Meaning & use
autocorrect
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A feature in software that automatically corrects spelling or typing mistakes as you type.
Grammar: Used without 'a' or 'the' when talking about the feature in general: Autocorrect can be annoying.
Patterns
- turn on autocorrect
- turn off autocorrect
- autocorrect feature
I had to turn off autocorrect because it kept changing my friends' names.
The autocorrect on this phone is too aggressive; it changes words I didn't misspell.
She relies on autocorrect to catch her typos when she types quickly.
verbtransitive
To automatically change a typed word to a different, usually correct, spelling.
Grammar: Takes an object: The app autocorrected my message. Often used in the passive: My message was autocorrected.
Patterns
- autocorrect something
- autocorrect something to something
My phone autocorrected 'duck' to 'dock' in the middle of my text.
The software autocorrects common misspellings as you type.
I typed 'definately' and it autocorrected it to 'definitely'.
Word forms
| third person singular | autocorrects |
|---|---|
| past tense | autocorrected |
| past participle | autocorrected |
| -ing form | autocorrecting |
Common combinations
- autocorrect feature
- The autocorrect feature on this app is better than on my old phone.
- turn on autocorrect
- You can turn on autocorrect in the settings menu.
- turn off autocorrect
- I turned off autocorrect because it made too many mistakes.
- autocorrect error
- That embarrassing message was just an autocorrect error.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spellcheck
- Spellcheck only marks or suggests corrections; autocorrect changes the text automatically without asking.
- text correction
- A broader term that includes autocorrect and other tools like grammar checkers.
- predictive text
- Predictive text suggests the next word, while autocorrect fixes a word you have already typed.
Word family
- autocorrection noun
- The act or result of automatically correcting text; a less common noun form.
Commonly confused: autocorrect or autocorrected?
autocorrect vs autocorrected
This is the past tense or past participle of the verb, not the noun. Use 'autocorrect' for the feature: Turn on autocorrect, not 'turn on autocorrected'.
Practice
My phone ______ 'hte' to 'the' while I was typing.
Choose one answer.
The sentence describes a completed action in the past, so the past tense 'autocorrected' is correct. 'Autocorrect' is the base form or noun, 'autocorrects' is present tense, and 'autocorrecting' would need a helping verb like 'was'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “autocorrect”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.