Review: Grammarly: instant grammar checker

You can't have missed the ads for Grammarly if you're interested in writing. Not only does Google serve up Grammarly ads on most of my web pages, I actively advertise it. Although many people need a human proofreader, others can benefit from an automatic review of their writing. Last spring, while on vacation in Hawaii, I met an author who self-published her book with the help of Grammarly's oversight. She swore by it. So I decided to give it a try.

Grammarly: Free proofreading

Grammarly underlines errors in red.

You can use the free version of Grammarly as a Chrome extension. This will provide you with an automatic review as you type. Like the grammar tools in MS Word, the free Grammarly underlines misspelled words in red, and it allows you to add words to a custom dictionary. The paid version also imports MS Word documents and offers advice on wording. It offers a document score based on "critical issues" and "advanced issues." It identifies "overused" words as well. A critical issue is an explicit grammar error. An advanced issue could be a problem with the wording or an error of style.

Critical Issues and Advanced Issues

Passive voice is actually correct here.

Six of one; half dozen of the other.

I found that the most common "advanced issue" was that Grammarly doesn't like the passive voice. Unfortunately, in most academic papers, the passive voice is commonly and correctly used. It's possible to adjust the settings for different types of documents, but what would be really great would be if Grammarly learned from your writing style to determine what kinds of errors to flag. For advanced academic documents, such as the ones that I edit regularly, Grammarly tended to flag not only passive voice constructions but also other issues such as "wordiness." A sentence with a complex phrase as a subject followed by a number of clauses would be flagged as "wordiness," even though it is both grammatically correct and necessary to express a complex thought. On the other hand, common phrases like "to" should definitely be shortened to simply "to." One critical issue that I grew to appreciate was the way Grammarly flagged missing serial commas.

Not as Good as a Human

Grammarly, however, also failed to notice errors regularly. Frequently, I find that writers substitute incorrect words for what they meant to write. For example, Grammarly failed to understand that "attribute to the development" cannot possibly be correct. The correct phrase should have been "contribute to the development." Grammarly adheres to obsolete grammar rules such as the one against a split infinitive.

I've been using Grammarly on work I've already corrected, and it's been helpful, but it doesn't replace a close reading by an expert set of eyes. I usually catch additional errors on my second and third times through documents before I send them back to clients. But what about poor writers? Can it help them?

Here's a sample of writing that was sent in for free proofreading. Notice that Grammarly incorrectly flags "learned," which is an acceptable British variant. It correctly flags the misspelling of "modern." But it doesn't seem to care about the sentence that's made up of a series of cascading clauses separated by semicolons. Even though the passage is about education, it flags "education" as a repetitive word. I'm not sure that this writer would find his/her mark improved by the use of Grammarly.

Plagiarism Detection

I can't give a fair evaluation of the plagiarism detection capability. I tried copying a paragraph from Wikipedia and running it through Grammarly, and Grammarly accurately identified it and its source. It also provided correctly formatted references to be used. But that's no guarantee that something that passes Grammarly's test will get past the plagiarism software that your school uses.

Recommendation

I'm actually impressed by Grammarly's ability to quickly run through text. I used it to review a 60 page Ph.D. thesis that another editor and I had each worked on, and it found several errors, including that troubling serial comma. For a final proofing of a document that is largely correct, it could be very helpful. In fact, I'm using it right now! If you are a good writer and you understand the rules of grammar, it could be a great tool. It will help you hone your writing.

But if you are struggling with your writing, tend to use incorrect words, or don't understand the rules of grammar that you are violating, you need a professional proofreader or tutor. Grammarly either won't help you improve your writing, or it will confuse you without telling you how to fix your errors.

Update July 2017

I've been using Grammarly regularly now for a year. All of what I wrote above is still true. Grammarly makes plenty of mistakes, but it's very useful for final proofreading.

Top 5 Grammar Resources

When I'm asked a grammar question, or even in my editing work, I often have to turn to other sources for advice. People often ask "What's the rule for...?" but there's no official book listing rules. In fact, English doesn't have an official body setting rules for the language. If it did, the language wouldn't be the lively, ever-changing tool that it is. Often grammarians will disagree. Nonetheless, there are generally agreed-upon conventions.

