Good Free Grammar checker?

[regularguy13]

What are you using as your Spellchecker and Grammar check? Anyone know of a good ones that are free? My writing is only a hobby and I'm not dipping into my beer money for a fix.

I use Grammarly and Ginger. They are a big help. Both catch many error and inform me that if i would only send them some money, they'd tell me about the 100 other errors they see.

My biggest issue with Ginger is that it will only review small documents. It's a pain to break a long story into sections Ginger will scan and they reconstruct it.

p.s. I know about the Literotica editors. My experience has been mixed. Some do this category, but not that. That story is too long. I'll do spelling and grammar, but won't discuss the plot or characters. Some have just disappeared. I understand they are volunteers and probably have real jobs and real lives, but when a contest deadline is coming up, you need the story back.

Thanks in advance. r

 

[Kantarii]

I usually do all the editing myself. From time to time, I have asked a couple of fellow authors here in the AH to lend their eyes to reading over my material. I don’t know how they put up with me (God bless their souls), but they are willing to check over my mistakes. Sometimes I catch things before they say anything, but they catch the things I miss often enough.

Now, you can go the spell checker route, but if you type in say, “their” and the actual word needs to be “they’re”, then the spell checker isn’t going to catch the mistake. The same holds true to “an”/ “and” or “resume” and “résumé “ for example.

Bottomline a spell checker isn’t going to understand context of what is being said or conveyed. I’d rather let a second set of eyes read over my work.
Kant

 

[NotWise]

What are you using as your Spellchecker and Grammar check?

I use LibreOffice. It's spell-checker installed by default on Ubuntu. The Language Tool is an optional installation, but it's good for flagging simple grammar errors.

 

[KeithD]

I have the Word spellcheck turned on (but just as a double-check flag) and the Word grammar turned off. Word help was written by techies for technical manuals and isn't much real help with looseness of fiction. I have a slew of grammar books at my elbow to use for grammar (and my sentences are still too long and convoluted--but that's my style).

 

[Weird Harold]

...the Word grammar turned off. Word help was written by techies for technical manuals and isn't much real help with looseness of fiction. ...

Very true. MSWord's grammar check defaults to "PC-Speak" but it IS very configurable and most of the PC-speak and Business-Jargon checks can be turned off.

The biggest problem I have with any Grammar check is they are easily confused by words with multiple meanings -- "Frank" as a name confuses the hell out of Word -- and punctuation errors cause faults that have nothing obvious connection to punctuation.

 

[Hypoxia]

Both my grammars are dead, alas. But for text, I write with the free Jarte editor and its included WordWeb dictionary-thesaurus, and I spell- and grammer-check with Word 2003. I have worked as a tech writer and editor and so bring my own experience into the fray. Best bet: write; spell- and grammar-check; put it aside for a few days; read it in a different font; see if it seems right.

 

[SamScribble]

I have a guy called Mike. He's sort of free. He works for red wine. And I have to let him win at backgammon from time to time. But he is very good.

 

[Jada59]

I have a guy called Mike. He's sort of free. He works for red wine. And I have to let him win at backgammon from time to time. But he is very good.

 

[Handley_Page]

I have the Word spellcheck turned on (but just as a double-check flag) and the Word grammar turned off. Word help was written by techies for technical manuals and isn't much real help with looseness of fiction. I have a slew of grammar books at my elbow to use for grammar (and my sentences are still too long and convoluted--but that's my style).

I use Word 2003. Word 97 was brilliant and did permit a more relaxed language [later ones seem to be more 'formal'].
Micro-splat 'on-line help' gets me page after page of Word 365 advertisement which is not quite what I had in mind. If I was more clued-up with the technicalities of the language I'd probably do better, but there are things in "Tools, Options, Style" I just wot not of.

 

[Emirus]

Self help

I don’t use any programs that check your grammar. I rely on myself and Google. If I’m uncertain about a word then I google and it will come up with the correct answer. I also use it for lists of synonyms and antonyms when necessary because I find using the same words again and again in a story is boring.

If someone uses a program because of a lack of confidence or because English is not their first language that’s fine. Other than that I would suggest that someone wanting to submit stories on here should purchase and read books by mainstream authors who write in the categories that they would like to write in. Read and learn.

I and another writer edit for each other. That might seem strange but it’s difficult to be 100% perfect when editing your own work. But neither of us rely on the other as an excuse for poor punctuation and grammar.

Every writer should endeavour to make it easier for an editor not harder because of laziness.

 

[EdEc]

I use Grammarly.com. It works well, but I think it's based in Great Britain. It uses a lot of hyphens.

 

[Emirus]

I use Grammarly.com. It works well, but I think it's based in Great Britain. It uses a lot of hyphens.

It must be proper English then! (That’s a joke!)

 

[TornConflict]

After I botched one of my last stories I heard about Grammarly. I have been using that and it seems to have caught a majority of my mistakes. My work will never be 100% error free but I think it has gotten much better. I am using the free Grammarly and it does catch things like wrong your or there. I also have a tendency for my brain to go faster than my hands so I miss words from time to time. It catches those mistakes most of the time too. The pay program sounds like it is more programmed for business writing than writing a narrative.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

There have been a few threads on grammar checkers (e.g. To pay or Not to pay for an editing app). I think the overall conclusion is that the payment is not worth the additional features; the paid version might even be too intrusive and try to affect your writing style.

I have downloaded the free Grammarly version, installed it, and now it is embedded in my Microsoft programs. Normally I keep it turned off, but I always use it to check my final drafts. I'm not a native English speaking person, and the amount of errors Grammarly picks out is sometimes embarrassing. However, there is also something like 30% of Grammarly's suggestions I don't agree with, and which I don't follow. In the end, I make the decisions.

Apart from my fist story (which originally had a very, very bad layout!) none of my story submissions has ever been sent back to me; my English teachers would never believe this! And If I'm correct, I have not received any comments pointing out to language errors since I started using Grammarly. So, it seems to work for me.

I too use Grammarly free version and I'd say there is about the same percentage I don't agree with. It always seems to pick either 'was' or 'were' at the wrong time in a sentence. And while it might be correct in what it picks, when you read it out loud it never, ever, sounds right.

I also don't agree with some of its comma placements.

But, I have found less and less complaints from readers about errors although, I don't know what they expect for free.

 

[thewinedarksea]

I use Grammarly.com. It works well, but I think it's based in Great Britain. It uses a lot of hyphens.

Can you give an example of what you consider to be a questionable use of hyphens? As an editor, one thing I have noticed is that people do not use them when required (e.g. in compound adjectives).

I installed Grammarly to see what it was like. I found it to be an intolerable nag, but it would probably be helpful for people whose grasp of the basics is poor.