Check Your Spelling and Grammar on SpanishDictionary.com
Correct spelling and grammar are essential components of good communication. Whether you are writing something on your own or using a machine translator, it is important to check your work for accuracy. Read on for information on how to use SpanishDictionary.com to check your spelling and grammar!
Spelling Strategies
Imagine you are in Spanish class writing a paragraph about yourself in the target language. You know what you want to write, but you don’t know how to spell it. You ask the substitute teacher, but he doesn’t know any Spanish, so his reply is: “Look it up on SpanishDictionary.com!” At this point you are thinking: “How am I supposed to look it up if I can’t spell it?”
That is indeed a valid question. Luckily, the following steps will help you check your spelling of a word on SpanishDictionary.com.
Visualize what the word looks like and think of possible spellings.
Look up the words individually, typing in one letter at a time and letting SpanishDictionary.com automatically populate options. If you type in something that doesn’t exist in the Spanish language, SpanishDictionary.com will redirect you to the closest word.
When you think you have the correct spelling of a word, check the contexts and examples to make sure. Spanish has dozens of word pairs that are pronounced alike even though they have different meanings. For example, rallar(to grate) vs. rayar(to scratch).
If all else fails, use the SpanishDictionary.com thesaurus. If you look up a synonym of the word in Spanish, you may find the word you are looking for.
Spanish is a phonetic language. If you are having a hard time spelling words correctly, poor pronunciation may be the culprit. If you learn to pronounce words more accurately, you may improve your ability to spell them accurately as well! Click here for step-by-step pronunciation help. You can also create a list of vocabulary words that you have a hard time spelling and memorize them. SpanishDictionary.com will even create a personalized quiz for you! Click here to create a list of words you find difficult to spell.
Spell-Check is Great, but SpanishDictionary.com is Better
In the era of spell-check and autocorrect, dictionary skills are often regarded as unimportant.
Here are the top three reasons why you should use SpanishDictionary.com to double-check your spelling instead of just relying on spell-check.
Spell-check doesn’t catch typos that are actual words. If you want to say “stream”, and you type in arrollo(I run over) instead of arroyo(stream), spell-check will not recognize it as incorrect.
By relying on spell-check, you won’t learn from your mistakes. Spell-check may seem like a great solution, but it creates more problems in the long run. An essential part of learning a language is learning from your mistakes.
When you look up a word on SpanishDictionary.com, you get a ton of useful information. Every entry provides the phonetic spelling of the word, pronunciation, part of speech, the different definitions of the word, and real-life examples. Do you know of any spell-checker that does all that?
While we're on the subject of spell-checkers, did you know SpanishDictionary.com has its own built-in writing checker? Check out this article to learn how to use it!
“Estás Bueno” vs. “Eres Bueno”: Avoiding Embarrassing Mistakes with SpanishDictionary.com
Anyone that claims grammar isn’t important obviously has never been caught making an embarrassing grammar mistake. Correct grammar facilitates clear communication, and SpanishDictionary.com can help you check your grammar so you can effectively get your point across to a listener or reader.
A simple ser vs. estar mix-up could have you telling someone they are good-looking instead of saying they are a good person. Avoid making grammar mistakes like this with the following tips!
Use the translation tool on SpanishDictionary.com to check your grammar. Type in short phrases instead of full sentences to get the best result.
Make use of the resources on SpanishDictionary.com. SpanishDictionary.com has dozens of grammar lessons covering the essentials of Spanish grammar.
Use SpanishDictionary.com’s conjugation charts to make sure you are using the correct form and tense.
The first tip is especially important if you have used a machine translator. Machine translations should always be viewed as a rough draft. For tips on how to get the best results from a machine translator, click here!
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