1.  Do a spell check.  If a name or other unusual word comes up that you know will keep coming up, then check its spelling carefully, and then click on “Ignore All” instead of “Ignore.”  If that word comes up again, then you know you have a typo in it.  Look carefully at the words that come up because it is easy to miss typos.

2.  Go to:         Find [under the home tab, all the way to the right on the ribbon]

Type in the word really.  When the word is found, then click on “Replace” in the dialogue box and replace it with a more meaningful word, or just press enter to delete it.   Click on “Find Next” to continue through the rest of the paper.  Do the same for the words very, definitely, and truly.  These are empty words that are often better to leave out of your paper than to replace.

3.  Go to:         Find

Type in “the” in order to find all the possible theres in the paper.  A lot of thes will appear, but just click on “Find Next” to ignore them.  When there, their, or  they’re is found, check the meaning.  There means a place (There is a snake on your head.)  Their is possessive (It’s their turn.)  They’re is a contraction, they are (They’re not coming home.)  If you need to change the word, click on “replace” as in #2.

Do the same thing with to.  To is a preposition (to the lake) or an infinitive (to eat).  Too means also (He went, too.), or it is an adverb (He ate too much pie).