# Spellcheck

Supervertaler includes a powerful spellcheck system that highlights misspellings while you translate, with support for regional language variants.

### How It Works

Supervertaler uses a **three-tier spellcheck system** that automatically selects the best available backend:

| Backend                   | Description                                    | Languages                                         |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| **Hunspell (cyhunspell)** | Native C library, best accuracy                | Any language with .dic/.aff files                 |
| **Spylls**                | Pure Python Hunspell (recommended for Windows) | Bundled: EN, RU, SV + any .dic/.aff files you add |
| **pyspellchecker**        | Built-in fallback                              | EN, NL, DE, FR, ES, PT, IT, RU                    |

The system automatically falls back through backends: Hunspell → Spylls → pyspellchecker.

:::note **Windows Users:** Spylls is automatically used since cyhunspell doesn't compile on Python 3.12+. This works great and supports regional variants! :::

### Features

* **Red wavy underlines** for misspelled words in the translation grid
* **Right-click context menu** with spelling suggestions
* **Add to Dictionary** – Save a word permanently
* **Ignore** – Skip a word for the current session only
* **Regional variants** – Distinguish between en\_US "color" and en\_GB "colour"

### Language Variants

Supervertaler supports regional language variants. The spellcheck dropdown shows variants like:

* English (US), English (GB), English (AU), English (CA), English (ZA)
* Portuguese (PT), Portuguese (BR)
* Spanish (ES), Spanish (MX), Spanish (AR)
* French (FR), French (CA), French (BE)
* German (DE), German (AT), German (CH)
* Dutch (NL), Dutch (BE)

:::tip **Regional spelling works correctly!**

* With **English (GB)**: "colour" ✅ correct, "color" ❌ incorrect
* With **English (US)**: "colour" ❌ incorrect, "color" ✅ correct :::

### Spellcheck Info Dialog

Access detailed information about your spellcheck setup:

1. Click the **🔤 Spellcheck** button in the grid toolbar
2. Or go to **View → Spellcheck Info**

The dialog shows:

* Current language and backend
* Available languages
* Diagnostic information (which backends are available/initialized)
* Links to download additional dictionaries
* Custom dictionary word count

### Adding More Dictionaries

To add spellcheck support for additional languages or variants:

1. **Download Hunspell dictionaries** (.dic and .aff files) from:
   * [hunspell.memoq.com](https://hunspell.memoq.com/) – 70+ languages
   * [GitHub: wooorm/dictionaries](https://github.com/wooorm/dictionaries/tree/main/dictionaries) – 92+ languages
   * [LibreOffice Extensions](https://extensions.libreoffice.org/?Tags%5B%5D=50) – Rename .oxt to .zip
2. **Extract the files** – You need both `.dic` and `.aff` files (e.g., `nl_NL.dic` and `nl_NL.aff`)
3. **Place them in the dictionaries folder:**
   * Open Supervertaler
   * Go to Spellcheck Info dialog
   * Click "📁 Open Dictionaries Folder"
   * Copy your .dic and .aff files there
   * You can also organize in subfolders (e.g., `dictionaries/en/en_GB.dic`)
4. **Restart Supervertaler** – The new language will appear in the dropdown

:::note **Spylls bundled dictionaries** (EN, RU, SV) are stored inside the spylls pip package, not in your dictionaries folder. Add your own .dic/.aff files to the dictionaries folder to extend available languages. :::

### Custom Dictionary

You can add words that Supervertaler should always accept:

* **Right-click a "misspelled" word** → **Add to Dictionary**
* Or manually edit `user_data/dictionaries/custom_words.txt`

Custom words are stored permanently and apply to all languages.

### Troubleshooting

#### Spellcheck not working?

1. **Check the language** – Make sure the correct language variant is selected
2. **Check the backend** – Open Spellcheck Info to see which backend is active
3. **Missing dictionaries** – Some languages require manual dictionary installation

#### Wrong language variant?

If you need British English but only have US English:

1. Download `en_GB.dic` and `en_GB.aff` from one of the dictionary sources
2. Place them in your dictionaries folder
3. Select "English (GB)" from the dropdown

#### Linux crashes?

On Linux, some Hunspell configurations can cause crashes. Try:

* Installing proper Hunspell dictionaries: `sudo apt install hunspell-<lang>` (e.g., `hunspell-pl` for Polish)
* Temporarily disabling spellcheck in Settings → View Settings
* See [Linux-Specific Issues](/help/troubleshooting/linux.md) for more details

### Technical Details

For developers and advanced users:

| Project                                                     | Description                         |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| [pyspellchecker](https://github.com/barrust/pyspellchecker) | Built-in word frequency spellcheck  |
| [spylls](https://github.com/zverok/spylls)                  | Pure Python Hunspell implementation |
| [Hunspell](http://hunspell.github.io/)                      | Original C/C++ spellcheck library   |

The spellcheck manager is located in `modules/spellcheck_manager.py` and provides:

* Automatic backend selection
* Dictionary file detection (including subdirectories)
* Word caching for performance
* Custom dictionary management


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