Grammar Software

Ug, this is going to sound so mean, but I don't MEAN for it to be mean.

I think you need to read more.

Chrome and Firefox both have built-in spellcheck (IE probably does, too, but, ick) so at least you'd get words like "marvelous" correct, but there are a few indications in your above post that some general exposure to well-written things might help you a lot. "Foolproof" is the correct word, for example, and "blog" is not a proper noun.

Good luck!

Turndog,

HoneyBadger is right on with her constructive feedback.

I would suggest a good old fashioned grammar book. Sometimes grammar software does not work correctly and can confuse words that sound alike but are spelled differently.

HoneyBadger said:

and "blog" is not a proper noun.

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Actually, many style guides I've seen prefer Blog over blog, Web over web, E-mail (or Email) over e-mail and other similar capitalizations.

Turndog-Millionaire said:

Any help would be marvellous

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A college-level grammar class will do wonders for you. It helped me tons, and I already knew quite a bit going into it.

There are a few threads about this in our Tech Help room, I think.

I agree with the comments about reading more: there's no substitute for it when learning about writing. Grammar programs aren't reliable, I'm afraid: but if you really want to use one, what's wrong with Word's inbuilt grammar-check feature?

However, if you don't have the time to develop your writing skills and still find that errors creep in despite your judicious use of Word's grammar check, then your only option is to pay someone with appropriate skills to edit your work for you. Expect to pay a decent amount for this service, or be prepared to be disappointed by the service you receive.

Hi! I was actually the one that started a thread asking this same question a few years back. If you would like to see it you can find it here

Sadly the answer is not going to change. There is no good grammar checking software out there, and trust me I've looked. I do have a few suggestions for you though.

1) Check out Ginger Software. I dont know how in depth of a grammar checker you are looking for but this with help with the three there's, and woulds like Your vs. You're and Were vs. we're.

2) Although Word's grammar and spell check usually sucks, and does more harm then good there is a way if you go under its options menu to enhance the features. By enhancing some grammar related features, it will catch and help you fix grammar mistakes more often.

Besides that I haven't found anything else. I'm sorry. Best of Luck to you though!

HoneyBadger said:

so at least you'd get words like "marvelous" correct,

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Huh? Queen's English -- wrong. *mumbles under breath* We likes our double consonants, we do.


@Matt, even with any grammar tech, I'd still have a reference grammar to hand. You'll probably be familiar with Collins, they do easy learning Grammar & Punctuation, also 'Easy learning English Verbs'. These will give the basics (your relative clauses, adverbials (how they tie into complex clauses etc). The English verb one is good for learning tense from aspect (how they work together etc) your passives, word order etc. They sound pretty shite and basic, but to be honest they compliment everything you've picked up so far, and refresh what's slipped. Then you have your English style guides (Oxford etc) if you want to have a look at standard English (but that would depend on what flavour of voice you're using on the blogs etc).

But it really depends on what exactly you want to pick up. Are you struggling with anything in particular?

Everyone knows Americans invented English.

Sheesh.

Just a note to everyone--I've got a brother who is only slightly dyslexic, and that means he wasn't diagnosed until it was a bit late to really help him with the problem.

He's a smart, smart guy, but his spelling and punctuation are just appalling. He also reads two to three novels per week, and has been doing so for over twenty years.

Reading more is not a panacea for these issues--for some people, reading more does not help. There is a genuine need for software like this. It can help a smart, smart guy like my brother present himself well in professional communications.

There are some online grammar checkers. I tried one, and it caught a few things. It seemedto work like the grammar check in Word, poorly. I generally run things through the grammar checker anyway; it is something. The things that get through that are too many and too strange to believe.

We Americans know that a final consonant that is preceded by a short vowel must be doubled, or the vowel becomes long, as in Iranian. I set my spellchecker to English (UK), because it makes fewer mistakes that way.

jjdebenedictis said:

Just a note to everyone--I've got a brother who is only slightly dyslexic, and that means he wasn't diagnosed until it was a bit late to really help him with the problem.

He's a smart, smart guy, but his spelling and punctuation are just appalling. He also reads two to three novels per week, and has been doing so for over twenty years.

Reading more is not a panacea for these issues--for some people, reading more does not help. There is a genuine need for software like this. It can help a smart, smart guy like my brother present himself well in professional communications.

