Spell-checker flagging contractions such as "don't" as misspelled

[WolfChild 19]

I have been using Evernote for windows for a while. I am currently running version 6.4.2.3788. I started noticing a few weeks ago that evernote's build in spell-check is flagging all my contractions. For example when I am typing it underlines words that are spelled wrong in red. I do not use the menu version to spell checking the whole note. While typing words such as Don't (do not), Can't (can not), Won't (would not) are flagged incorrect. When the righ-click menu suggests the root word as a correction (do instead of don't, etc.). This has never been an issue before. I have not change anything regarding the dictionary or words in the dictionary. It is not happening in any other program on my computer that has this type of active spell check feature. 

[gazumped 11,652]

Hi. Same version of Evernote here,  but no such issue;  it would be worth checking the Tools > Options > Language page to make sure the settings there are all still correct - the update might have reset something.  I'd suggest you restart your system and File > Exit and re-log into Evernote to check that some sort of system glitch hasn't set something off,  and of none of that works,  there's always the ever-trusty How to uninstall and reinstall Evernote

If the issue is still present, you need to contact support directly if you can,  or message them on Twitter

[WolfChild 19]

18 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Hi. Same version of Evernote here,  but no such issue;  it would be worth checking the Tools > Options > Language page to make sure the settings there are all still correct - the update might have reset something.  I'd suggest you restart your system and File > Exit and re-log into Evernote to check that some sort of system glitch hasn't set something off,  and of none of that works,  there's always the ever-trusty How to uninstall and reinstall Evernote

If the issue is still present, you need to contact support directly if you can,  or message them on Twitter

Thank you for the response. Exiting Evernote and re-opening it seemed to fix the issue. I thought that I had done that already in an effort to fix it but perhaps not. Thank you again it's all better now!  

[jyc23 36]

Are you sure that it fixed it? Because after I exited and restarted - while it didn't flag existing contractions as misspelled, if I typed out a new contraction, it will flag it as misspelled. It seems that if you backspace back into a contraction, and the contraction is correctly spelled, the red squiggly line will disappear. This is clearly a bug. 

[WolfChild 19]

11 hours ago, jyc23 said:

Are you sure that it fixed it? Because after I exited and restarted - while it didn't flag existing contractions as misspelled, if I typed out a new contraction, it will flag it as misspelled. It seems that if you backspace back into a contraction, and the contraction is correctly spelled, the red squiggly line will disappear. This is clearly a bug. 

You are correct. It did seem to fix it for the moment but as of yesterday I noticed it was doing it again. So it must be something in the software. 

[jyc23 36]

On 11/12/2016 at 10:33 AM, WolfChild said:

You are correct. It did seem to fix it for the moment but as of yesterday I noticed it was doing it again. So it must be something in the software. 

I've currently got a ticket open with support regarding this. Hopefully it will be not only added to their dev team todo list, but also fixed soon! 

In general, the way Evernote handles the misspelling indication is a bit wonky. If you add a word to the Evernote dictionary, the red squiggly doesn't go away automatically. I've figured out a few different ways to manually make the squiggly disappear:

- save the note / close it, then re-open

- put the cursor at least one space after the word, then hit backspace

- put the cursor at the beginning of the word  or further in front, then hit backspace

- cut and paste the word

Very strange behavior.

[WolfChild 19]

5 hours ago, jyc23 said:

I've currently got a ticket open with support regarding this. Hopefully it will be not only added to their dev team todo list, but also fixed soon! 

In general, the way Evernote handles the misspelling indication is a bit wonky. If you add a word to the Evernote dictionary, the red squiggly doesn't go away automatically. I've figured out a few different ways to manually make the squiggly disappear:

- save the note / close it, then re-open

- put the cursor at least one space after the word, then hit backspace

- put the cursor at the beginning of the word  or further in front, then hit backspace

- cut and paste the word

Very strange behavior.

