Grammar Checking.

[domdaddy4u]

I am new to writing, I use OPEN OFFICE to write my stories. When I spell check/ grammar I often come against comments like this :

I have a present for you, comes with the report hidden verbs in "have a present"


The responsibility fell onto his shoulders come up with "onto" is a redundant expression

I for one am useless at grammar, but the expressions used are so confusing.
My question is, Is the program being too critical or am I making common mistakes?
any advice would be accepted
thanks

 

[oggbashan]

Ignore grammar checker's comments if it sounds right to you.

Og

 

[vrosej10]

Agreed. These programs cannot be trusted for subtle understanding of texts. Consider anything it tells you as a suggestion.

 

[domdaddy4u]

Thank you both, you have eased my mind lol

 

[vrosej10]

I was writing a play a couple of weeks ago and one of the characters said Shit. The computer suggested it should be sheet!

 

[domdaddy4u]

The policeman moved away comes up as "policeman" is bias language it seems silly lol

 

[vrosej10]

I'm running word and the damn thing keeps flipping back to US english and I keep getting chipped by my teachers.

 

[favoritesgoddess]

To answer your original question, it seems like it may be a bit of both. The grammar checker is only a blunt tool at best, and if you're unfamiliar with the basics of grammar and punctuation, you probably are making some common mistakes as well.

If you're not already planning to do so, it would be a good idea to have someone (a human being, I mean) proofread your story for grammar before you publish it.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I was writing a play a couple of weeks ago and one of the characters said Shit. The computer suggested it should be sheet!

Theyre all very PC these days.

 

[domdaddy4u]

To answer your original question, it seems like it may be a bit of both. The grammar checker is only a blunt tool at best, and if you're unfamiliar with the basics of grammar and punctuation, you probably are making some common mistakes as well.

If you're not already planning to do so, it would be a good idea to have someone (a human being, I mean) proofread your story for grammar before you publish it.

Yes I do , I have a great editor, but I try to correct as much as I can before sending it to him.

thanks to all for your helpful comments.

 

[Weird Harold]

I have a present for you, comes with the report hidden verbs in "have a present"

If you change the noun "present" to a word that isn't also a verb in other contexts, that fault should go away. IOW, the grammar checker is confusing the noun present with the verb present and giving you a false error.

Words like "Frank" drive MSWord's grammar checker crazy because "frank" can be a verb, noun, proper noun, adverb or adjective.

A lot of your other faults can probably be eliminated by reconfiguring your preferences -- the default is for formal business correspondence, which is supposed to be boring and stilted. You should be able to change to casual, or informal mode and get rid of the overly strict faults. Once you get the grammar checker configured to suit your style it can be a great tool, but the default business mode just makes it a pain in the butt.

The trick to using a grammar checker is to figure out exactly what the Grammar Checker is seeing. But in the end, you are the final arbiter of what goes into your story; if a sentence says what you want it to say, the grammar checker is wrong, even if your grammar is lousy.

 

[Zodia195]

I am always using spell check and grammar corrections on mine now and they don't always work for me.

 

[R. Richard]

I was writing a play a couple of weeks ago and one of the characters said Shit. The computer suggested it should be sheet!

Obviously an outdated comment by the grammar checker. The proper modern colloquial usage should be: 'shee-it!'

 

[Stella_Omega]

On the few times I've tried using grammar check, I've hit the "Ignore" button more often than the "change" button.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I leave Grammar Check and Spellcheck on, because they do catch errors. Mostly what the former catches are non-errors, and sometimes there are genuine errors that it does not catch, but I do when I proofread. At the same time, I edit sometimes and change the subject from singular to plural and miss changing the verb, or similar oversight, and it might catch those.

Spellcheck doesn't usually catch typos if it results in a valid word, such as "her for here" or "to for too" or similar typos.

Nothing beats eyeballs for finding errors, your own and/or somebody else's.

 

[rgraham666]

Trusting your work to an English major who needs a job and a computer programmer whose idea of high literature is World Of Warcraft manuals is a mistake.

I always leave grammar checkers off no matter what word processor I use. I leave spell check on because I'm a lousy typist.

 

[estragon]

Spell check is sometimes helpful, but the grammar tools are almost worthless. Our crazy English language doesn't follow rules very well. Best is to read the various essays on construction, grammar, etc., on this site, work with your editor, and most of all, tell your story the best way you can.

 

[sr71plt]

I've turned grammar check off. It never was meant for creative fiction writing.

 

[Handley_Page]

I'm running word and the damn thing keeps flipping back to US english and I keep getting chipped by my teachers.

Tools, Language, click on Default; yes.

It is also important to set the "style" right, else you can get very stilted prose.

 

[vrosej10]

Tools, Language, click on Default; yes.

It is also important to set the "style" right, else you can get very stilted prose.

Did that probably a dozen times. It will default for a while and then pop back to US english for no good reason. I think I have a beasty.