WD: Spelling and Grammar Checkers Do Not Flag Single Letters

• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 2.0a, 2.0a-CD, 2.0b, 2.0c, 6.0, 6.0a, 6.0c
• Microsoft Word for Windows 95, versions 7.0, 7.0a
• Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Word for Windows, neither the Spelling command nor the Grammar command flags a single letter as a misspelled word, regardless of case. For example, in the following sentence

   Now is the time f R all good men to come to the aid...

CAUSE

This functionality is by design. Word will not flag a single letter as it is considered an intentional action (for example, a heading of an index section). However, if you have two single letters, such as f and f (separated by a space), Word will flag the second letter, regardless of case, because it flags duplicate (repeated) words.

WORKAROUND

Word 6.0 and Later

The AutoCorrect feature can be used to change an entry if it is a typical misspelling. For example, an entry of "t" can be automatically changed to "to" from the Tools menu by selecting AutoCorrect and adding "t" to the "Replace Text as You Type" dialog box.

NOTE: In the example of this article, you can create an AutoCorrect entry to insert the word "for" instead of the f and a space; however, Word will not flag "R" as a misspelling or grammatical error. There is no good workaround for this type of problem.

Word 2.0 and earlier

There isn't a workaround for this problem because Word 2.0 and earlier do not have an automatic correction feature.

REFERENCES

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, pages 273-276 "Microsoft Word for Windows User's Reference," version 1.x, pages 331-334