Thanks for the help. I'm glad I am not the only one dealing with this. I figured it has to be something in the software. It does go away temporarily when I exit and reopen. I've just learned to live with it and just double check it to make sure it's not misspelled before moving on. Do you think I should also contact support regarding this issue?

[jyc23 36]

16 hours ago, WolfChild said:

Thanks for the help. I'm glad I am not the only one dealing with this. I figured it has to be something in the software. It does go away temporarily when I exit and reopen. I've just learned to live with it and just double check it to make sure it's not misspelled before moving on. Do you think I should also contact support regarding this issue?

Sure, why not? The more people who make official bug reports about something, the more important it appears to Evernote, therefore the more likely it will be fixed sooner (wishful thinking, maybe?  ). 

Have a good day!

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

I am experiencing this issue as well, using Evernote Windows v. 6.3. In testing it just now, I found that it red-underlined the first parts of the following contractions: doesn't didn't aren't wouldn't couldn't.

However, it has no problem with the following contractions: don't can't won't.

So it is mysteriously selective, but quite consistent. Thank you, @jyc23, for opening a support note. Please do let us know what they tell you!

[jyc23 36]

On 11/19/2016 at 10:44 AM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

I am experiencing this issue as well, using Evernote Windows v. 6.3. In testing it just now, I found that it red-underlined the first parts of the following contractions: doesn't didn't aren't wouldn't couldn't.

However, it has no problem with the following contractions: don't can't won't.

So it is mysteriously selective, but quite consistent. Thank you, @jyc23, for opening a support note. Please do let us know what they tell you!

You're very welcome! Just to give you an update regarding the ticket I filed: A very helpful person with EN named Terry said that the ticket had now been turned over to the development team. So I'm thinking that means that it was officially added to the list of development bugs. Hopefully it will be fixed soon! 

Regarding the inconsistency in marking the first part of the contraction as misspelled: I think that in the case of don't, can't, and won't, the first part isn't marked as misspelled because the first parts are words themselves: don, can, and won. In the case of doesn't, didn't, aren't, etc., the first parts are not words: doesn didn aren, etc., thus they get flagged. So I think that the algorithm that marks incorrectly spelled words is thinking that the apostrophe is a word boundary. Strangely, though, when you right click on a word like doesn't to add it to the dictionary, it seems to check the entire word, not just the first part. So I guess there are two different algorithms for checking: one algorithm is for the underlining, and the other occurs when you right click (hope that makes sense). 

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

On 11/20/2016 at 2:19 PM, jyc23 said:

You're very welcome! Just to give you an update regarding the ticket I filed: A very helpful person with EN named Terry said that the ticket had now been turned over to the development team. So I'm thinking that means that it was officially added to the list of development bugs. Hopefully it will be fixed soon! 

Regarding the inconsistency in marking the first part of the contraction as misspelled: I think that in the case of don't, can't, and won't, the first part isn't marked as misspelled because the first parts are words themselves: don, can, and won. In the case of doesn't, didn't, aren't, etc., the first parts are not words: doesn didn aren, etc., thus they get flagged. So I think that the algorithm that marks incorrectly spelled words is thinking that the apostrophe is a word boundary. Strangely, though, when you right click on a word like doesn't to add it to the dictionary, it seems to check the entire word, not just the first part. So I guess there are two different algorithms for checking: one algorithm is for the underlining, and the other occurs when you right click (hope that makes sense). 

 

Thank you, jyc23; I feel embarrassed for missing the fact that don, can, and won are words in themselves!

[jyc23 36]

On 11/25/2016 at 5:07 PM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Thank you, jyc23; I feel embarrassed for missing the fact that don, can, and won are words in themselves!

I know that embarrassed feeling. I've felt it myself many, many times Hope you have a great holiday! 

[WolfChild 19]

I have submitted a ticket and it has been forwarded to the development department so it seems like they will be adding it to the next update. 

[GiacomoLaw 134]

Having the same problem here. Would like to see corrected.

[EverHokie 1]

I am also having this problem. Restarting Evernote did not correct. 

