Spelling and Grammar (Word 2000)

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Hello,

I would be interested in finding out what everyone thinks of Words grammar check. My experience right now is that it leaves a lot to be desired. I will be honest I have been using WordPerfect and recently switched to Word. I will type a paragraph in wpd and it will find grammar problems, the same paragraph in word no grammar problems, or it will find 1 out of 3. Is it safe to say that Words grammar check is not very reliable?

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Grammar rules change over time. As a basically European user of English, I found that the Word grammar checker produced errors that did not match what I had learnt (as being correct usage) up through my degree; or produced recommendations that were contrary to standard textbook advice. On the other hand, it did not pick up fairly basic errors. It’s been quite some time since I used WordPerfect. Your profile doesn’t indicate your time zone. This may also affect your views.

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Not sure how effective the grammar checker in Word 2000 is, but a comprehensive study by Caroline Hast shows the Word 97 grammar checker to be of dubious quality. She fed thousands of sentences into the grammar checker and found that the reliability, depending on the type of grammatical error, ranged between 70 and 40%. My advice: use a grammar handbook.

The full article (lengthy) can be found at
http://curie.pct.edu/courses/evavra/ATEG/M…aist/GCHECK.htm

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Make limited use of any automated grammar checker. As a business user of Word, I have found that ‘proper’ grammar varies from industry to industry. While basic grammar rules essentially remain unchanged, colloquial grammar is a given in the business world. I, too, suggest a grammar handbook. Several good ones are The Little, Brown Handbook and The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. Lots and lots of writing helps, too.

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Strunk and White was one of the books I had in mind – as a good overview. The other was Fowler’s English Usage; which can even pass as a dictionary/thesaurus for usage. Old and new editions of both are available. The online reviews will probably give you a good feel for which book (and edition) will match your underlying needs.

HTH

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