# Help me beat some sense into Microsoft Word's grammar check **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763 "2009-09-03T16:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/1 "2009-09-03T16:59:54Z")
There has to be a way to make Word understand that the word faculty is in fact a collective noun and is actually plural. If I see one more red squiggle underlining “faculty are” I’m going to kick Word’s ass. I know I can get rid of the spell/grammar check but I’d rather just make it understand that the word is plural. Does anyone know how to fix this? It doesn’t help that the word “faculty” is central to my research and thus in every damn thing I type… :mad: ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/2 "2009-09-03T17:13:32Z")
I believe that collective nouns are treated as singular in American English. Thread that touches on the point [found here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=530251). It is possible that Word is right. ETA: Where are you located? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/3 "2009-09-03T17:26:26Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I believe that collective nouns are treated as singular in American English. Thread that touches on the point [found here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=530251). It is possible that Word is right. > > ETA: Where are you located? I admit that my grammar brain is not engaged, but here’s what I mean: “Faculty” in essence means “faculty members.” So I might say: Faculty are able to engage in research, teaching, and service. Word wants me to say: Faculty is able to engage in research, teaching, and service. or Faculties are able to engage in research, teaching, and service. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/4 "2009-09-03T17:53:34Z")
There’s also the possibility: Faculty members are able to engage in research, teaching, and service. And that would satisfy both sides of the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/5 "2009-09-03T18:03:09Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > There’s also the possibility: > > Faculty members are able to engage in research, teaching, and service. > > And that would satisfy both sides of the Atlantic. True, but for a word that essentially appears in every other sentence I write, that’s a pain. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/6 "2009-09-03T19:15:55Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > “Faculty” in essence means “faculty members.” I would disagree. The faculty is a body composed of faculty members. > [@](#): > > Word wants me to say: > > Faculty is able to engage in research, teaching, and service. I would say the correct usage is “The faculty is…” but I’m not an authority on this. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/7 "2009-09-03T19:27:37Z")
Also, _faculty_ is a singular non-collective noun if you use it in meanings 1,2,3,4,7,8 of [faculty](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faculty). ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/8 "2009-09-03T19:35:09Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I would disagree. The faculty is a body composed of faculty members. That’s exactly it. When you insert “the,” you are making reference to the body. As in, “The faculty is solidly against the president, witnessed by the senate’s vote of no confidence.” But perhaps this is a reflection of the reality of faculty life - we rarely agree on anything :), so I think this use is less frequent than how I tend to use it, which is to refer to a subset of the teachers and researchers at a university. But when you say “faculty,” as in, “Several faculty are finding it difficult to balance their scholarship and service roles,” it’s synonymous with “professors.” ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/9 "2009-09-03T19:37:23Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Also, _faculty_ is a singular non-collective noun if you use it in meanings 1,2,3,4,7,8 of [faculty](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faculty). Yep. I tend to use it as definition 6. As interesting as this is, does anyone know how to change the grammar setting in Microsoft Word? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/10 "2009-09-03T19:37:55Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Also, _faculty_ is a singular non-collective noun if you use it in meanings 1,2,3,4,7,8 of [faculty](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faculty). But the only relevant meaning of “faculty” is in 5 of that collection: > [@](#): > > 1. Education. > a. the entire teaching and administrative force of a university, college, or school. > b. one of the departments of learning, as theology, medicine, or law, in a university. > c. the teaching body, sometimes with the students, in any of these departments. It still comes down to a difference between different dialects of English, and in some dialects a word like “faculty”, meaning a group of people who can be considered either collectively or individually, can be treated as a plural even though it has a singular form. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/11 "2009-09-03T19:43:49Z")
