Paragraph formatting is a process of organizing and arranging texts in a document to follow a stipulated pattern. It is a process that uses alignment, bullets & numbering, spacing, and indentation commands to make documents presentable. Show
Paragraphs help writers to organize their work in a readable and logical manner. It is used to describe an idea in a series of sentences. A paragraph could contain about 250 logically organized words that explain an idea. There are about 7 types of paragraphs, depending on the purpose of writing, namely:
In a word document, a paragraph is created whenever the ENTER key on the keyboard is pressed while entering text. Paragraph formatting is an important part of setting up your document. It makes a document look elegant and admirable. The Paragraph Group in Microsoft WordParagraphs can be created by using simple number lists or by using pilcrows to form simple descriptive sentences. When a group of paragraphs is logically joined together, they form a document. Therefore, paragraph formatting is important to make your document presentable and appealing to your audience. In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the following paragraph formatting styles
The Paragraph Mark or PilcrowWhen adding text content to a document using the keyboard approach, the carriage return key is usually pressed. Whenever this key is pressed (Return key in Mac) or (Enter key in Windows), a pilcrow is formed. In older versions of Microsoft Word (97 – 2003), the paragraphs and line spacing are the same. This makes it difficult to determine where a paragraph ends and begins except in documents that used indentation. Also, in a recent Microsoft Word app where the before and after paragraph spacing is zero (0). There will be no clear indication of the end and beginning of a paragraph. If you are faced with such a situation, you can easily identify where a paragraph end using the paragraph marks. This is the essence of the pilcrow, it makes it easy to identify where a paragraph ends and begins. See the diagram below. NOTE: Without using the hide/show paragraph mark, you can differentiate the paragraphs by applying paragraph spacing. See Creating documents in Microsoft Word. Show/hide the paragraph markTo show/ hide the paragraph marks in a document, follow the steps below.
Using the Bullets and Numbered ListBullets and numbers are used to create itemized content in a document. Bullets can be used to indicate items that require attention while numbers can be used to create logical order. When creating a document that requires orderliness or step-by-step instruction, it makes sense to use a numbered list. While bullets may not necessarily indicate orderly instructions, numbers are used for such instructions. Both can also be used to create items that do not need orderliness for listing purposes. For example, itemizing the products on sale or detail of different customers. You can easily add bullets and numbered lists to the content of a document. Bullets and numbers are added at the paragraph level. To add bullets and numbers to the already existing content of a document, do the following:
Adding bullets to a documentTo exclusively add bullets to a document when entering text, do the following:
Adding a numbered list to a documentTo exclusively add a numbered list to a document, do the following:
Customize the numbering listYou can customize the numbering list when creating orderly items. For example, you can change the numbering value at any point in your numbered list.
Working with a multilevel list in paragraph formattingThe immediate example shown above (customize the numbering list) is a typical example of a multilevel list. It is a numbering system that helps you divide items in a document into sections and subsections. Items within a subsection are indented to signify their numbering level. In multilevel numbering, you can use the combination of bullets and numbering to itemize your list. See the diagram below. Create a multilevel listTo add a multilevel list to a document, do the following:
Use the Change list level commandYou can conveniently change to any list level on your word document when creating a multilevel list. To achieve this, use the change list level command on the multilevel list menu. Follow these steps to change a list level:
Define a multilevel list styleIf the preset multilevel list styles available do not appeal to you, you can define a new style. When you define and save a list style, it will be available for your use. To define a new multilevel list style, do the following.
You can also format how indentation of your multilevel list will apply by using the Define New Multilevel List… command. However, the default values are ok. Indentation and Aligning textsIndentation is mostly used to set off block quotations in a document. In this case, either the left or both left and right margins will be set off. Alignment is a command that specifies the extent to which a paragraph’s content covers the left and right margins. When formatting paragraphs, indentation, and text alignment are important because they make documents presentable. You can indent the first line of every paragraph in your document or create a hanging indent as in endnotes. While you can apply any of the four alignment commands available to a paragraph. Applying indentationYou can indent a paragraph by using the:
Aligning paragraphsThere are four kinds of paragraph alignment:
Applying alignment to paragraphsTo align text in a paragraph, do the following:
Paragraph borders and shadingBorders and shading can be used to create attention or add beauty to a paragraph. Paragraph shading is used to add color to a selected paragraph as shown in the example above. Paragraph borders are used to add demarcating boxes to a paragraph. You can use either or both to create an outstanding document. Add paragraph shadingTo add shading to a paragraph, do the following:
Add paragraph bordersTo add shading to a paragraph, do the following:
Conclusion Paragraph formatting makes your document look elegant and presentable to your audience. It also makes your document readable. Microsoft Word provides commands that help you to format your paragraphs when creating a document. Some of these commands include alignment, bullets and numbering, spacing, and indentation. While these commands can help make your documents readable, borders and shading can add beauty to them. Learning how to apply paragraph formatting is important to everyone using word processing applications. We believe that this tutorial will help you achieve a greater level of mastery in the use of Microsoft Word. If there is any area you think we did not cover in this topic, please inform us. Thank you for being part of this tutorial, we shall continue next week with the topic “Inserting tables.” Before then, take a minute to help us share this tutorial. Links to Previous Microsoft Word Tutorials (Parts 1 – 4): |