spellchecker

spellchecker

Computer programs that attempt to check the spellings of words do this in an extremely limited and literal way. Generally they check each string of letters against a list of allowed words and reject or query any they find in the searched text that are not included in this list. At present their sense of grammar and context is crude, so that (for example) they are incapable of distinguishing from and form (words which are commonly miskeyed in word processing) because both words are formally allowable. Proper names are often rejected, although users are generally allowed to add their own stock of special words to the permitted lists. In more technical writing, the number of queries raised by the program is so great that the checking becomes not merely impractical but unsound because genuine errors are easily overlooked by the user in the maze of false errors reported. Also be aware that some programs are based on American word lists and therefore reject British spellings. Above all, do not assume that a text that has been spellchecked is therefore free of spelling errors.