Grammar debates aside, it’s a UK English versus US English thing, I believe. If you want to switch it to use UK English: Click on Tools – Choose Language – Set Language - (select UK English from the list) – Click Default – Confirm. Now, if you have to use US spelling, you’ll have to deal with squiggly lines under color, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/12 "2009-09-03T19:50:59Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > Grammar debates aside, it’s a UK English versus US English thing, I believe. If you want to switch it to use UK English: > > Click on Tools – Choose Language – Set Language - (select UK English from the list) – Click Default – Confirm. > > Now, if you have to use US spelling, you’ll have to deal with squiggly lines under color, etc. Interesting. You’d think it would be possible to tweak rules on spelling and/or grammar in Word, but so far, I think this is the only working option… ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/13 "2009-09-03T21:51:42Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > But the only relevant meaning of “faculty” is in 5 of that collection. I should have elaborated more in my message. I know that the only relevant meaning to the OP is number 5, but the multiple meanings make it hard for a grammar checker to “know” whether the word is supposed to be singular or plural. How do you propose it determine whether to flag singular or plural instances of the word? ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/14 "2009-09-03T22:46:00Z")
Does clicking “Ignore rule” on the right mouse menu help? If correcting it for a future version would do you any good, consider writing a letter to Microsoft on your university letterhead, maybe to their university relations department. It would be interesting to see if you got a response, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/15 "2009-09-03T23:45:27Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > Interesting. You’d think it would be possible to tweak rules on spelling and/or grammar in Word, but so far, I think this is the only working option… You can also disable checking for subject-verb agreement by going to Word Options -\> Proofing -\> “When correcting spelling and grammar in Word” -\> Settings button next to “Writing style” -\> Uncheck “Subject-verb agreement”. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/16 "2009-09-03T23:56:47Z")
Another alternative is to edit Word’s dictionary/grammar file directly (in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Proof\MSGR3EN.LEX) and overwrite all instances of “faculty” that you find. Word will just forget that word for both spelling and grammar, and you can use it however you want without affecting other words or grammar checks. You can still keep subject-verb agreement on, in other words. If you don’t have a text editor handy, you can download my [edited MSGR3EN.LEX file](http://drop.io/9w0h5h5/asset/msgr3en-lex) and replace yours (but back yours up first in case you run into any future problems). The only difference is that I replaced all instances of “faculty”, as described. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/17 "2009-09-04T00:15:18Z")
Minor correction: That file only modifies grammar, it seems. Spelling is unaffected. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/18 "2009-09-04T06:21:56Z")
I’m familiar with the UK/US divide over what kind of verb form to use for collective singular nouns, but I find it interesting that here at the University of Memphis, I typically hear my colleagues and the administration saying “the faculty are…” exactly as in the OP’s examples. I think even my colleagues in the English department say it this way. If we are using it incorrectly by American standards, I wonder why it has become common practice among American academics–whom you might expect to be overly pedantic about grammar (speaking for myself as well as other colleagues in the humanities fields in particular)? Or perhaps this only applies to certain regions of the US, like the South (where I see both **Hippy Hollow** and I work)–although I could swear I’ve heard academics from other parts of the country also employing “are” in conjunction with “faculty.” Maybe **Hippy Hollow** ’s theory is correct–that it reflects the heterogeneity of any given university’s professors as a group. And words like “professors” might not always be a suitable synonym, since not everyone who is a faculty member is necessarily a “professor” (the vast majority are, at least of some rank–but not always). Plus, in some places, practice is to reserve the term “professor” only for full professors, and not for assistant or associate profs (this practice, however, seems to vary a lot from region to region–which is why I wonder if other parts of the country might insist on saying “faculty is” when referring to a group of professors, in contrast to my experience). ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/19 "2009-09-04T09:20:26Z")
I think it’s useful to get over the lines. To simply mentally ignore them, going into edit Word’s data files just so you don’t have to see squiggly lines seems like more trouble than it’s worth. It’s not like they show up when it’s printed out. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763/20 "2009-09-04T09:27:00Z")
I’m a professional writer. Here’s my advice: For goodness sake turn the grammar checker off (in Preferences). It’s stupid, annoying and generally wrong. It will make you a worse writer. The spell checker is pretty useful, but watch it like a hawk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-beat-some-sense-into-microsoft-words-grammar-check/508763.md?page=2)