Grammarly Good or Bad?
There have been several reports on Grammarly most of which sing its praises.
I have been using Grammarly for several months now and while I find the spelling part of the program excellent I have many doubts about the grammar side of things.
The sort of things I have come across include but are not restricted to punctuation, indefinite and definite articles and general grammatical errors.
As I am English and have a reasonable command of the English language I can differentiate between what Grammarly is asking me to put and what should be put. I spend far too much time telling grammarly to ignore things than I do correcting them.
In many instances taking the suggestion of Grammarly would have completely changed the meaning of the sentence I had written.
So my report would be not to use it unless you have a reasonable working knowledge of the English Language.
For people who are not to up on their English, grammarly could make a nonsense of what they are trying to say.
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Derek
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Ha! :-) I'm a writer and somehow got sucked into the free version but fell foul of all the problems you highlight. It didn't last long.
I use MS Word (2007) and its spell and grammar checker which isn't bad as far as it goes but I still tell it to ignore 90% of what I write although it does catch the odd typo.
Part of the problem is that I write in colloquial English so I start sentences with prepositions, my sentences are fragments, I use commas to make reading easier not always because they are necessary, and sometimes my subjects and verbs don't agree (they do really).
I think it's incredibly difficult for an automated spell/grammar checker to be anywhere near 70% accurate unless you're writing a thesis.
I also agree that if English is not your first language, it could make some ridiculous suggestions that you may not be aware of. If you look at what the checker is complaining about and have a reasonable grasp of the language, you may be able to tell if it's talking tripe or not!
When I read a badly-translated device manual I wonder why the heck don't they just run the thing past a native English speaker??
Alas, I don't have a solution for WA members :-( But I think I'd rather read an article by someone whose first language is NOT English than a potentially marmalised version that an automated checker might produce.
Ian
PS: This has not been spell- or grammar-checked - all errors are my own!
Thanks for owning up to the errors Ian. lol Like you I tend to use prepositions to start sentences although this does seem acceptable these days.
I certainly agree with your comment of a potentially marmalised version that could be produced bt a non-English speaker.
Derek
Unfortunately, I find the opposite Mike. By the time I have gone through all the non-faults I spend more time ignoring wrongful corrections.
Derek
I have to agree that I love it! I did pay for the premium version as well. I too got an offer that was really good!
I agree there are times where I have to refuse there grammatical suggestions but it does pick up a lot of things that at least are brought to my attention and I can decide what to do with them.
Something I do that gives me even more assurance is that I use Grammarly first and then I run everything through the WA spellcheck as well. It will sometimes find things that Grammarly didn't or give a different suggestion. I feel pretty good after using both formats.
I am glad you like it Heidi. I am gradually getting used to the fact I can ignore certain things with it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it for anything other than spellcheck.
Derek
I'm afraid, I'm on the 'I love Grammarly' team.
I find it very useful and easy to use.
Yes, it can sometimes give strange suggestions, but on the whole, I am very grateful for its invention!
Alenka
I have to agree here, I change spellings without looking twice with the program but if it is asking me to change the word I intented I already read the sentence to make sure the change makes sense.
It is generally a help Huy, but I wish it did what it promises, which for me it doesn't.
Derek
Hello Derek,
I also use Grammarly for some months now. I payed for a Premium membership as I got an offer that you can't refuse :)
English is not my mother language, but I have a good command of English and some suggestions were useful.
I agree that most of the reported issues were punctuation and indeed, some suggestion were not making any sense :)
Overall, I'm fine with Grammarly.
Best,
Maria
That is good Maria. The problem I have is with those who don't have a reasonable command of the English language jusrt accepting what grammarly says because they don't know any better.
Sometime using punctuation the way Grammarly suggests actualy changes the whole meaning of a sentence.
Derek
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I use Grammarly on occasion. It often disagrees with spell check on the use of commas but other than that it works well for me.
Kyle Ann
I use Grammarly all the time, but only for spelling these days.
Derek