Tip: The best grammar checker and editing software we have found is StyleWriter by Editor Software for $150. You can download a free trial of StyleWriter here. However, for an excellent middle range option, try the editing software RightWriter for just $29.95.*
How Grammar Checkers Work
Simple grammar checkers usually look for wordy, clichéd, or misused phrases based on simple text matches. For example, a grammar checker might use a database of hundreds or thousands of words and phrases that writing experts consider poor writing. The database of suspect words and phrases includes alternative words and phrases that the grammar checker suggests you use instead.
More sophisticated grammar checkers check not only for simple text matches but more complex pattern matches as well. For example, a good grammar checker, such as the popular StyleWriter software, might look at the structure of your writing, detect that you have written in the passive voice, and suggest an active voice alternative.
How Our Grammar Checker Works
Our own free grammar checker uses both text matches and pattern matches. In particular, the grammar checker looks for 10 traits of good writing. Specifically, we've coded the grammar checker to:
- turn negative words into positive words
- turn nouns into verbs where possible
- prefer short words to long words
- prefer understatement to overstatement
- find alternatives to clichés
- remove or shorten "throat-clearing" phrases (such as "It is important to note")
- prefer specific words to vague words
- use modern language rather than archaic language
- identify and edit tautologies (two or more words that mean the same thing)
- identify and correct "eggcorns" (malapropisms, or commonly misused words and phrases)
The grammar checker then processes 15,000 "rules" under each of these categories. These rules check for not only simple text matches but also complex patterns. An example of a simple text rule is:
- Find: "However"; Replace with: "But".
An example of a more complex rule is the rule that looks for "nominalizations" (phrases that turn verbs into nouns). The grammar checker finds possible nominalizations by looking for patterns that nominalizations typically use. For example, we have programmed the grammar checker to look for words that end in "-ment", "-tion", and other endings that nominalizations often use; look for weak verbs nearby (eg, "make", "conduct") and prepositions (eg, "of"), and suggest more active verb alternatives based on the structure of the suspect nominalization (eg, "examine" rather than "conduct an examination of").
Limitations of Grammar Checkers
All grammar checkers have limitations. Read about the limitations of grammar checkers before using any grammar checker. Some grammar checkers have more limitations than others. For example, we would stay away from Whitesmoke's grammar checker because its "text enrichment" feature can actually make your writing worse than before. Of the dozen or so grammar checkers we have used, we recommend StyleWriter and RightWriter.
Our own grammar checker has several specific limitations, too. For example:
- right now, you can check a maximum of only 5000 characters
- the grammar checker will sometimes suggest edits that make no sense (tell us about these so that we can improve the grammar checker)
- our grammar checker is not specifically set up to handle academic, scientific or scholarly writing styles
- the grammar shares the limitations of every piece of grammar checking software
How To Get The Most From The Grammar Checker
To get the most out of the grammar checker:
- check your spelling. If you have misspelt a word, the grammar checker might not find it.
- write a good first draft. The grammar checker works best when you have already got a good draft for it to work on. So, try using the grammar checker only when you are confident about what you have written and you know what you are trying to say.
- think about the grammar checker's suggestions. One of the grammar checker's best benefits is the way it makes you think about your writing. When the grammar checker queries a word or phrase, think about why the grammar checker is suggesting alternatives. Think carefully about the different options and their potentially different meanings.
- improve your vocabulary. As Edwin Abbott wrote in How to Write Clearly (1883), "Verbosity is cured not by a small, but by a large vocabulary". Likewise, to get the most from the grammar checker, you need a good vocabulary so that you know whether simpler alternatives have the same meaning as the word you want to replace. To improve your vocabulary, use tools like Ultimate Vocabulary.
Exercise care
Make sure you exercise your own careful judgement when using grammar checkers, including our own grammar checker. Our grammar checker, as with all grammar checkers, does not provide definitive results. Take particular care when using the grammar checker on legal documents. (Some words and phrases have important legal meanings. Before changing legal words, phrases, clauses, or documents, you should get professional legal advice; we are NOT lawyers!).
*Denise and I recommend only products that we have tried and tested. These include StyleWriter by Editor Software and RightWriter . We have agreed to receive a commission from some sales of StyleWriter and RightWriter because we are happy to endorse these editing programs.
