Word likes to anticipate your faults and make you look illiterate. One of the ways it does this is to capitalize things indiscriminately. The result is often capitalized words in the middle of sentences, making it look like you never learned that a period ends a sentence and a capitalized letter begins a new sentence. 1. Word will automatically capitalize the first letter of the next word after a period. But you may be putting in a period for reasons other than ending a sentence - like a dot-com situation, or an a.m./p.m notation. Be sure you proofread everything you send out, checking specifically for this. (Different versions of Word do this differently.)
2. Better yet, go into Word and click on "Review." Right-click on "Spelling and Grammar." Click on "Customize Quick Access Toolbar." Look in the left column, and left-click on "Proofing." Left-click on "Auto Correct Options." Uncheck "Capitalize first letter of sentences." Click "OK." Click "OK" again.
3. Now you have to remember to capitalize the first letter of each sentence. But we've been doing that since first grade; I don't think it will be a problem. And the good news is, Word will not be messing with the interior of your sentences.
(c)2014 Suzann Kale
Tags: Word, capitalization, spelling, grammar, proofreading, punctuation
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