Common Grammar Mistakes that Online Checkers Won't Pick Up On

The web is full of online grammar guides and blogs. For those who have the time and energy there is a lot that can be learned. All of this at our fingertips it still isn’t efficient and fast enough for our everyday lives. Step in the online checkers...simply put in your text and it will spot and correct all your mistakes for you. Or will it? It is almost impossible for these checkers to spot all the errors that a human eye can. Here are some most common grammar mistakes that online checkers miss:

• “The principal of the law.” Nope, it’s the principal of the school that decides the principle of the law. These two are easily confused and not spotted by a checker so be aware!

 

• “Yesterday’s events were historical.” No they weren’t, they were historic. You probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid if you heard someone saying this but it’s actually grammatically wrong. “Historical” is an adjective usually used to describe things as historic. “That building over there holds the historical records.” Online checkers were not able to pick up on this.

 

• “Me and Lucy are going shopping today.” A common mistake that people make even though they know it is incorrect as it is often acceptable in everyday chat. Surprisingly the online checker did not pick up on this one and so you have to be extra careful not to let this one slip through the net.

 

• “Their nice people.” The sentence, if you break it down, should actually read “they are nice people”. Therefore the correct word to use is “they’re” instead of “their”. Considered a basic rule by native English speakers, it is more difficult for non-natives to spot. Some checkers pick up on this but there are some that don’t so best to try to get to grips with the rule yourself.

 

• “Its how its supposed to be” - At a glance this one looks legitimate although upon further inspection those missing apostrophes are apparent. “It’s how it’s supposed to be” is the correct version.

 

So grammar checkers may not actually be all that they are cracked up to be. Yes they may point out and correct many mistakes but they are definitely not 100% foolproof. When it comes to grammar the reliable way to check is with human eyes. Send material to eAngel and have it corrected immediately by native English speakers with eyes for grammar mistakes just like these!

Have a look at our next article about online proofreading services.