WD97: Smart Quotes Incorrect When Language Is Set to French

Last reviewed: August 15, 1997
Article ID: Q170886

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

When you set the text language to French (Standard) in Microsoft Word 97 and type a sentence with a single quotation mark enclosed in double quotation marks, the single quotation mark will incorrectly be formatted as a double quotation mark.

RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, install Microsoft Word 97 Service Release 1 (SR- 1).

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Word 97 for Windows. This problem was corrected in Microsoft Word 97 SR-1.

For additional information about SR-1, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q172475
   TITLE     : OFF97: How to Obtain and Install MS Office 97 SR-1

MORE INFORMATION

In French, quotations are set off with chevrons (which resemble greater than and less than symbols). For example, this sentence in English

   "This is a sentence enclosed in quotation marks."

is written like this in French:

   << This is a sentence enclosed in quotation marks. >>

Microsoft Word uses the AutoFormat feature to convert double quotation marks (") to the French quotation marks (<< or >>) when the language property for the text is set to French (on the Tools menu, click Language).

If you want to have a single quotation mark enclosed within standard quotation marks, the single quotation mark is changed to a double quotation mark. This behavior is incorrect. The single quotation mark should remain as is. For example, this English statement

   "l'arbre" et l'avion

is changed to this if French is selected as the language:

   << l"arbre >> et l'avion

The correct behavior would produce the following results:

   << l'arbre >> et l'avion

To format text for French, follow these steps:

Select the text you want to format for French.
On the Tools menu, point to Language, and click Set Language.
Change the language to French (Standard) and then click OK.

REFERENCES

For more information about international features in Microsoft Word, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE ID: Q159341
   TITLE: WD97: International Fonts Don't Appear in Font List

   ARTICLE ID: Q163813
   TITLE: WD97: International Characters Incorrectly Mapped

   ARTICLE ID: Q168852
   TITLE: WD97: Nested Calculations Updated Incorrectly (International)

   ARTICLE ID: Q169530
   TITLE: WD97: Date/Time Field Doesn't Update to International Version

For more information about international features, click the Office Assistant, type "international features," click Search, and then click "International features in Word."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Word Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office
               Program or Component

Additional query words: SR1 release1 8.0 8.00
Keywords : kbfont kbformat kbproof winword word8 word97 kbinterop
Version : WINDOWS:97
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbbug
Solution Type : kbfix kbworkaround

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Last reviewed: August 15, 1997
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