Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Word (Windows) 2007: Grammar Check & Readability

Many of you already know this technique; but if you don't, here is how to use Word 2007 (Windows) to grammar-check your document and report on its readability:


1. Click on the icon at the extreme upper left of your screen (the Office icon).

2. A window will open, and at the bottom you should click on Word options.

3. Another window will open; in the left column, click Proofreading.

4. The resulting window will have many choices with checkboxes next to them.
Probably you will need to check "Show readability statistics."

5. You will see a drop-down menu that lets you tell Word to review not
just Grammar but "Grammar & Style."

6. Then you can select specific style features that Word should flag, such as the comma in a series of three or more, and the number of spaces after a sentence-final period.

7. Click OK, and get back to your document.

8. Now, go to the "Review" tab, and at the left of the resulting toolbar you will see "Spelling and Grammar." Click on it.

9. After you have made a decision about each spelling or grammar issue, you will see a window with the word count, sentence count, etc. At the bottom will be

Flesch Reading Ease. This statistic is on a scale of 0 to 100; 70 is excellent, 60 is good, 50 is usually acceptable at the grad level.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. A reading of, say, 12.2 means 12th grade second month. 15.5 means junior year of college, 5th month.

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