Grammarly... is it wrong?

[Zeb_Carter]

So, I was going through one of the stories I think I had finished and was running Grammarly when this popped up...

"Don't you dare pass out again, Mary."

Does that look like a question to anyone? Grammarly wants me to change the period to a question mark.

Thoughts? Anyone?

 

[ChloeTzang]

So, I was going through one of the stories I think I had finished and was running Grammarly when this popped up...

"Don't you dare pass out again, Mary."

Does that look like a question to anyone? Grammarly wants me to change the period to a question mark.

Thoughts? Anyone?

Nope, not a question.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Nope, not a question.

Thank you, dear.

My thoughts exactly, it seems if you start a sentence with don't it wants to make it a question. Seems like bug to me.

"Don't you ever lie to me Todd." It wants to make this on a question too.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Thank you, dear.

My thoughts exactly, it seems if you start a sentence with don't it wants to make it a question. Seems like bug to me.

"Don't you ever lie to me Todd." It wants to make this on a question too.

That's so weird. Sounds like they've done an upgrade and fucked it up. You have to know your grammar to use grammarly, I guess.

 

[SimonDoom]

\You have to know your grammar to use grammarly, I guess.

Bingo. This is very true.

I'm puzzled by Grammarly's response to Zeb's sentence. The only thing I can figure is that when the Grammarly algorithm sees "Don't you" it assumes it's going to be a question, like "Don't you want me, baby?"

Grammarly may see the use of "you" in the sentence as irregular grammar. The more grammatically conventional way of saying it would be

"Don't dare pass out again, Mary." The "you" is extraneous, and Grammarly evidently doesn't know what to do with it. But it's a common way for people to speak, so it's perfectly legit for dialogue.

 

[JGittes]

I've run about 60k through Grammarly the past month and have been told to change the period to question mark four or five times in cases just like yours.

I use the paid version, so if you are using the free version you many not have these features available, and just hit the waste-can icon and it ignores that instance.

It's also possible to disable Grammarly for dialogue within quotation marks, again with the proviso that I don't use the free version.

 

[NotWise]

Thank you, dear.

My thoughts exactly, it seems if you start a sentence with don't it wants to make it a question. Seems like bug to me.

"Don't you ever lie to me Todd." It wants to make this on a question too.

Unlike the first example, this one could actually be a question.

 

[lovecraft68]

Although its better than straight up spellcheck, it doesn't comprehend fiction in the sense that in realistic dialogue, people butcher the English language on a regular basis, no one speaks that properly in everyday conversation.

Back when I first started writing and wanted to come up with believable dialogue I began sitting back and listening to people speak, friends at my house, people in work, out at functions, even sitting there people watching in a coffee shop, I listened to people, not a program.

 

[gunhilltrain]

We've talked about Grammarly several times before. It's software, not a human mind. So yes, it sometimes defaults to that computer mindlessness that has been around since the beginning of computers. ("Open the pod bay doors, HAL!) It will sometimes ask for things that don't make any sense.

It's worth using, but everything it suggests has to be subject to your own judgment.

 

[jaF0]

To my untrained eye, in my common way of speaking/reading, the comma in the first could make it a question.

"Don't you dare pass out again ... Mary?" as if she appeared to have passed out and the speaker is checking to see if she's passed out or not.

Personally, I would do them both as exclamations and maybe even add italics for emphasis.

"Don't you dare pass out again Mary!"

"Don't you ever lie to me Todd!"

 

[SimonDoom]

Grammatically, the sentence is in the imperative "mood" -- it's telling somebody to do something.

In English, sentences in the imperative usually drop the subject, which is typically "you." The "you" is understood, even though it's not usually there.

Examples:

Go to the store.

Don't be late.

Mind your manners.

In English we don't typically write:

Go you to the store.

Don't you be late.

Mind you your manners.

But SOMETIMES we do, as a conversational matter.

Example:

Don't you talk to me like that.

Zeb's example is an example just like that last example. It's in the imperative, but it's written in an informal and colloquial way, the way people actually talk, and it's interesting that Grammarly can't pick up on that. One would think that Grammarly instead would tell Zeb to drop the "you," but for some reason it doesn't do that. It's a glitch.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

To my untrained eye, in my common way of speaking/reading, the comma in the first could make it a question.

