You can use the free web tool without creating an account. Simply paste your sentence, paragraph or paper into a box, click on Check Your Text, and you will receive a score along with a list of errors and areas needing improvement. It is very easy to use.
I pasted the final version of my most recent writing project, an important letter, into the box. It gave me a score of 80 (out of 100), and listed the following issues:
8 grammar issues: pronoun agreement (2), confusing modifiers (3), passive voice use (3).
4 punctuation issues: all these were for punctuation within a sentence. (It also has categories for closing and formal punctuation, which were apparently okay in my piece.)
5 style and word choice issues: writing style (3), vocabulary use (2).
I was apparently fine on spelling, commonly confused words, and unknown words. It also has a plagiarism checker, which I had not turned on.
Without purchasing a subscription, this information is all you get. You get a score and a count of various issues, but no explanation.
If you purchase the subscription (or sign up for the 7-day trial), you get explanations and examples. Based on the explanations in this week’s free trial, I made several improvements to my project. Some of Grammarly’s issues were merely suggestions about avoiding contractions, personal pronouns, and passive voice. In several cases, it unjustly accused me of squinting modifiers, incorrect subject/verb agreement, and misplaced commas. Even though Grammarly’s evaluation of some sentences was incorrect, I did learn some useful information. Do you know what a squinting modifier is? I didn’t either.
I subscribed to Visual Thesaurus for $19.95 per year. I absolutely love it and use it every day. I hoped to find a similar gem in Grammarly, but was disappointed. I will cancel my subscription after the free trial. Grammarly knows some basic grammar, but could not answer my more advanced grammar questions. If the subscription were $20-30 a year, I would happily purchase it. At $95 per year, it is overpriced. At the month-to-month rate of $19.95/month, it is way overpriced. (The previous sentence once read “But at $95/year it is overpriced”. Grammarly gave me a badly needed reminder not to begin a sentence with but or and.)
Though disappointed in Grammarly's cost/benefit ratio for myself, I can see it being a useful tool for beginning writers struggling with the basics of grammar. It would probably be extremely valuable for international students who are puzzled, quite understandably, by the idiosyncrasies of the English language. If you have major grammar difficulties, I would encourage you to sign up for the trial version—you may find it more helpful than I did.
After seeing the details provided by the subscription version, I don’t expect to regularly use the free version of Grammarly. Without the explanations, the scores and lists of issues are simply useless. In too many cases, Grammarly dings your score for things that are actually correct. Without knowing the specific sentence or clause setting off its alarms, you do not have enough information to evaluate whether or not there is a problem.
In case you are interested, here are some of my questions, example sentences submitted for Grammarly-checking, and Grammarly’s diagnoses.
On the subjunctive:
I was confused about whether I should use “I wish I were….” or “I wish I was….”
So I pasted the following sentence into Grammarly.
“I wish I were a skilled enough writer to convey my enthusiasm.”
Score: 67
Grammarly tells me there is a pronoun disagreement between I and were, and that I should have written, “I wish I was…”
“If I were an engineer, I would be rich.”
Score: 100
Grammarly suggests considering synonyms for rich, such as laughable, absurd, ridiculous, costly, or expensive.
If an unwitting student followed this advice, the results would be laughable and the entire meaning of the sentence would be changed.
“If I was an engineer, I would be rich.”
Score: 67
Grammarly suggests changing was to were, because this is a conditional sentence. Apparently the suggested synonyms to rich are no longer applicable.
Still not understanding the was/were distinction, I conducted some independent research and discovered that “I wish I were…” and “If I were an engineer…” are both correct uses of a subjunctive verb, because they describe a situation contrary to fact. Since I am not an engineer or a skilled writer, “I were…” is appropriate. (My engineering degree is sitting on a shelf gathering dust.)
Here are the most helpful resources I found.
“If I was home, I would be sitting on the couch eating chips.”
Grammarly Score: 67
Grammarly says this should say “If I were…”
This example is actually correct (I think). It came from http://www.grammar.net/iwishiwere and was used to illustrate a case in which a subjunctive verb is not appropriate: since it is actually possible for me to be home eating chips, the sentence should indeed read “If I was…”
Grammarly was simply not capable of dealing with the subtleties of the subjunctive verb.
On reflexive pronouns:
I was confused about when to use her and when to use herself.
“Mrs. Grammer emphasizes the need for all writers, including herself, to seek feedback.”
Grammarly score: 100
(No issues found.)
“Mrs. Grammer emphasizes the need for all writers, including her, to seek feedback.”
Grammarly score: 100
(No issues found.)
This obviously did nothing to clear my confusion. I decided to omit the clause in question and just write, “Mrs. Grammer emphasizes the need for all writers to seek feedback.” While I’m fine with this result, I would still like to know whether her or herself should be used in that clause. Or are they both incorrect?
Insure versus ensure:
The final straw was this sentence:
“I now have the tools I need to insure continued success.”
Grammarly score: 100
Instead of changing the incorrect word insure to the correct word ensure, it suggests changing insure to the equally incorrect assure.
If you are considering Grammarly, I hope you find this review helpful. I really wish this tool were a little cheaper. I would use it!
“I really wish this tool were a little cheaper.”
Grammarly score: 50
2 issues: wordiness and vague words (“really”).
(I know, I know… words like really are not really the best choices. But hey, this is a blog, not my dissertation! )
1 comments:
Here is one for you, Jen. After spending two days trying to organize my information world under a new paradigm compatible with my new Android tablet which does not think like a PC, I woke up dreaming about tag theory. Here is my pronoun problem. "What is it about any one or any thing - stated in the least number of words possible - that will enable us to recall [it/them/him/her] now and forevermore?" There seems to be no adequate pronoun.
Love,
Mom
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