Running Evernote across 3 instances - contractions are marked misspelled and I have to add to dictionary 3 separate times, across each instance.

 

 

[maverator 6]

Same problem here.

[Austin G 527]

Thanks all for the reports. We're aware of this one and working on a fix. I'll update here when I have something to share. 

Thanks again. 

[wwwKris 7]

Having this issue as well. Hope there will be a fix for it soon.

[KenTheriot 10]

I'm having this problem and it's getting really frustrating. I'll open a ticket on it as well.

[ntrynka 3]

Still having this problem as well, is it going to be fixed soon?

[emmgee 39]

I just installed Windows version 6.5.4.4720 (304720) Public.  I can't believe two "features" are still in this release:

• If a contraction like "didn't" is not in the dictionary, only the part in front of the apostrophe is underlined in red, e.g., didn't.  When you right-click these are the suggestions:
  • did
  • din
  • dido
  • did n  < Whaaa???
  • Dido
• When you right-click and select "Add to dictionary", the underline doesn't go away.

Evernote, can you fix this please?  

BTW, I'm viewing this web page in Google Chrome.  When I typed "Evernote" in the line above, the word was underlined in red.  I right-clicked and added it to the dictionary.  The underline went away.  This is how every spell checker in the modern era works.

[WolfChild 19]

This is a technical issue. I've had the same issue as well as others. The guru's on this forum had me submit a ticket with customer service regarding it. I suggest you do the same. 

[emmgee 39]

I guess my next question would be how to submit a ticket.  I just went to the Evernote web site and they've hidden that link pretty well...

[WolfChild 19]

It is quite buried but I found it here. You have to be premium to submit a ticket, so if you don't see that option at the bottom of the form that would be why. If you don't want to pay for premium just to submit a ticket, the customer service people that I chatted with helped me get a ticket submitted before I had premium. 

https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=176617

[Austin G 527]

@emmgee I've merged your post with this existing report.  I'll post here with updates on this issue ASAP. 



 

[maverator 6]

How is it possible that after this many months, the word "didn't" is still flagged as a misspelling in Evernote? How much patience and understanding do you expect for something as trivial as this. Who at Evernote is responsible for deciding this isn't important enough to spend a few hours dealing with? Oh, I'm not a programmer so I don't know how long these things could take, so I shouldn't say "trivial" or "a few hours". I just know that literally no other application I use on any platform is too stupid to understand that contractions are part of the English language. I do think it's fair to say that dealing with this issue should be easier that, oh I don't know, cloud syncing across devices and managing shared notebooks. I mean, it's freaking spell check, it's not like you have to re-invent the wheel here.

[KenTheriot 10]

I submitted a support issue for this and learned something interesting - it seems to depend on what OS you use. At least it does for me. I had this problem on my Windows 10 machine using the desktop application of Evernote (this doesn't happen with the online version). HOWEVER, it does not happen on the Mac version (my downstairs computer). The tech was even having trouble duplicating the problem on his end.

It's not an excuse, just an observation.

Ken

[sallly struthers 15]

Any update on this? Kind of outlandish that this is still an issue.

[Austin G 527]

No new updates for this-  It's still on our to-do list. I'll post here when I have more info. Thanks for your patience everybody. 

[CalS 5,280]

Workaround is to go to the Dict folder in your EN database folder and edit the user.dic text file adding the phrase(s).  A shame you have to do it, but it gets rid of the red underline.  FWIW.

[CaptainWow 0]

And once again, the solution offered is from a community member who took some time to dig, rather than an official fix from the company itself, who I assume will NEVER re-address this issue now that you've figured it out.

[MountainMike 2]

Also having this issue - all my contractions are red-underlined. Annoying. Please fix, Evernote. 

And FWIW, there are a number of other buggy behaviors in the text editor - given this is a core feature of the software, I would suggest a complete re-write, following common UI conventions with things like lists. Feel free to message me for more info, I know this comment is ambiguous and off-topic, but I do have notes I've recorded on the subject specifically.

