In recent attempts to find the cause of this problem, I found that my AppleSpell.service bundle was corrupted. I replaced that bundle (in /Library/Services) with a working copy from another machine, and now in all applications which use the OS X spell check service, whenever I attempt to access that service an alert is displayed saying 'couldn't contact spell checker'.
I'm now at a loss as to what to do. I've never used or tried to use any third-party spell check service, and I haven't observed any other abnormal behavior on my system. I'm running 10.4.6 on a G4 PowerBook.
Built-in OS X Spell Checker Best Grammar Checker Software for Mac OS Users Whether you work on writing an e-mail or a story, few experiences feel as embarrassing as grammar mistakes. Think of writing a research paper containing hundreds of pages in one go, or your first assignment. On Mac OS X 10.5 and above, NeoOffice also includes support for the Mac OS X grammar checker (which on 10.5 supports only US English and only a limited subset of English grammar, at that); this can be activated by opening the Tools menu, selecting the Add-Ons sub-menu, and choosing one of the options from the Check Grammar sub-menu. Check what language macOS thinks it should be checking your spelling in. You should look in two places to see if macOS preferences changed: In Safari or any app that lets you type, click in a field. As far as I know, the spell checker is not delivered by Pages but by the operating system. Only the hyphenation.dat resource file is delvered by Pages. If I try to check a French text with the spell checker set on French, it works. If I try to check an English text with the spell checker set on English, it works.
Mac Os X Pages Spell Checkers
From NeoWiki
[edit]Spellcheck and Writing Tools in NeoOffice
NeoOffice will correctly configure your preferences to use the language tools (spellcheck, thesaurus, etc.) for the language and region that are set as the defaults in the International pane of the System Preferences when you first launch NeoOffice, provided you have the appropriate writing tools installed.
NeoOffice 3.x will automatically use the native Mac OS X spelling dictionaries if they match the language of the text to be checked. See Issues with Locale Variants of Languages for more details.
However, if you add a word to the dictionary in NeoOffice, it will be added to your NeoOffice user dictionary, ~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-3.0/user/wordbook/standard.dic (where ~ represents your home folder), not your Mac OS X user dictionary. See Exporting the Word List from a User Dictionary for information on syncing the contents of standard.dic to your Mac OS X user dictionary.
NeoOffice also ships with a very limited number of OpenOffice.org writing tools (spelling dictionary, thesaurus, hyphenation), with many of the dictionaries and thesauri formerly found in NeoOffice 2.x omitted; if your language is not supported by the Mac OS X spelling system nor by the OpenOffice.org dictionaries shipped in NeoOffice, see Adding Additional Dictionaries for information on installing writing tools for your language. (If you want to disable unnecessary writing tools, see Disabling Writing Tools for Unnecessary Languages.)
On Mac OS X 10.5 and above, NeoOffice also includes support for the Mac OS X grammar checker (which on 10.5 supports only US English and only a limited subset of English grammar, at that); this can be activated by opening the Tools menu, selecting the Add-Ons sub-menu, and choosing one of the options from the Check Grammar sub-menu.
Spell Check On Mac Word
[edit]Additional Information about Spellcheck and Writing Tools
Mac Os X Pages Spell Checker
- Adding Additional Dictionaries
- Explains various methods of adding dictionaries that NeoOffice can use, as well as how to disable unused writing tools
- Selecting the Dictionary to be Used in a Document or Section
- Explains how to make sure NeoOffice is using the correct dictionary and provides methods for automating the process
- Exporting the Word List from a User Dictionary
- Explains how to get the contents out of the NeoOffice user dictionary
- Troubleshooting Spellcheck
- Lists solutions to common problems with spell-checking
- Activating Dictionaries and Configuring Spellcheck in NeoOffice 2.x
- Spellcheck-related instructions for NeoOffice 2.x
- Activating Dictionaries in NeoOffice 1.x
- Spellcheck-related instructions for NeoOffice 1.x
Mac Spell Check Settings
[edit]Changing the language of the NeoOffice user interface
NeoOffice uses the topmost language in the list in the International pane of the System Preferences to determine the interface language. If you want the NeoOffice user interface (and in some cases the Help) to be in your native language, you must install the appropriate language pack separately.
For details on using an interface language other than the one specified in the System Preferences, consult Changing the Language of the User Interface.