly

To translate, select the text you want translated, right-click the selection and choose Translate. Word begins a search using the default language pair (usually from English to French). To change languages, use the drop-down arrows to change the From and To languages in the Research pane that appears, and then click the Start searching button beside the top text box under Search for. You can also type the text to be translated directly into the Search for: box.

For simple words and phrases translated among French, English, and Spanish, Word uses its own built-in Bilingual Dictionaries. For other Western languages that use the standard Latin character set, Word uses its Online Bilingual Dictionaries.

Using the Mini Translator

Word can also translate using ScreenTips, as shown in Figure 10.25.

FIGURE 10.25

When the Mini Translator is enabled, Word translates the selected word using a ScreenTip.

Before enabling the Mini Translator, you have to choose the correct To language. To do so, on the Review tab in the Language group, click Translate Choose Translation Language. The Translation Language Options dialog box shown in Figure 10.26 appears. Under Choose Mini Translator language, open the Translate to drop-down list, and click the desired language. (If you're typing in English and set the language to English (United States), the Mini Translator doesn't work. Click OK to apply the language setting.

To toggle the Mini Translator on, in the Language group of the Review tab click Translate Mini Translator. From there, when you hover the mouse pointer over any word, the semi-transparent Mini Translator ScreenTip appears. Move the mouse pointer over the ScreenTip to make the translation fully visible.

FIGURE 10.26

First set the Translate to language to enable the Mini Translator.

Taking a Word Count

Getting a count of the number of words in a document seems like a relatively simple feature, but it could be crucial in situations such as when you need to meet a minimum word count for a research paper, or when you need to ensure the text is under a maximum word count for an online advertisement or product listing. To count the words and compile other statistics in a document, click the Word Count button in the Proofing group of the Review tab. The Word Count dialog box shown in Figure 10.27 appears. Click Close when you are finished viewing its statistics.

FIGURE 10.27

The Word Count dialog box gives you critical document statistics, such as the number of words and pages.

Summary

Word's language tools provide a number of resources for writers and editors. In this chapter you've seen that Word includes strong tools for checking spelling, grammar, contextual spelling and grammar, and even achieving useful translations. You should now be able to do the following:

• Check spelling and grammar, as well as optimize options for the way you work
• Create customized word lists for technical writing, and exception lists to flag selected “correct” words as wrong
• Use Word's thesaurus to find the perfect word
• Look up important terminology using Word's Research pane
• Translate words, phrases, and even whole documents
• Count words, characters, and more in a document