Make British spelling the default

[Vaun]

Version: 2004 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) Processor: Power PC Is there any way I can set Word preferences to check spellings according to the British dictionary for all documents?

The problem seems to be that my OS/keyboard settings are set at U.S. instead of Irish (because keyboard shortcuts for a lot of the graphic programmes I use only function when the keyboard is in U.S. mode!). As a designer my keyboard shortcuts are essential so switching my keyboard settings to Irish or U.K. isn't really an option.

Any words of wisdom gratefully appreciated.

 

[CyberTaz]

Word's Spelling & Grammar checking works from the appropriate built-in
resources [if available] based on the Language formatting of the text in the
document. It isn't a matter of telling the checker what language to use
except in the case of Custom Dictionaries you create.

If the entire document is supposed to be in one specific language but the
errors are being incorrectly handled, select all (Command+A) then go to
Tools> Language & select the appropriate language formatting. It's best,
however, if the language formatting be specified as apart of the Styles used
to format the document. See this page for more details:

http://word.mvps.org/mac/SpellCheck.html

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Vaun]

Thanks for that CyberTaz - embarrassingly simple.

One more question: at the moment Word is finding both UK and US spelling correct. Is there any way that I can get it to find the US spelling incorrect, in other words spellcheck exclusively in UK English?

Thanks again.

 

[CyberTaz]

I'm not sure I follow - that's basically what Word does. If the language of
the text is U.K. English Word checks it based on that Dictionary, if it's
tagged as U.S. English that dictionary is used instead, or if it's formatted
as French or Italian or Spanish the corresponding dictionary & grammar tools
are used. It's only if separate passages are formatted differently that Word
uses more than one dictionary. IOW, the language formatting of the text is
what tells Word what set of tools to check it against.

If I understand your dilemma I can think of 3 likely reasons aside from the
text being formatted for the different languages:

The first is that certain terms may be technically 'acceptable' in both
languages even though one may be preferred. There isn't much you can do if
that's the case -- the Main Dictionary cannot be edited.

Another is that the terms involved have been added to a Custom Dictionary
which has been designated as a language of "none". In that case, the term
will be found correct regardless of what language formatting it carries. The
link I gave you provides info on how to create & edit Custom Dictionaries.

The third is that the text has been previously marked to be Ignored within
the document and/or the box has been checked to 'Hide spelling errors in
this document". Try going into the Spelling & Grammar Preferences while the
document is open, clear that check if it's present, then click the 'Check
Document' button. It will clear the 'Ignore All' flags that may have been
set (you'll get a message box to that effect). Run the Spell Check again.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac