Writing in Spanish Using Microsoft Word
Using Spanish Language Characters Made Easy
The first thing to do when using Word as your editor is to set the language to Spanish when you start a new document. This will load the appropriate library of words so that the spell checker works and this way you can make sure that the language module is installed. This is done by going to the 'tools' menu then to 'Language' and clicking on set language. A list of languages will show up in a new window and from there you can select the library you would like to use.
Writing in Spanish can be a little tricky without knowledge of the appropriate keyboard shortcuts for those using a standard keyboard (and most of us do). These are the Microsoft Word keyboard shortcuts for typing the accented vowels as well as the ñ and ü. The upside down exclamation and question marks are also included here.
á - ctrl + ' + a
é - ctrl + ' + e
í - ctrl + ' + i
ó - ctrl + ' + o
ú - ctrl + ' + u
ñ - ctrl + shift + ~
ü - ctrl + shift + :
¿ - ctrl + alt + shift + ?
¡ - ctrl + alt + shift + !
These shortcuts will help you ensure that you are using correct grammar and your audience understands your message.
Another neat tool that Word has is the 'translate' command. This command requires that you have an active internet connection but it is very useful when you can't quite find the right word or phrase. Just highlight the English version of your text then right click and select translate from the menu. A frame will open on the right side with a translation. The translation is often in need of editing but it is a great tool when you can't think of the right way to say something.
Nothing speaks more to any audience than content that is specifically written for them. The use of proper grammar and Spanish language characters will make your Spanish content popular among that market.
Published by AC Miguel
Proud member of AC since 2004. I have served as Operations Manager, Revenue Manager and now Director of Analytics and SEO. I am the Ping Pong master of AC and fantasy sports enthusiast. View profile
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40 Comments
Post a CommentWhere is this "tools" menu of which you speak? I can't find it.
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how are you doing beatiful
Hoy se tuvo que marchar un poco
antes que nesetros. solo por un corto
tiempo por eso les pidimos que no se encierren
en su dolor ni busquen explicaciones por lo contrario
sonrian, recuerdenlo siempre como fue. no tengan miedo
no se sientan solos que ahora mas que nunca estoy
cuidandonos a todos. piensen en su lucha diaria
gracias por lo que le dieron, por lo que le dijieron
por el apoyo de todos sus companeros del trabajo
por sus oraciones, por su apoyo en los momentos mas dificil
por todo ese amor que le dieron y le demostraron, gracias familias, companeros,amigos
no le olviden y en sus oraciones desenle vida eterna en compania de sus padres y abuelos.
If you have a Mac is so much easier to set you keyboards to the Spanish all you have to do is to click on Apple icon on the upper left corner click on International click on the Input Menu tab and select Keyboard Viewer and Character Palette but most importantly select Spanish. A flag will show up in the upper right corner of your screen if the American flag is displaying click on it to select the Spanish flag so you get the characters in Spanish and you are ready to go, if you don't know where the specific characters are click on the flag again and click on the Show Keyboard Viewer it will display all the characters and just get familiar with it, you can also use the small keyboard viewer to enter the character and accents you need.
Microsoft word is not perfect and they still have some mistakes that will correct for you for example the word more= más but this word will display mas without the accent on the A, so you need to enter that manually because it will not corr
I have not written for AC in about a year. Does AC accept Spanish content once again? If not, are there other sites that will?
Thanks in advance,
Ana
This does work great, but you need to find a way to make sure people don't misspell words en Español because I'm sure that people are still screwing up that way. But thank you for this guide- I've been trying to type a Spanish book and haven't known how to do it because of missing accent markings.
á - ctrl + ' + a
é - ctrl + ' + e
í - ctrl + ' + i
ó - ctrl + ' + o
ú - ctrl + ' + u
ñ - ctrl + shift + ~
ü - ctrl + shift + :
¿ - ctrl + alt + shift + ?
¡ - ctrl + alt + shift + !
Good point. I havent updated this in a while. I will look into the new versions of word to see how they work now.
I was having the same problem as Dave, however in order for it to work properly in Microsoft Word, you have to set your default language as Spanish. After you are done, you can always change it back.