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I'm glad you realize this. I have several severe learning disorders, but am a senior chemistry major. I read alot, although it takes me much longer then normal. But no matter how many million grammer books i read i cant improve myself in that area although i've spent the last 10 years trying to on my books, and the last 21 years (my whole life) struggling with grammar and spelling issues.

There should be more programs available like this that can help people who truly cant help themselves.

Grammar, etc.

Yeah, ease up on the spelling issues for words that have multiple spellings.

As for grammar ... no substitute like some study, which can actually be enjoyable. It really is not advanced math. Anybody can learn it.

Don't buy a new book. It will be full of political correctness in grammar and will take the attitude that what people use is correct, regardless of the history of formal grammar and style.

Get this book if you can: Harbrace College Handbook, preferably something as old as the 6th edition. You can still find them, used, at Abe Books. I checked just now. Price: two or three dollars, maybe free or cheap shipping. Fun to read. Wonderful book. I used it when I taught college English back in a age when people actually learned English.

ComicBent said:

Don't buy a new book. It will be full of political correctness in grammar and will take the attitude that what people use is correct, regardless of the history of formal grammar and style.

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Sorry, but that's a touch confusing. Are you saying don't buy recent books because they're showing how language is used today? Go purely for formal prescriptive grammar and style?

The Collins Grammar and Punctuation (Matt is English) is based on corpora study, which draws examples from conversation, fiction, news, blogs, and 'formal' writing. It's using examples from across the board. A style book will tell you how to write formally. Standard writing is a choice, but only one among many. Writing for a blog will be slightly more relaxed than an academic essay on the likes of Chomsky's transformational grammar. Relying purely on a style guide will give you one tone for your writing: formal.

I figured I'd bump this rather than making a new thread. My question is similar to that of the OP.

Are any of these grammar softwares worth having? I am familiar with three primary ones: Grammarly, WhiteSmoke, and Ginger.

Let me address a few other things that came up in other posts. The built-in checker that comes with Word isn't ideal. It is a good basic option but I am hoping to find something a little more detailed (grammarly, for example, has settings for technical vs. creative writing, and so on).

I'm also not interested in bashing my head against grammar books much more. Someone said earlier that "it isn't advanced math, anyone can learn it," but I actually find advanced math far, FAR easier than grammar.

My grammar isn't terrible but it's not great either. I don't want to buy a book, I want to get some software that will catch a few more things than Word does.

From what I've read it seems like Grammarly is the best. But I don't like that it is subscription. I try hard to keep down the number of regular payments I make so I'd much rather just buy some software that isn't on a per-month basis. WhiteSmoke and Ginger apparently aren't as effective.

Any other options/suggestions?

Cheers

Speaking as someone who has helped write such systems, no, really, they're not worth it.

The problem is that they're entirely rule-dependent, and actual writing doesn't work that way, especially in terms of fiction and dialog.

I think a good reference book for grammar that you look things up in (versus reading cover-to-cover) when you have a question is a good idea; I'd suggest one of the Bedford Handbooks, or the Little Brown handbook, or any similar book typically used in college freshman comp classes. I don't recommend Strunk and White as a grammar or usage guide, or Eats, Shoots and Leave, or even the Transitive Vampire; all three are eccentric.

I quite like June Casagrande's It was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences, but it's not a grammar text; it is rather, a book about making your sentences do what you want them to do.

Get some beta readers. Write a lot. Revise. Frequent SYW and read crits and write them and post stuff for crits.

I agree with Medie. Read a lot, write a lot, and help others crit their work. It's a good way to learn.

If you're writing fiction and want to improve your grammar then books on the subject won't necessarily help as much as you'd like: each novel has its own grammar, which is largely dependent on its author's voice. Rules are helpful, but are not definitive in such cases.

If you use Wordpress, the Jetpack plugin has After the Deadline which checks spelling and some grammar. It's not fool proof but if you need some highlighting of possible errors it works well.

I've found nothing better than Word. However it is wrong, a lot. Nice thing though is you can set it to use different style guides.

Grammar isn't as set in stone as many would like. Sure there are rules, but rules change on style guides for the publisher. Commas are a great example of not everyone follows the same rules. Keep a grammar book handy and keep working at it.

I would find someone that can look at your work for you. I don't think there's any substitute for having real, human eyes glancing it over. Personal study will definitely help, but I know I have a hard time finding errors in my own work.

My advice: Don't waste your money on grammar software. It can cause you to make ugly mistakes. Really.