Choose the Right Word!

So, you want to be adept at creating dazzling documents? Be a whiz with the written word? If you wish to be an expert essayist, who can create brilliant bulletins and nifty newsletters, you can do so by using the tools available on the Review tab in Microsoft Word 2007.

Open Word and start typing your document. If the appropriate word evades you, click on the Review tab and from the Proofing group, click on Thesaurus. The Research task pane will open on to the right of your Word document. In the Search for box type the word that comes to mind even though it may not be exactly the word that you want. Once you type the word in the Search for box, use the Enter key on your keyboard or click the green arrow at the end of your search box in order to start the search. A list of synonyms will appear.

Scroll over a word on the list and a drop-down arrow will become visible. Clicking on it will open a menu giving you three choices: Insert, Copy, Look Up. If you choose Insert, then the word you selected will be inserted in to your document; Copy the desired word, and it will be copied to your Clipboard. If you choose Look Up, then you will get another list of synonyms to choose from. You can keep using the Look Up command for the words until you find just the word you were looking for, the word that accurately expresses what you want to say. Then just click on Insert and the word will be inserted into your document.

The Research task pane also includes a back and a forward arrow. You can use the Back arrow button on the Research task pane to go back to the original search word. The forward arrow becomes active once you have used the back arrow. Both the back and the forward arrow buttons have drop-down lists attached. By clicking on the drop-down arrow you can see all of your previous searches and you can navigate to a specific search.

The default setting for the Research task pane is All Reference Books, but you can choose the resource you want used for your search word. The search-in fields are listed under three categories: All Reference Books, All Research Sites, and All Business and Financial Sites. Click the drop-down arrow in the box that displays the resource and select the option you want from the list.

A quick way to check for synonyms without going to the Review tab is to right-click the word you want to replace. From the menu that will appear, choose Synonyms. You will see a list of synonyms. Click the appropriate word and your original word will be replaced with the new word.

The difference between using the Thesaurus from the Review tab and using the Synonyms from the right-click menu is that the Thesaurus offers many more choices in your search for the right word.

But that’s not all folks! Aside from the Research pane, the Proofing group, in the Review tab, also includes the indispensable spell check, and a handy translation command that will translate selected text to the language of your choice. But, more on that in my next blog!

So if you have a tale to tell or a narrative to record, you can create a superb document using the invaluable tools that Microsoft Word offers!

- Rina B.