grep exact letters

[packets]

I used grep everyday. However, is there a parametes to grep an exact word. Let's say there is a word nelso, nels, nelson. If I grep "nels", it will show the three. Can I do a grep where it wil only display "nels" and not including nelson and nelso?

[vsemaska]

grep -w nels ...

[scm]

If you use grep everyday you should have read the man page for it at least once. And especially if you want to know if it provides a facility you need.