Vocabulary for Microsoft Word – Easy English

Microsoft is a popular (famous/well-known/used a lot) tech company. They’ve been around for years. Microsoft has many programs that people use at work. Excel, Microsoft Word, and PowerPoint are used often. But did you know there’s specific vocabulary for Microsoft Word?

This vocabulary can come in handy (be useful), especially at work. I’m using some of this vocabulary for Microsoft Word right now! I write all my blogs in Word. How often do you use this program?

To copy/paste

Do you want to move some words or a sentence from one place to another? Then use copy/paste! To copy/paste is to copy some text and put it in another part of the document. To do so, you highlight (select, pick, choose) the text (See below!). Then click Ctrl + C to copy the text. To paste or put the text back in the document, click Ctrl + V.

For example:

• I think this sentence would be better here. Can you copy/paste it there?
• This paragraph works better at the end. Copy/paste it, and we can see how it reads.

To edit

Sometimes you have to edit a text. To edit is to make changes. These changes make the text better. In Word, you can see edits that other people have made. This is helpful if you asked for help with your text. Then you can see the original text, and what others have written or edited. Edits are great, as they can make your work better!

For example:

• If I send you this essay, can you edit it? Something doesn’t read right. I need someone else to look at it with fresh eyes.
• You can see her edits here. What do you think? I think they’re really good!

To save

One of the most important things is remembering to save. When you save a document, you keep that version of the document on your computer. If you save it again after making changes, it saves the newest version. Nothing is worse than forgetting to save! I lost many essays in college by not saving my work.

Since Word2016, Word saves our work automatically so we do not have to think about saving. Same with emails and Excel and many other programs. But in the 2000s and earlier, you had to think about saving your work or you could lose it. The program we publish (put online) this blog with does NOT automatically save my work. I must click ‘save’ before I leave!

For example:

• I closed Word without saving. Now my whole essay is lost and I have to start again.
• Dave saves his work every half hour. That way he knows there’s always a version of it ready to go.

Highlight

Highlighting text is very useful in Word. To highlight is to move the cursor (the bar that shows where your mouse is) over some text. This will look blue or grey, like you used a highlighter on that part of your sentence. When text is highlighted, it’s easier to move it around. You can also delete a lot of text at one time. Highlighting makes it easy to work on whole sections of text.

For example:

• Can you highlight this sentence? Then copy/paste it to the end of the paragraph.
• You don’t need this sentence. Highlight it and delete it, please.

Do you use Microsoft Word at work? Did you know any of this vocabulary for Microsoft Word already? Share with us in the comments below!