Hello,

I was wondering if there was a way to detect parts of sentences such as:
it's


they're
you're
it'll
...

because when writing formal documents, such as a thesis or whatnot, it's not advised to use these. If you're used to write using these abbreviations, I find it fairly hard to "not use them".

Any thought ?

You can create AutoCorrect entries to replace them, such as replace "you're" with "you are." AutoCorrect functions are found in Word Options/Proofing. Click the AutoCorrect button.

thanks Ulodesk, I did think about this possibility however I was looking for a more general solution that could use some "grammar semantics" help; because doing what you suggest is very tedious, imagine all the possibilities there are:
jill's
jill'll
dad's
...

I would have to manually add these, PLUS in case I mean "dad's house" for example it would be incorrect. Hence the need for semantic check, and possibly underline with a green wave (or w/e) with it's too ambiguous.

I would think you need a macro that will at least flag the spurious 'll, 'd, and 've, etc. Out of my league, I'm afraid, but there are numerous sources for such things. You might check the WordTips site and think of investing in Allen's the Macros document, which may have something along the lines you're looking for. Also, poke around with "grammar problems and Word" type searches.