As a writer, I was looking for grammar checker software that was better than the one built into Microsoft Word. After a bit of research, I found that Grammarly was one of the more highly recommended services in this class so I decided to give it a try. This review is about why I recommend Grammarly to others who, like me, also need this kind of service.
The Grammarly layout is very simple. It consists of a box where you write your text and the "Start Review" button to start a scan. During the scan, the checker tells you what grammar rule it is checking for and about how long the scan will take. When it finishes scanning it gives an overall score for your writing and lists all of the mistakes it found.
In terms of accuracy, although the service checks for a large number of grammatical errors, it is still not as accurate as the best trained and experienced human editors. It does well at identifying errors in prepositions, run-on sentences and subject-verb agreement but is not very good in identifying errors in using numbers and it can mark clearly erroneous sentences as correct. I also noticed that it seemed to find more errors if you are logged in than if you were not and also find a lower percentage of plagiarism if you are not logged in. The difference is not much but it is consistent.
In the error list pop up it displays a list of categories like grammar, plagiarism, contextual spelling check and punctuation. These lists are then further broken down in the next column. If the service does not find any errors it displays a blue check mark. When it does find errors, it presents them one at a time and displays a red "x". The erroneous word or sentence is highlighted in red with the reason for the error next to it.
Grammarly checks thoroughly for spelling and errors in grammar. It gives synonyms of highlighted words that helps enhance your vocabulary. It also checks for plagiarism and, if needed, cites the plagiarized material. This plagiarism checker, though, seems oversensitive and you have to do some research before making any adjustments to your work. Grammarly also has Microsoft Office integration capability. In case you have problems with the service you can click on the "Help" link that immediately takes you to their helpdesk. There is also a FAQ page and make available telephone and e-mail support if ever you need it.
The Grammarly checking service is about 85 percent accurate, 90 percent competent and 90 percent thorough. It is very easy to use and gives useful and easily understood feedback, although, at times it can become cluttered and overwhelming. I would also warn other users to double check their work after putting it through the Grammarly automated checker because, as good as it is, it is not 100 percent accurate. It recognizes many common grammatical errors but not all. You should not trust it as a final editor for spelling, syntax or grammar, but it serves to quickly root out most errors and help make your work faster.