You will inevitably make some blunders. Any person studying a foreign language is aware of this. The key is to reflect on your actions and determine where you went wrong to improve moving forward.
Grammar checkers for the English language help you catch mistakes you might have missed otherwise. Many of them will even tell you how you went wrong so you can improve.
Here we’ll go through some of the best free online English spelling and grammar checkers that may help you improve your writing, communication, and language learning.
English Grammar Checklist
Knowing what to look for when examining your work for mistakes can be challenging. You can learn to recognize and avoid making some of the most frequent grammar errors in written English by memorizing the points made here.
- Proofread for correct spelling and punctuation errors, such as omitting a period or comma.
- When writing, checking for subject-verb agreement is essential to avoid making your phrase sound awkward. This means that the subject and the verb should agree in number. In the sentence “Sally likes apples,” for example, Sally, the subject of the third person, agrees with the word “likes.”
- There’s a good reason why teachers stress the need to keep students’ sentences short. If, on the other hand, you love to write in really long sentences that involve several clauses and conjunctions, then you should double-check your work.
- Take care to maintain a continuous tense throughout your writing. Check that you haven’t done things like starting in the past tense and ending in the present tense, for instance.
- A noun’s singular or plural form may have been used when the other was intended.
The Top 8 English Grammar Checking Resources for Students
1. Microsoft Word
Consider the capabilities of a standard word processor like Microsoft Word before moving on to more advanced internet tools. English language learners and native speakers can benefit from Microsoft Word’s built-in grammar and spelling correction tools.
All misspelled words and repeated words will be highlighted in red. Furthermore, any grammatical mistakes will be highlighted in green. If you right-click on the highlighted text, a menu of suggested changes will appear.
The language settings in Microsoft Word also allow you to switch between various English varieties (British, American, etc.).
There is a “Thesaurus” tab in Microsoft Word to look up alternative meanings for terms and a “Research” tab to look up definitions and translations.
2. Grammarly
We now routinely do the majority of our work activities online. Many blog platforms come with a spellchecker or grammar checker, but it’s typically not enough. Here, Grammarly comes in handy as a free Chrome extension that can help you out.
You may use it as a “writing assistant” to ensure all your online writing is error-free, whether it’s a blog post, an email, a LinkedIn article, or a Facebook status update.
It will suggest better word choices, prompt you to use hyphens, and erase unnecessary repetitions.
The best part is that Grammarly will also provide detailed explanations of why a particular word or punctuation choice was incorrect. As we covered at the outset of this piece, you can turn your errors into easy, long-lasting lessons in grammar.
3. Ginger
Additionally, Ginger is compatible with Google Chrome and may be used to verify your writing for errors. But Ginger also has some cool extras.
For instance, it has a contextual spelling checker that looks at the context in which a word is used in addition to the spelling itself.
In this way, it can detect when you’ve used a word in the improper context (such as when you should have written “their,” but instead wrote “there” or “they’re”) even if you haven’t misspelled it.
Ginger is a fantastic resource if you’re just starting because it can help you learn new words and even reword entire sentences.
4. OnlineCorrection
Suppose you want to avoid the effort of downloading and installing new software but still want to make sure your English grammar is correct. In that case, OnlineCorrection is an excellent website to visit.
It features a built-in autocorrect feature that will instantly fix any spelling or grammar errors. (You will still receive an updated document version with a log of the modifications so that you can verify.)
American English, British English, South African English, New Zealand English, and Australian English are just some of the varieties of English you can select from.
5. Sentence Checker
Sentence Checker is a valuable tool for determining whether or not your sentences are correct if you want a more basic error-correction tool.
Just paste your content, double-check it for mistakes, and you’re done! Any errors will be marked in red or yellow.
6. Virtual Writing Tutor
Check out Virtual Writing Tutor if you’re looking for a more feature-rich online writing tool. There is no cost to become a member, and once you are, you will have access to check up to 3,000 words at a time. Non-members can check up to 500 words at once.
It does more than just check for typos and misspellings; it also analyzes your vocabulary to ensure you use appropriate terms and explicit overused expressions.
Click “Check Paraphrase” to instantly get a comparison of your summary and the original text.
7. PaperRater
Similar to other online grammar correctors, PaperRater also provides helpful writing recommendations and scans for instances of plagiarism.
If you’re a student with upcoming writing tasks or term papers, this is an indispensable tool for checking for errors and preventing unintentional plagiarism.
It will tell you how “readable” your writing is, suggest words and phrases avoid, flag when you’re using the passive voice, and even assess the effectiveness of your sentence openers.
8. Hemingway
This program was influenced by the famous author Ernest Hemingway, who was recognized for his minimalist storytelling style and will help you craft simple, straightforward, and easy-to-read prose.
The text you input into Hemingway will be color-coded automatically.
If a sentence is highlighted in yellow, you should shorten it; if it’s highlighted in red, you should alter it because it’s difficult to read. Words underlined in purple have proposed shorter alternatives, while sentences in green denote passive voice. Check the “readability” of your content with Hemingway before hitting “send” on that crucial business email or cover letter.
Signing Off:
Although these online English grammar checkers are trustworthy and time-saving, you should still proofread your final manuscript by hand. Try using grammar checkers as a learning tool to improve your English by keeping track of your most common errors.