Tag Archives: grammar checkers

Today’s Writing Tip

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A good grammar checker should pick up various mistakes a spellchecker doesn’t, including subject-verb agreement and using the wrong homonym. However, this is no guarantee, especially if you tend to write complex sentences.

Homonyms are seldom if ever picked up otherwise, so it’s best if you memorize them. The following meme is handy for their, there, and they’re.

homonym

One homonym I’ve seen used incorrectly numerous times by different authors is shutter instead of shudder. A shutter is a panel to cover a window; shudder is what you do when you’re scared and can be either a noun or a verb. There are various lists of the most common ones available if you google “homonyms.”

Today’s Writing Tip

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Always spellcheck your work before sending it to beta readers or especially before uploading it to publish. Be sure to do so after completing each edit as well.  It’s really easy to get distracted and either not eliminate words or perhaps delete too many as you reword, streamline, and refine your sentences.

I don’t know about you, but my fingers have a mind of their own on the keyboard and don’t always do what my brain thinks. I will even catch myself from time to time typing a word phonetically for some reason.

In most cases, a grammar checker should find missing or misused words. But nothing beats a good proofreader or editor to make sure nothing was missed. And, believe me, it always is, no matter how many times you’ve been through it.

Today’s Writing Tip

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A good grammar checker should pick up various mistakes including subject-verb agreement and using the wrong homonym. The finer points of grammar can get lost in a creative frenzy, plus many talented writers were bored in English class and didn’t learn as much as they should have about proper use of the language. One mistake I hear a lot is “we was”.

Another mistake waiting to happen is when a sentence has something like a preposition phrase between the subject and verb, it’s easy to mess up. For example, “He looked over his list of grocery items, which was written on the back of his hand” (correct where “list” is what “was written”) versus “He looked over his list of grocery items, which were written on the back of his hand” (incorrect, i.e. “items” isn’t what’s written on his hand).

One homonym frequently used incorrectly, which drives me nuts every time, is using shutter (a window covering or decoration) instead of shudder (to shake or shiver with fear or cold.)  Look it up!