Spell check underlines contractions of Verb + Not

Anonymous
2011-08-17T11:22:05+00:00

Original Title:"Contractions of Verb + Not"

The spell check in Outlook 2011 keeps underlining any verb that is contracted with "not."  For example, "can't", "isn't", and so on are all flagged as misspellings.  How can I stop this?

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For business

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2011-11-15T00:24:50+00:00

Everyone should send Microsoft feedback to let them know you want this bug fixed.

The more reports they get the higher it gets on the list to be fixed.

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/product-feedback

Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments

48 additional answers

Sort by: Newest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-20T21:19:39+00:00

    Wish it worked, but it didn't.

    Add the following to the misspelled list:

    couldn't

    wouldn't

    Shouldn't shows up as being spelled correctly.

    I'm also running Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) and this occurs on both my work iMac (2010) and my personal MacBook Pro (2010). They were both upgraded with the same download of Mac OS and installed with the same Microsoft Office disc (licensed from my work).

    Very odd...

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-20T20:26:34+00:00

    Diane is correct that Outlook is using Apple's dictionary.

    See if this works:

    1. Go to Edit menu --> Spelling and Grammar --> Show Spelling and Grammer.
    2. Enter your contraction into the top field and then click the Learn button.

    Test typing the word in Outlook now and see if it's still indicated as an error.

    FYI, on Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) I don't see this issue.

    Hope this helps!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-19T17:13:13+00:00

    After trying these possible solutions, the problem remains. I followed your instructions exactly as you said, so whatever is causing this for some users is something else.

    Here is a list of words that show up as being spelled correctly:

    can't

    don't

    won't

    isn't

    doesn't

    haven't

    weren't

    Here is a list of words that show up as being spelled incorrectly:

    hasn't

    hasn't

    wasn't

    Yet I can right-click the misspelled words and choose Look Up "hasn't"  or whichever word and the definition pulls up as has not.

    Oddly enough, if I do not type the apostrophe (so I just type hasnt), it will autocorrect to hasn't and will not complain that it is misspelled. All other applications do not think these few select words are spelled incorrectly, only Outlook from what I've noticed.

    Not a big issue, just slightly annoying as I type my emails and red dotted lines pop up.

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thank you,

    Tony

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2011-08-17T21:19:50+00:00

    We haven't seen this reported. Outlook now uses the Mac OS X spell checker so I'm not sure if this is an issue with Outlook or the OS.

    http://www.officeformachelp.com/2010/10/spell-check-differs-in-outlook/

    First create a new Identity and see if you get the same behavior with the contractions.

    How to create a new Identity or switch to a new Identity in Outlook 2011

    http://www.officeformachelp.com/outlook/faqs/#faq20

    If the problem exists in the new Identity, let's test in a new User.

    CREATE A NEW USER

    Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.

    Open Outlook and test.

    If the problem goes away, your Identity has the problem. Most likely it's a .plist file.

    Move the Microsoft folder in your User's Library/Preferences folder to the Desktop. Log out/in and see if the problem goes away. To further test your User's account see this link:

    If the issue is limited to your regular User account….

    Let us know what you find. Since this is new your feedback will help us help other users with this problem. Thanks!!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments No comments