Who uses Grammarly ?

[Ezrollin]

I've been using the free version of Grammarly when writing as I tend to use too many commas. I'm working on the problem and have improved greatly. Now according to Grammarly I must be speaking in a passive voice more than I realize. What's your take on its use or accuracy ?

 

[HeyAll]

Does grammarly help find missing or accidental misused words? Those are my weaknesses.

 

[Ezrollin]

Does grammarly help find missing or accidental misused words? Those are my weaknesses.

Other than commas I see : Passive voice, improper formatting, tense and wordy sentences. Of course, you can overlook some of it because stories aren't always written in proper English. I work with the commas first and then see if I can correct any of the rest. After using it for a while I've started to see my mistakes before making them. You can also open another tab and do a search for proper grammar while writing.

 

[purplexkitten]

I don't use it, but will definitely check it out. I have found that online written role play is a huge help with your writing, as well. It's fun and when you are writing with another good writer, you tend to write up to their level. It really feeds my need to write creatively and god knows there is a role play for every type of interest out there.

 

[Weird Harold]

I've been using the free version of Grammarly when writing as I tend to use too many commas. I'm working on the problem and have improved greatly. Now according to Grammarly I must be speaking in a passive voice more than I realize. What's your take on its use or accuracy ?

I have no clue about Grammarly, but I suspect it is correct about your use of Passive Voice.

That isn't necessarily a problem as Passive Voice exists for a reason. The problem is overuse of passive voice -- which, according to Purdue University's OWL, "can make your prose flat and uninteresting."

An associated problem is "passive prose" even in the cases where Passive and Active Voice don't apply. MSWord's grammar check won't detect it, but it always happens when Passive Voice reaches about 3-5% of your sentences. (that doesn't sound like "overuse" until you realized that less than 10% of your sentences will have a "Voice.")

Avoiding Passive Voice (and/or figuring out why Grammarly or MSWord think a sentence is Passive Voice) changes your mindset to also avoid passive prose; you'll write much more interesting active prose as a result.

 

[NotWise]

I've been using the free version of Grammarly when writing as I tend to use too many commas. I'm working on the problem and have improved greatly. Now according to Grammarly I must be speaking in a passive voice more than I realize. What's your take on its use or accuracy ?

I'm not using Grammarly, but I do use another tool to identify style problems. The tool I use identifies passive sentences by finding a verb preceded by some form of "to be." That does identify passive voice, but there are also simple past tense expressions that use some form of "to be" prior to a verb, so the identification isn't very dependable.

For instance,

My tool identifies "He was running." as being in passive voice because "was" precedes "running." It isn't passive voice; it's actually simple past tense.

"The race was run by many." is passive because the subject of the sentence "The race" doesn't perform the action "run." An active voice alternative would be "Many ran the race."

I can have my tool show me the sentences that it identifies as passive, and that lets me sort things out. If Grammarly will show you what it thinks are passive sentences, then look at them and see if they really are.

There's no inherent problem with using passive sentences unless you use them too frequently. They should be part of the mix to give your writing variety, but there shouldn't be too many passive sentences. I don't know how "too many" is defined.

 

[Ezrollin]

I just checked and according to Grammarly I only have 3 passive voice usage in eighteen paragraphs, so I guess it isn't a problem.But there are other things I'm trying to short out.

 

[EverLux]

Does grammarly help find missing or accidental misused words? Those are my weaknesses.

Someday I'll fix it so that my character is on the stage, not on the stag. The visual is a little distracting.

 

[NotWise]

Someday I'll fix it so that my character is on the stage, not on the stag. The visual is a little distracting.

They both seem rather adventurous, though in different genres.

 

[KimGordon67]

I write and edit as part of my job, and I've watched my husband use Grammerly on his written work - I'm pretty impressed by it, actually. It picks up a LOT of common issues with writing that I encounter when working with other authors' work. He's paid for the one he's using though - I'm not sure how much more powerful it is than the free version.

 

[Jay321]

Could someone define passive voice?

 

[Ezrollin]

Grammarly alert !!!

1. Myth: Use of the passive voice constitutes a grammatical error.
Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. It’s a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity—that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.

