In Microsoft Word formatting, there are two main types of formatting applied to text: character formatting for individual letters and symbols, and which other type of formatting that controls the appearance of whole blocks of text such as lines and paragraphs?

Introduction / Context:
This general knowledge question tests your understanding of basic document formatting in Microsoft Word and similar word processing software. When you prepare a report, resume, or project document, you usually want both the individual characters and the overall layout of paragraphs to look clean and consistent. Word separates these concerns into two broad categories: character formatting and paragraph formatting. Knowing the difference between these two types of formatting helps you control the appearance of your document in a professional and systematic way.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question states that Microsoft Word has character formatting as one type of formatting.
• It asks you to identify the second basic type of formatting that works at a broader level than single characters.
• The options mention paragraph formatting, sentence formatting, word formatting, and font formatting.
• We assume a standard version of Microsoft Word or similar word processor where formatting concepts are organized in a familiar way.

Concept / Approach:
Character formatting in Microsoft Word controls how individual characters look. This includes font name, size, bold, italic, underline, color, and special effects. Paragraph formatting, on the other hand, affects entire paragraphs treated as blocks of text. Paragraph formatting controls alignment, line spacing, indentation, spacing before and after paragraphs, bullet lists, numbering, and similar layout features. Sentence formatting and word formatting are not official core categories in Word, although you can change characters or words selectively. Font formatting is only a subset of character formatting and does not describe the block level settings that apply to whole paragraphs.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify that character formatting deals with how letters, digits, and symbols appear individually.Step 2: Recognize that Word also needs a way to control alignment, indentation, and line spacing for larger blocks of text.Step 3: Recall that these block level properties are grouped under paragraph formatting in the Paragraph dialog and toolbar options.Step 4: Compare the provided options and notice that paragraph formatting is the only one that refers to whole blocks of text rather than single words or characters.

Verification / Alternative check:
If you open Microsoft Word and right click inside a paragraph, you can choose Paragraph settings. There you see options for alignment, left and right indents, first line indent, line spacing, and spacing before and after. These are all properties that apply to an entire paragraph, not just one letter. Character formatting options are found in the Font dialog, which shows font name, size, style, and effects. Official Microsoft documentation and tutorials consistently explain that Word uses character formatting and paragraph formatting as the two fundamental levels. This confirms that paragraph formatting is the correct answer.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B is incorrect because sentence formatting is not a standard category in Word. You can select and format a sentence, but Word does not present this as a separate formatting type. Option C is incorrect because word formatting is simply character formatting applied to whole words and is not a different core category. Option D is incorrect because font formatting is one part of character formatting, dealing only with font properties, not with the layout of paragraphs. Only option A correctly identifies paragraph formatting as the counterpart to character formatting in Microsoft Word.

Common Pitfalls:
Many beginners try to center a paragraph or change spacing by pressing the Spacebar or Enter repeatedly instead of using paragraph formatting options. This leads to messy documents that are hard to edit. Another common mistake is to think that changing the font size or style will automatically fix alignment or spacing issues, which it does not. Understanding that character formatting controls how text looks inside a line, while paragraph formatting controls how entire blocks of text sit on the page, helps you avoid these problems and produce clean, professional documents.

Final Answer:
The correct answer is Paragraph formatting that controls alignment, spacing, and indentation of whole blocks of text.