How to determine WORD doc reading level?

K

KQuilt

Does WORD include a tool that allows one to see what reading level a document
is? Or, to determine how many times the verb "to be" is used within a
document?

Thanks -
 
G

garfield-n-odie

In Word, click on Tools | Options | Spelling & Grammar | check the "Show
readability statistics" box | OK. Then press F7 to rerun
spelling/grammar check, and when it finishes, a statistics dialog box
will appear that shows the reading level.

One way to count the number of times "to be" appears is to do a search
and replace. Click on Edit | Replace | More | Find what: to be | check
the "Find whole words only" box | Replace with: <Special> <Find What
Text> | Replace All. The number of replacements is the number of times
the "Find what" text appears.
 
D

Dayo Mitchell

I suspect that finding the use of "to be" is a little more
complicated....really what KQuilt probably wants is a macro that will count
up and report all the times "is, are, was, were" was used in a document (did
I miss any?). I would find that handy as well, I must say.

It's entirely possible, and I suspect an adaptation of the macro that lists
all words used and number of occurrences would work.... (a very concrete way
to reprimand students for overuse of passive voice).

Though I for sure would not grade anybody based on what Word thinks the
reading level is.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

This would be a good test of Find's "Find all word forms" check box! In
fact, I just tried it (with "be"), and it found "was," "is," "are," "being,"
etc. Used in conjunction with "Highlight all items found," this is pretty
impressive!
 
D

Dayo Mitchell

Neat! Thanks, Suzanne.

Dayo

This would be a good test of Find's "Find all word forms" check box! In
fact, I just tried it (with "be"), and it found "was," "is," "are," "being,"
etc. Used in conjunction with "Highlight all items found," this is pretty
impressive!
 
K

KQuilt

Thanks Suzanne and Dayo - Appreciate the comments. I'll also try the "Find
all word forms" box!
 
H

halboye

when I click on Tools | Options | Spelling & Grammar | There is no "Show
readability statistics" box -- it just checks spelling and grammer
 
H

halboye

Thank you -- you are correct. When I did it the right way, it worked ..
thanks again for your persistence
 

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