"Don't you dare pass out again ... Mary?" as if she appeared to have passed out and the speaker is checking to see if she's passed out or not.

Personally, I would do them both as exclamations and maybe even add italics for emphasis.

"Don't you dare pass out again Mary!"

"Don't you ever lie to me Todd!"

Actually, Grammarly had me put the comma in also. It wanted one before Todd too.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Thanks for everyone who replied. It's been helpful.

I use the free Grammarly for Word add-on.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

And yet, here's a sentence that Grammarly didn't flag...

"Don't you ever mention this to dad."

 

[SimonDoom]

Actually, Grammarly had me put the comma in also. It wanted one before Todd too.

The comma is correct and necessary in an imperative sentence. There's a good reason for it.

If you say

"Don't cry for me Argentina."

Then you have the pronoun "me" pushed awkwardly against the noun "Argentina." It's unclear. By "me" do you really mean "my"? Do you mean that "me" is "Argentina"?


The correct way to say it is

"Don't cry for me, Argentina."

This makes it clear that "Argentina" is the noun substitute for the missing but implied "you."

If this seems unclear, then put it in the normal indicative mood, like this:

I'm sorry you are crying for me, Argentina.

It's totally clear in this case that "Argentina" corresponds with "you." If you didn't have the comma it would look and read weirdly and confusingly. It's the same thing when it's in the imperative.

The way you punctuated your sentence is correct. The only quasi-irregularity is the inclusion of the word "you," which is colloquial, but totally correct in dialogue.

 

[gordo12]

So, I was going through one of the stories I think I had finished and was running Grammarly when this popped up...

"Don't you dare pass out again, Mary."

Does that look like a question to anyone? Grammarly wants me to change the period to a question mark.

Thoughts? Anyone?

I'd go with an exclamation mark if it suggested that, although Jafo's explanation makes a certain amount of sense too.

Last week I was getting an enormous number of clear errors with Grammarly. I wish I'd written them down. It was almost like a software upgrade that went corrupt or something.

I posted one error on another thread where it wanted me to change work out to workout in a sentence like, "I don't think this will work out."

I tried your sentence with a question mark. It was not picked up as an error. I also took out the comma before Mary and used an ellipse instead. That also passed.

 

[AngstIgnored]

Grammarly is frequently wrong, which is not to say that it can't be useful. If it gives you a recommendation that seems blatantly incorrect, you're right to double-check.

About this '?' issue though, I stunned by how often I read:

"Are you going to the prom?" she said.

Uh. Asked? If you're going to add 'said' 'ask' etc. to a line of dialogue, at least make it agree with the spoken words. Not sure if Grammarly checks for that sort of thing or not.

 

[jaF0]

It's a tool. It isn't a guarantee the nail will be driven home without bending on the first swing.

 

[gordo12]

It's a tool. It isn't a guarantee the nail will be driven home without bending on the first swing.

LOL, thanks for the laugh!

 

[KeithD]

Actually, Grammarly had me put the comma in also. It wanted one before Todd too.

In the comma case, Grammarly is right. Direct address requires the comma (in both examples).

On the question mark Grammarly just isn't refined enough to take context into account.

 

[Handley_Page]

Nope, not a question.

Gosh - she's back; Good to see you, Chloe.
Do please drop in for a coffee sometime. . .

The problem with something like Grammarly is that what seems right in the UK really ain't right in the USA (I guess that may apply to different part of the USA, as well).

 

[KeithD]

The real problem with Grammarly is that English grammar isn't mechanically precise. Treatment depends on context, and no mechanical program is going to be able to fully master that. I don't think it's a UK/U.S. system difference.

 

[lovecraft68]

As an example I just used the expression "the bruises stood out all the more due to her fair complexion"

The suggestion is to condense this to just "more"

Now is that more concise, yes? More grammatically correct? I assume so-again this is fiction-but to me in the flow of writing and reading back I think using the longer expression sounds better, more natural...

Am I right? That's subjective and comes down to style to me.

 

[lovecraft68]

I wonder how long before they come up with an AI grammar program that can take into account the manner people speak, slang, context etc....

 

[Zeb_Carter]

I changed the sentence to this...

"Don't you dare pass out on me again, Mary."

And Grammarly didn't blink an eye.