Common grammar mistakes this tool catches
- Homophones: their, there and they're; its and it's; your and you're; affect and effect.
- Subject and verb agreement: "The list of features are long" should be "The list of features is long", because the subject is "list".
- Comma splices: two full sentences joined by a comma, such as "We shipped the update, it fixed the bug." Use a period, a semicolon or a joining word.
- Tense shifts: switching between past and present in the same passage without a reason.
- Missing articles: "We sent proposal to client" needs "a" or "the".
- Apostrophes: plurals do not take an apostrophe (one client, two clients), possessives do (the client's invoice).
How to proofread like an editor
- Take a break first. You miss fewer errors when you come back to a text with fresh eyes.
- Read it aloud. Missing words and clumsy sentences are easier to hear than to see.
- Check one thing at a time. Do one pass for names and numbers, then another for punctuation.
- Read the change list. If the same fix keeps appearing, you have found a habit worth working on.
American or British spelling
Pick one variant and use it throughout. The main differences are word endings such as color and colour, organize and organise, center and centre, and some doubled consonants, like traveled and travelled. Leave the setting on Keep as written if your text is in another language or mixes in quoted material.
What a grammar checker cannot judge
A checker fixes errors, not ideas. It cannot tell whether your argument is clear, your facts are right or your tone suits the reader. For those, use a rewriter or ask a colleague to read the text before you send it. And because AI can occasionally misread a sentence, glance over the change list before you accept every fix.