Set a Language Style in MS Word 2007

Dennis Faas's picture

When you enter text into your Word document that is something other than English, chances are that MS Word will not recognize it and will interpret it as being misspelled.

If it is necessary for you to have sections of non-English text within your English-language Word documents, then you know how annoying it is when Word checks the spelling of the non-English text using its English dictionary.

Word is programmed to automatically proofread your document for the language version that is installed on your computer. If you purchased your licensed copy of MS Word in the United States, your text will all be marked as English (U.S.) and Word will proof non-English text against the English (U.S.) dictionary.

When you add text in a language other than English (U.S.), Word's spelling and grammar checker will flag them as being misspelled. To let Word know which dictionary to use to proof the text, you should mark it for proofing in its own language by assigning a language style.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

  • Key in the foreign language text.  
     
  • Select the text.  
     
  • Go to Tools | Language | Set Language.  
     
  • Scroll to and select the language from the Mark Selected Text As list.
     
  • Click OK.   
     
  • Go to View | Task Pane.  
     
  • Click the Getting Started arrow and select Styles And Formatting from the list.  
     
  • With the text still selected, click New Style.  
     
  • Enter a name for the style (such as Spanish) in the Name box.  
     
  • Click OK.

Now, when you want Word to proof your text in Spanish, simply highlight the text and select Spanish from the drop-down Style box in the Formatting toolbar. This new style will be available to the current document only. If you want it to be available to the template the document is based on, click the Add To Template check box in the New Style dialog box after step 9 before clicking OK.

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