[EdH 1,670]

18 minutes ago, MikePeiman said:

Also having this issue - all my contractions are red-underlined. Annoying. Please fix, Evernote.

I believe this is on their list.

[maverator 6]

1 minute ago, EdH said:

I believe this is on their list.

Yeah, right at the very bottom.

[EdH 1,670]

1 hour ago, maverator said:

Yeah, right at the very bottom.

That not fair. 

I happen to have it on good authority that "let Mac users merge notes in the order selected" is at the bottom. 

[EdH 1,670]

On 6/3/2017 at 7:41 PM, CaptainWow said:

And once again, the solution offered is from a community member who took some time to dig, rather than an official fix from the company itself, who I assume will NEVER re-address this issue now that you've figured it out.

That isn't really a fix though - yes, it gets rid of the underline, but then when you leave the non-word doesn in your note due to a typo, or any other part of a contraction that isn't a word, then the checker won't tell you.

this needs to be fixed. 

This is kind of a silly bug to even be discussing. Spell checking technology was largely solved in the early 1990's.

[mh@s 0]

Here it is July and this is still going on for over 9 months, anybody hear anything, it is very annoying

[EdH 1,670]

On 7/23/2017 at 1:18 PM, mh@s said:

Here it is July and this is still going on for over 9 months, anybody hear anything, it is very annoying

seems to be partially fixed in beta 3 of the 6.6 client. Don't is no longer showing as misspelled. However, shouldn't wouldn't couldn't  all show as misspelled.  

[Austin G 527]

This is scheduled to be fixed in 6.8. It's blocked by some very heavy lifting we need to do under the hood to get to it. Sorry for the delays. 

[EdH 1,670]

8 minutes ago, Austin G said:

This is scheduled to be fixed in 6.8. It's blocked by some very heavy lifting we need to do under the hood to get to it. Sorry for the delays. 

So, right about the time Wonder Woman 2 is released. That will be a good year.

 

[mh@s 0]

on my laptop I still have ver 6.1.1...I have no problems with that one, but here on my desktop, or my kindle..yeh is a pain..had to turn off updating cause don't want same problem there too...that version also adds words to my dictionary  without problems, I write science fiction..a lot of "non-words"

[RobertJSawyer 167]

Unbelievable that this "don't" nonsense persists.  Well, at least Mr. Data can use Evernote happily.

[sallly struthers 15]

How is this still not fixed? Seriously? Almost a year later and many contractions still show as misspelled...

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

I hate this too; but I suspect there are other issues even more significant that are ahead of it on the list. Did you read this post slightly earlier in the thread? It seems to be as much explanation as there is available.

If this is a really serious problem for you, it might be worth looking to the current beta release to see if it's fixed. I'm not 100% sure, but this may be where to do that:

 

[CalS 5,280]

Still broke in 6.8.1 Beta

[sallly struthers 15]

Yes, I've read the thread through. For me, that doesn't reduce how absurd it is that this is still an issue.

[Austin G 527]

This should now be fixed in 6.8 beta 2. Please let us know if the issue continues after updating to 6.8 beta 2 or the GA. Thanks. 

[EdH 1,670]

1 hour ago, Austin G said:

This should now be fixed in 6.8 beta 2. Please let us know if the issue continues after updating to 6.8 beta 2 or the GA. Thanks. 

Seems to be fixed. Thanks!

[maverator 6]

1 hour ago, Austin G said:

This should now be fixed in 6.8 beta 2. Please let us know if the issue continues after updating to 6.8 beta 2 or the GA. Thanks. 

If my version is 6.12.3 from the App Store, is that expected to have the fix? There doesn't seem to be another version available atm.

[EdH 1,670]

1 minute ago, maverator said:

If my version is 6.12.3 from the App Store, is that expected to have the fix? There doesn't seem to be another version available atm.

This thread is about the Windows version, not the Mac version.