Checking spelling

OpenOffice.org 3 Writer Guide

Chapter 3: Working with Text

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• Selecting text
• Cutting, copying, and pasting text
• Finding and replacing text and formatting
• Inserting special characters
• Formatting paragraphs
• Formatting characters
• Autoformatting
• Creating numbered or bulleted lists
• Using footnotes and endnotes
• Checking spelling
• Using language tools
• Using the thesaurus
• Hyphenating words
• Using word completion
• Using AutoText
• Line numbering
• Undoing and redoing changes
• Tracking changes to a document
• Inserting notes
• Linking to another part of a document
• Working with hyperlinks
• Tips and tricks

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Writer provides a spelling checker, which can be used in two ways.

	AutoSpellcheck checks each word as it is typed and displays a wavy red line under any misspelled words. Once the word is corrected, the line disappears.
	To perform a separate spelling check on the document (or a text selection), click the Spelling and Grammar button. This checks the document or selection and opens the Spelling dialog box if any misspelled words are found.

The Spelling dialog box.

Here are some more features of the spelling checker:

• You can right-click on a word with a wavy underline, to open a context menu. If you select from the suggested words on the menu, the selection will replace the misspelled word in your text.
• You can change the dictionary language (for example, to Spanish, French or German) on the Spelling dialog box.
• You can add a word to the dictionary. Click Add in the Spelling dialog box and pick the dictionary to add it to.
• The Options dialog of the Spelling tool has a number of different options, such as whether to check uppercase words and words with numbers. It also allows you to manage custom dictionaries; that is, add or delete dictionaries, and add or delete words in a dictionary.

Writer does not include a grammar checker, but you can install an extension such as Language Tool and access it from Tools > Spelling and Grammar. (See Chapter 17 for more about installing extensions.) Language Tool adds a new menu item and submenu to the Tools menu, from which you can configure the tool and check or recheck the document.