Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Checking Up On Numbers.

Checking Up On Numbers

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated September 24, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Depending on the type of writing you are doing, it is often appropriate to spell out certain numbers rather than use actual digits in your text. For instance, it is proper to write, "He ate seven biscuits," rather than "He ate 7 biscuits." If you want, you can configure Word's grammar checker to check for the proper use of spelled-out numbers rather than digits. To do so, follow these steps:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the Spelling & Grammar tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Spelling & Grammar tab of the Options dialog box.

Click on the Settings button. Word displays the Grammar Settings dialog box. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Grammar Settings dialog box.

Scroll through the Grammar and Style Options list until you find the Numbers option. Make sure it is checked.
Click on OK to close the Grammar Settings dialog box.
Click on OK to close the Options dialog box.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (917) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Checking Up On Numbers.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

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