In fact, there are two distinct approaches to grammar: prescriptivist and descriptivist. Prescriptivism is the idea that the rules are set and we must follow them. Descriptivism is the idea that grammar is simply the description of how words convey meaning. For example, verbs change to convey whether an action is in the present, past or future. The general rule is to add -ed to make a verb in the past tense. But everyone understands when that rule is broken and someone says "Yesterday I carry heavy load." However, without the marker "yesterday" it gets harder to understand. So the more grammatical errors in a statement, the more likely the person receiving the message will be confused.

People learn to speak their native language without even being aware of the rules. And many speakers use non-standard variations of both grammar and pronunciation. Despite these facts, it is still necessary for people to be able to write standard English, especially in academic writing. Thus we often need to consult reliable sources.

1. Grammar Girl. Mignon Fogarty has to be the smartest grammarian out there. I've been listening to her podcasts since I got my first iPod 10 years ago. What I love about Grammar Girl is that she's so thorough. If she gets a grammar question, she researches the history of the usage, she consults Google ngram, and she has access to a wide variety of sources. If I search for a grammar question on line and Grammar Girl comes up in the search results, I usually go there first. Plus, last year in Poetry Month, I won her grammar poetry contest with my Ode to the Adverb, which she read on her podcast. You can buy her book as well.


 2. The Blue Book of Grammar. This site is in support of a book by the same name authored by Jane Strauss, who sadly has passed away. With free quizzes and lots of resources, it's a great place to determine the correct usage. Technically, grammar only refers to how words convey meaning. But frequently we include punctuation and capitalization and other issues of writing. The Blue Book of Grammar includes resources for all these language issues. If you really want a book on your bookshelf for reference, you can buy the Blue Book of Grammar at Amazon.



3. Grammar Monster. With daily tips, glossaries, common mistakes and a twitter feed, you'll find a lot of grammar resources at Grammar Monster. I like how thorough it is. There are a huge number of resources here, all gathered together on the homepage, so you can simply click through to the topic you are looking for. In addition to grammar, it provides tips on common mistakes, homophone errors and punctuation issues. This would be a great place to explore if you are learning English and simply want to learn.

4. English Page. Speaking of learning English, this site is designed for people learning English as a second language, but I like it too because it is so well organized and thorough. It contains plenty of tutorials and quizzes to help you reinforce your understanding. I highly recommend it.

5. English Grammar Online. This site has a real focus on verbs. Verbs are one of the most important areas of knowledge when learning English since they change into so many forms to convey meaning. This site also includes games and riddles, so it's a great place to play to improve your English skills. Try chatting with Egon the dragon-bot.

I hope you find these sites useful. Use the comments below to suggest other sites for grammar help. However, as always, spam will be deleted, so if it's not a grammar site forget it.

Click here to shop for more grammar books

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Colon or Semicolon: a brief lesson

Many people are confused about how to use the colon or semicolon. A colon (:) is used to expand or explain; a semicolon (;) is used to form parallel structure and for lists where items contain commas.

In the British Columbia province-wide high school exams, the "use of a variety of sentence structures" is one of the criteria for marking. One of the ways to do this by expanding your repertoire of punctuation beyond commas and periods. However, when I'm editing college (and even graduate level essays) I see the poor semicolon and colon misused horribly. So let's clarify how to use these punctuation marks, and you can see your essay writing marks improve instantly.

First a warning: this is intermediate level stuff. If you are still struggling to write a coherent sentence, stick to writing simple sentences. I often tell beginning writers to get used to writing subject-verb-object-complement (SVOC) sentences. It's like any other art. You must learn the basic rules before you go off into doing fancy stuff. In other words, "walk before you run."

But once you can write basic sentences consistently, it's time to write more complex sentences.

Colon or Semicolon?