Just found this at The writing center so I'm not too worried about passive voice misuse.

I just realized that although could still write text on Grammarly, none of it's functions seem to be working ???

 

[Weird Harold]

Could someone define passive voice?

examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-active-and-passive-voice.html

What is an active and passive voice?

Active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb. In passive voice sentences, the subject is acted upon by the verb. Check out the examples below.
Examples of Active and Passive Voice

 

[Weird Harold]

1. Myth: Use of the passive voice constitutes a grammatical error.

Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. It’s a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity—that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.

Just found this at The writing center so I'm not too worried about passive voice misuse.

The problem with passive voice isn't that it is wrong, the problem is overuse. at about 3%-5% of total sentences in passive voice things start to get uninteresting. It's a useful effect if you want to hide things from your readers -- like clues to a mystery -- but it isn't a useful thing if you want to draw readers into your story and keep them. It's also not a good thing if you want to move your readers to vote.

I just realized that although could still write text on Grammarly, none of it's functions seem to be working ???

Has your free copy of Grammarly "timed out" to encourage you to buy the paid version?

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

I use Grammarly, but I treat its results more like suggestions. It's often right, but not often enough to blindly trust it (which you should never do with any kind of spelling/grammatical check). It's not perfect but it really shows the kind of things I need to pay attention too (I tend to go a bit comma-crazy sometimes). It's a great tool to have.

 

[Athalia]

I use Grammarly, but I treat its results more like suggestions. It's often right, but not often enough to blindly trust it (which you should never do with any kind of spelling/grammatical check). It's not perfect but it really shows the kind of things I need to pay attention too (I tend to go a bit comma-crazy sometimes). It's a great tool to have.

I haven't had any experience with Grammarly, but it seems to be in the same category as some of the more powerful word processors such as MS Word. They compare your text to a standard series of rules and (hopefully) tell you where you deviate from those rules. Whether you want to break that particular rule at that particular time is up to you. As Taken does, I would consider their checks as suggestions. It is a matter of ear, really, although if one breaks a rule like the active/passive voice continually, it may put a strain on the average reader. Most of those rules are there for a reason.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

I haven't had any experience with Grammarly, but it seems to be in the same category as some of the more powerful word processors such as MS Word. They compare your text to a standard series of rules and (hopefully) tell you where you deviate from those rules. Whether you want to break that particular rule at that particular time is up to you. As Taken does, I would consider their checks as suggestions. It is a matter of ear, really, although if one breaks a rule like the active/passive voice continually, it may put a strain on the average reader. Most of those rules are there for a reason.

You're right, they just compare your text to a set of rules. It's a pretty unique and extended set of rules though, much more in depth than for example Word's spell check. According to their site those rules have been created by a group of writers and language experts. Even though it's not perfect, it's the most advanced spelling and grammatical check I have ever seen.

 

[redzinger]

Grammarly really doesn't like commas.

 

[Grobnar]

I just started using Grammarly and so far it's fine. It doe's like to ding me on passive voice though. I was a B-C student so it's likely correct. I do like it as it catches things Google Docs, Word and I miss.

I just wish it wouldn't remove my italics.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

It would appear that I don't use enough commas and that Grammarly knows nothing about foreign names.

And now that I downloaded it and put it in Chrome, it now checks my post for grammar...WTF?

ETA: It would appear I no longer write in passive voice, unless that's one of the checks in the paid version.

ETA: Passive voice check is part of the premium package.

 

[Wifetheif]

Who uses Grammarly

I just started using Grammarly and so far it's fine. It doe's like to ding me on passive voice though. I was a B-C student so it's likely correct. I do like it as it catches things Google Docs, Word and I miss.

Having lost Word when my old computer died, I'm making due with Open Office and Grammarly. Grammarly is much better for spelling and catching common mistakes. I have been using it for a few months and it HAS made me a better writer. Some of the basic mistakes I am now aware of. What I really like are the weekly updates telling you how you stack up with other users. I'm usually ahead of 97% of users when it comes to words typed and twice my vocabulary was better than 99% of other users! That felt good.