Microsoft Office 2007

Checking Spelling & Grammar in Other Languages

If you type in another language with the default Office 2007 settings, you will oftentimes type words that appear with red or green bars below them. Though you know the word is spelled accurately in your preferred language, the program does not recognize it as a language other than English. This document provides information on how to change your Office program to recognize your spelling and grammar mistakes in the language you prefer to type in.

NOTE: This document is significant only to Word and PowerPoint from the Microsoft Office 2007 program suite.

Setting Office to Recognize Another Language
Using the Spelling & Grammar Checker

Setting Office to Recognize Another Language

For the spelling and grammar checker to function correctly in another language, you must prepare your Office program to acknowledge the language.

Setting a New Default Language

After setting a new default language in Word or PowerPoint, the current file and all new or old files opened in that program will be subjected to the new language settings. This option is recommended for users who mainly type in a language other than the Office default.

NOTE: If you have changed the keyboard layout in Windows, Office automatically recognizes the language you are typing in.

From the Review tab, in the Proofing section, click SET LANGUAGE
The Language dialog box appears.
NOTE: Any language in the list can be recognized by your Office program, but languages without theicon cannot be spell or grammar checked.
From the scroll list, select the desired language.
EXAMPLE: Select Spanish (Mexico)
Click DEFAULT...
A confirmation dialog box appears.
Click YES
The default language is set.
Click OK

Setting the Language for a Current Document

You can set Word or PowerPoint to recognize selected text as another language. This option is recommended for users who alternate between different languages when typing.

Type the text you want recognized in another language
Select the text
From the Review tab, in the Proofing section, click SET LANGUAGE
The Language dialog box appears.
NOTE: Any language in the list can be recognized your Office program, but languages without theicon cannot be spell or grammar checked.
From the scroll list, select the desired language.
EXAMPLE: Select Spanish (Mexico)
If you want Word to be able to check your spelling and grammar, be sure the Do not check spelling or grammar checkbox is not selected
NOTE: The option is selected if a checkmark appears before it.
Click OK

Using the Spelling & Grammar Checker

Once you have prepared your Office program to recognize another language setting, using the spell and grammar checker is no different than using it in English. For more information, refer to Working with Spell Check and Working with Grammar Check.