The graphic above provides the basic rules for colons and semicolons. A colon introduces a list, or the part after the colon expands or explains the part before the colon. In essence, these are the same things: a list provides details (expands). Notice from the graphic that we can use the colon whether or not the list is in the form of bullet points. However, the use of the colon depends on the structure of the sentence.

Use a colon to expand or explain.

If the first example had begun with "The expeditions goals were to..." then a colon would be incorrect. No punctuation would be needed to introduce this list. "The expedition's three goals were to explore, seize land, and find gold.  This would be true even if the sentence were structured in the form of a bulleted list.

Semicolons are entirely different kinds of animals. In fact, they used to be known as semiperiods, which I think is a better name. They act like a comma, only stronger. That's why when I'm editing, the most common circumstance when I insert a semicolon is to fix a run-on sentence caused by a comma splice.

Use a semicolon to join two clauses.

A run-on sentence is a sentence where two main clauses are joined improperly. It usually looks something like this: "I went to the store, I bought bread." This is known as a comma splice. The comma is not strong enough to join the two clauses. It needs help. We can fix this sentence with a conjunction: "I went to the store, and I bought bread." Another way to fix the sentence is to use a semicolon because a semicolon is strong enough to do the job. "I went to the store; I bought bread." Two clauses joined together with meanings that are parallel are called "parallel structure." Some nice sentences with parallel structure are what markers like to see when marking provincial exams.

Use a semicolon in a list where items use commas.

Sometimes we need to write a list, but the items in the list contain commas. For example, it is necessary to use commas when writing city names with their states. So it's confusing to the reader if you're writing a list of city names with states and joining them with commas. I went to New York, NY, Springfield, MA, and Dallas, TX. Did I go to Springfield, OH and Massachusetts or Springfield, MA? The semicolon solves this dilemma. I went to New York, NY; Springfield, MA; and Dallas, TX. This is also useful if the list contains commas for other reasons. The body of scientists named for honors included Oppenheimer, father of the hydrogen bomb; Einstein, originator of the Theory of Relativity; and Darwin, whose Theory of Evolution changed our understanding of our place on the planet.

One of the most common errors in using a semicolon is to use it in lists where items do not contain commas. Even if the items in the list are long, there is no need to use a semicolon.

A few easy rules for colons and semicolons will improve your writing:

• Use a colon to expand or explain (e.g. introduce a list)
• The introduction to the list must be structured for the use of a colon
• Use a semicolon to join clauses of equal weight to create parallel structure
• Use a semicolon to join items in a series when items contain commas.

That's all. Happy writing!

One great logic tip to improve essay writing

One of the most common grammar errors I see in essays is a logic error. Logic is a key part of grammar because grammar is the set of rules for language that convey meaning, and in this case the meaning is impaired. Recently I was editing a PhD thesis in Educational Administration when I came across a sentence something like this: "As a principal, the school budget must be balanced." Clearly the writer was trying to connect her main theme, which was about being a principal, with the specific point of balancing the budget. Nonetheless, there is an error of logic here. If we begin the sentence with the phrase "as a principal," the subject of the sentence must be the principal.
Here are some good ways to fix that sentence:

• As a principal, I must balance the budget.
• As a principal, it is your role to balance the budget.
• As a principal, you should give all your teachers big fat bonuses.

(OK, I just threw the last one in because I'm a teacher, but the logic is good, grammatically speaking.)

Phrases that begin with a preposition ("as") and end with a noun ("principal") that answer the question, who? or what? are called prepositional adjectival phrases. They begin with prepositions and act as adjectives. If you write "As a principal, the budget must be balanced," then the adjectival phrase appears to modify "budget" and clearly the budget is not the principal.

The error is easy to see in this example because I've written a very short sentence to demonstrate the problem. As an editor, I see much more complex sentences in which the logic error is more difficult to spot. (Did you notice that when I begin the sentence "As an editor," I need to follow it immediately with the subject "I"?) How about this one: "Juggling many demands including paperwork, medication schedules and meals, regular rounds are necessary for a busy nurse to ensure patient care is maintained."

