Can You Rely on Microsoft Word for Spelling and Grammar Corrections?

Making grammar and spelling errors is simple when writing paperwork in Microsoft Phrase. However are you able to depend on its grammar and spellchecker to detect and enable you repair them? We examined it, and here is what we came upon.

What Microsoft Phrase’s Spelling and Grammar Checker Does Finest

While you make a mistake in Phrase, crimson and blue squiggly strains will seem beneath the problematic phrase or phrase. The crimson squiggles are spelling errors, and the blue squiggles are potential grammar points. While you click on them, Word will suggest corrections or improvements.

The grammar assessments under are cases the place Phrase was in a position to catch errors and counsel fixes.

Spelling

Misspelling phrases is widespread when typing, particularly should you sort extraordinarily shortly. We evaluated how Phrase detects and corrects generally misspelled phrases like recieved, buisness, and adress. And it detected them and supplied corrections in all cases—acquired, enterprise, and deal with, respectfully.

Microsoft Phrase has a characteristic referred to as AutoCorrect that robotically corrects widespread spelling and capitalization errors as you sort. It’s like having somebody immediately right the phrases you write, making it an enormous time-saving feature in Microsoft Word.

Primary Grammar

We first checked if Phrase would catch subject-verb disagreement when performing the fundamental grammar take a look at. It is a widespread grammar error the place the plurality of the topic and verb don’t match.

Phrase detected the subject-verb disagreement within the sentence The cats runs. It then prompt altering runs to run to make sure subject-verb settlement. The proper sentence now turns into The cats run.

One other widespread grammar error that Phrase can detect is inaccurate verb tense. That is the place the timeframe of an motion doesn’t align with the verb.

An instance can be: He go to the health club every single day. Phrase prompt altering go to goes to repair it, making the proper sentence He goes to the health club every single day.

Punctuation

Phrase can be good at detecting lacking or incorrect punctuation. Take into account the next sentences: Lets eat! (lacking apostrophe), I like apples oranges and bananas (lacking comma), and The canine barked loudly nonetheless no person heard it (lacking comma or semicolon).

Microsoft Phrase mounted the wrong sentences simply. It prompt altering them to Let’s eat, I like apples, oranges and bananas, and The canine barked loudly, nonetheless, no person heard it. Now the punctuation is right.

Passive Voice Detection

There are particular cases the place passive voice (a verb appearing on the topic) is suitable. But when it is formal writing, utilizing an lively voice is all the time higher. You do not need sentences that sound roundabout or oblique since they do not obtain the readability formal writing calls for.

Take into account the sentence The cake was eaten by the canine. Phrase prompt altering this to The canine ate the cake, which is an lively voice.

Formality

Casual phrases do not match the tone of formal writing. It is like sporting flip-flops to a job interview—it is unprofessional and immature. Phrase does a very good job of highlighting these colloquialisms, permitting you to match the formal tone of a doc.

For instance, it could possibly enable you change gonna and ain’t to am not and going to. So, pasting the doc in Phrase is a good suggestion if you wish to test the formality of your tone.

Homophone

Homophones are phrases that sound the identical, however their which means and spelling are completely different. It is very straightforward to mistake these phrases. Well-known examples embrace their/there, your/you are, it is/its, right here/hear, and impact/have an effect on. Phrase does a very good job of serving to you repair homophone errors due to its grammar and contextual evaluation.

Areas The place the Grammar Checker Wants Enchancment

Whereas the spellchecker might help right nearly each misspelled phrase, the grammar checker may use enchancment within the areas under.

Superior Grammar

Whereas primary subject-verb disagreement is not a difficulty for Phrase, advanced circumstances just like the sentence Everybody goes to the occasion, however none of them are bringing a present might be exhausting to detect. As a substitute of none are, it must be none is, and Phrase utterly missed that.

It additionally missed the grammar mistake within the sentence He likes operating, to swim, and biking. The objects in that sentence ought to have the identical kind, however they don’t (defective parallelism). The proper sentence must be He likes operating, swimming, and biking.

Contextual Understanding

We additionally examined to see if Phrase can perceive context in ambiguous sentences. For instance, the sentence She gave her pet food to her pal is ambiguous. If Microsoft Phrase had superior contextual understanding, it ought to have prompt that we modify it to She gave meals for her canine to her pal—it did not.

Phrase additionally has a troublesome time detecting deceptive statements. Take the next sentence, for instance, Flying within the sky, the pilot admired the birds. This sentence must be Whereas flying within the sky, the pilot admired the birds to make it clear that the pilot was flying within the sky after they noticed the birds.

Misplaced Modifier

A misplaced modifier could make a sentence ambiguous or complicated. Microsoft Phrase additionally has hassle detecting misplaced modifiers.

I examined just a few sentences, together with She served the pizza to the company on paper plates, and Phrase failed the take a look at. In that instance, it must be She served the pizza on paper plates to the company.

General, you may depend on Microsoft Phrase’s grammar and spell checker throughout your first spherical of edits. It will possibly enable you clear up many grammar and spelling errors in your paperwork. You possibly can count on it to get even higher with time, particularly now that these instruments have gotten AI-powered.

In case you discover Phrase missing, you may install Microsoft Word add-ins with extra superior spelling and grammar-checking capabilities (e.g., Grammarly).