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How do I change/set the dictionary in Pages 5?

I am struggling to find how to change the defaulf dictionary in Pages 5 from UK English to US English. This feature was in the 'inspector' in previous versions and was easily accessible, now it seems to have disappeared. It's infuriating as I publish in both the US and UK and need to use both.

Posted on Nov 2, 2013 6:24 AM

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Posted on Nov 2, 2013 6:35 AM

hi


i am not sure if this will work on your system since when Mavericks is installed over Mountain Lion it does not seem to replace language settings or change the ones you had before.


go to System Preferences / Text tab

on Text tab you will see the pull down menu Spelling:

set it so that Automatic by Language is shown


as i said, it works on my system but it also worked before installing Mavericks on my system also.


thanks

27 replies

Nov 15, 2013 3:43 PM in response to autrefois

autrefois wrote:


I would like it so it checks part of the document for Language X (eg French) and other parts of the document for Language Y (eg English). Have you, or anyone else, found a way to do this in Pages 5?


Pages 5 is supposed to autodetect languages, but I am doubtful that is very effective. There is no way for the user to tag specific text like there was in Pages 4. To ask Apple to add that back, use


http://www.apple.com/feedback

Nov 15, 2013 3:50 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thank you for replying so quickly. That's what I was afraid of, but earlier in the thread it sounded like this might work via the Spelling and Grammar box.


I will definitely send Apple feedback in hopes it will be on their list of things to bring back. (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6049?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US)


Perhaps if enough people request it, it will be like OS updates: they list a number of big changes but also slip in other ones.

Nov 15, 2013 4:16 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thanks for the additional info. I'm on a new Macbook Pro that I will soon by migrating to from my old one and getting a "fresh start" (instead of using migration assistant to transfer my previous system as-is like I usually do).


I believe I have the DVDs from when I purchased iWork '09, so it looks like I will need to reinstall from there.


Thank you for the link: I've been reading reports (MacRumors, etc.) about what's new and missing, but it's nice to have a little to a forum dedicated just to this situation. I was so happy when I heard there were striving for feature-parity, and so disappointed when I found out this meant in many cases removing features from the Mac version.


This missing feature is a major issue for me. I've just submitted feedback to Apple about this.

Mar 17, 2014 9:47 PM in response to StuBarr

I do not use iWork or other Apple applications. But I do use the Dictionary in Maverick. And I write in english and Italian. Is it possible that I have to restart the Mac to change the Dictionary language?

Anyone has a solution for this, including the chance to download a third part dictionary?

Thank you

PS the previous OS dictionary was multilanguage without restarting!

Mar 17, 2014 9:55 PM in response to primapagina

primapagina wrote:


Is it possible that I have to restart the Mac to change the Dictionary language?

Anyone has a solution for this, including the chance to download a third part dictionary?

PS the previous OS dictionary was multilanguage without restarting!


If you are talking about the reference dictionaries, to make sure all the languages are available, check the boxes for the ones you want in the Preferences of Dictionary.app in the Applications folder. Restarting should not be necessary for anything like this.


What non-apple apps are you talking about? The reference dictionaries may or may not work for such things.


If you talking about spell checking, let us know and tell us what apps you are using.

Mar 17, 2014 10:41 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Thank you Tom, and sorry for me being so imprecise. You are right. The Dictionary application (the one with the red book icon) preference includes a "Dizionario italiano da un affiliato di Oxford University Press Copyright © 2012" which seems to be ok. There are also a dozen others dictionaries that can be selected. Now I also wonder if dictionaries can be added or removed from the list, but this is not so important.

Primapagina

PS with "Apple applications" I meant applications from Apple like Pages, iWork and so - I just meant the autocorrection autocompletion features I already have in two languages, but my explanation was not clear, now I see it

Mar 18, 2014 5:47 AM in response to primapagina

primapagina wrote:


I also wonder if dictionaries can be added or removed from the list


Yes, see


http://m10lmac.blogspot.com/2013/01/adding-dictionaries-to-dictionaryapp.html


But reference dictionaries have nothing to do with spellcheck or autocorrect. That is handled by other systems that you activate in system prefs/keyboard/text/spelling. Some non-Apple apps like Word have their own independent tools for this.

How do I change/set the dictionary in Pages 5?

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