Who is doing the juggling? In this case, the sentence seems to imply that the rounds are juggling many demands because the subject of the introductory phrase should be the same as the subject of the main sentence. I would fix this sentence by changing the subject of the main clause: Juggling many demands including paperwork, medication schedules and meals, a busy nurse needs to do regular rounds to ensure patient care is maintained."

Any time you introduce a sentence with an adjectival prepositional phrase, ensure the subject of the sentence is the noun you intend to modify with the introductory phrase.

Image courtesy of graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

12 Simple Steps to Improve Writing Skills

1. Writing is hard; you will make mistakes. Don’t be afraid to just let go and put down your ideas on the page. Don’t worry too much about grammar when you are writing. Just write! Let it flow. The purpose of grammar is not to confound you with meaningless rules, but to facilitate the sharing of ideas between people. Nonetheless, as you write, you will want to improve your grammar. The rules of grammar are simply descriptions of how people communicate ideas. People are generally smart enough to understand the ideas when there are only one or two errors in a sentence, but as they pile up, communication is impeded. The fewer errors in your writing, the better you communicate your ideas.
2. Help is out there. Believe in yourself, but know it comes in small steps. There is no writer so great that he or she can’t improve, and no writer so bad that her or she can’t learn to communicate. Do not allow yourself to be bogged down by negative self-talk; just acknowledge that there are lots of resources to help you write better.
3. Be willing to learn. Open yourself up to correction. Read grammar blogs. Don’t get caught up in trivial arguments about what is “correct,” but start recognizing what the common errors that drive readers crazy so you can avoid them.
4. Make a list of goals for your writing.  You’ve already made a general commitment to improve by reading this; now be specific. For example, you may need to improve your use of references for academic writing. (Visit the Purdue University Open Writing Lab). You may want to improve your vocabulary. (Play the vocabulary game on Free Rice and help feed the world at the same time). You may need to simply learn the 8 parts of speech, so you can understand the conversations you are about to have. The thing about starting is just to start. You can always add to your list later as you accomplish some of these goals.
5. Share your list with someone who writes better than you do. Listen to their advice. Everyone had to learn at some point. Once you begin to have conversations about writing, you will see that you can improve. Visit websites that discuss writing such as Grammar Girl.
6. Become willing to improve. It’s important to have a positive attitude. Just make the decision to look at grammar in a new way. Think of it as just another learning curve. At first it’s difficult, then it gets easier. Willingness is the key.
7. Make a commitment to improve. Don’t confuse willingness to commitment. Commitment means taking action.
8. Make a list of errors that you commonly make. This is the first real step to becoming a better writer. Figure out what some of the mistakes you are currently making and learn how to fix them. The list doesn’t have to be exhaustive (and you can always add to it later), but if you can identify your worst faults, you have a chance of correcting them.
9. For each of the items on the list, find the correction. This list will be important in your proofreading efforts because you will need to think about each of these as you proofread your own work.
10. Proofread. Probably the biggest difference between a good writer and a poor one is proofreading. I have been writing professionally for over 30 years and I continue to make the most basic mistakes when the ideas are flowing out of my head. Sometimes it’s a typo because my fingers are not in touch with my brain; sometimes it’s an error that just slips in. But I always proofread carefully before printing, posting, or sending. I proofread several times. Learning to proofread is one of the most important skills after learning the rules of writing.
11. Every day, read something about writing better. Once you have started to write better it’s easy to rest on your laurels. But as in any endeavor, constant improvement must be the goal. Subscribe to a daily writing tip. Follow a grammarian on Twitter. Just make sure you think about it every day.
12. Now that you are a better writer, help others to improve. There is nothing that solidifies knowledge about a topic like having to explain it to others. If you really understand it, you can explain it. If not, you will find you need to go back and study it a little more. That’s why I offer free grammar help. The more I help people, the more I understand myself.

Some people may find these 12 steps familiar; certainly I acknowledge that similar steps have helped people improve in many areas of their lives. While improving your writing might not be as life changing as quitting drinking, for many people wanting to get a college education, or who want to move into a managerial position at work, gaining some writing skill can open up a new world of possibilities.

Updated April 2, 2014.