Computerised grammar checkers can never be more than a guide to possible
grammatical errors. They require a thorough knowledge of grammar to be of
much use. If you have such knowledge, then the checker becomes largely
superfluous.
--
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
My web site
www.gmayor.com
Word MVP web site
http://word.mvps.org
Sesquipedalian Sam wrote:
I just encountered an odd result from the Word 2007 grammar checker. I
was writing about the DMV tests for various types of driver's
licenses. I meant to write,
The Class C license is for regular passenger cars.
but by mistake I wrote,
The Class A license is for regular passenger cars.
I may not have noticed the typo except that Word flagged the "A" as a
grammar error. That drew my attention to the sentence and I realized
that I had typed the wrong. To my astonishment, when I changed the "A"
to "C", Word stopped complaining.
Curious. Is it possible that Word knows that the license for regular
passenger cars is Class C and not Class A?
I was just about to send Bill some more money for putting out such a
great program, when I decided to ask the grammar checked what it
thought the problem was.
Right-clicking on the offending word and selecting "About this
sentence", I get,
Capitalization
Some words are always capitalized. Other words are capitalized when
they are part of a title, a name, or a place. A minor word such as
"the" is capitalized only when the word begins a sentence or
officially begins a name.
Instead of: The pet store closes on Valentine's day.
Consider: The pet store closes on Valentine's Day.
Instead of: Mary has a map of the Hague.
Consider: Mary has a map of The Hague.
(sigh) I guess I won't send in any more money after all.