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Who Writes the Word Grammar Guides?

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Services for Real Estate Pros with Marte Cliff Copywriting

Shaking my head again today, and wondering who in the world is in charge of Word's grammar checker. 

A line in an article I wrote today reads:thumbs down to word grammar checker

"Step two is where the real work begins, as you present and negotiate offers."

Immediately the green line popped under those words, telling me I had a grammar error. Curious, I clicked to see what Word was going to suggest.

I got two choices: 

"Step two is where the real work begins, as you present and negotiates offers."

 

"Steps two is where the real work begins, as you present and negotiate offers."

 

Was it the word "two" that caused Word to think something needed to be a plural? Who knows.

Doing more harm than good...

Whatever the reason, I sure feel for anyone who is learning English as a second or third language and is trying to use Word's grammar checker to help them write properly. 

This isn't the first time Word has suggested something so wrong that it was laughable.

Why? 

 

 

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Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

Oh that is sad.  I wonder what would have happened if you changed "two" to "2."  OMG, too funny, that is 3 twos/homophones together. (and then a 4th just a tad afterwards.

Oct 27, 2014 09:38 AM
John Kirch
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Fort Collins, CO
Northern Colorado Real Estate Agent

Haha, that is no good. Technology sure can be confusing.

Oct 27, 2014 10:30 AM
Bette Gottwald
UNITED REAL ESTATE | Central PA - Mechanicsburg, PA
"Bet"on Central PA Real Estate!

Grammar checkers often offered the wrong advice, don't you agree Marte Cliff ?  Personally, I believe Microsoft should issue a disclaimer: "Use with caution." 

Oct 27, 2014 10:48 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Debbie - That's a good question. 

John - Yes - especially when it's wrong.

Bette - Or maybe they should hire some people who know English. 

Oct 27, 2014 11:03 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

Word's grammar guide is indeed a joke.  But did you really expect the geeks that right that code to know proper grammar?

Oct 27, 2014 11:25 AM
Troy Erickson AZ Realtor (602) 295-6807
HomeSmart - Chandler, AZ
Your Chandler, Ahwatukee, and East Valley Realtor

Marte - I often have to ignore MS Word and it's grammar checks for the very reason you have addressed in your post. It is amazing how often the things it recommends do not make sense.

Oct 27, 2014 11:59 AM
Sybil Campbell
Fernandina Beach, FL
Referral Agent Amelia Island Florida

Hi Marte, the grammar checks on Word often make me crazy.

Oct 27, 2014 12:39 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Chris - No, but I expected them to hire someone who does.

Troy - sometimes the suggestions make me laugh out loud.

Sybil - What gets me is when they make me question myself - so I have to go look it up. 

Oct 27, 2014 01:18 PM
Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

Good Grief.  No wonder we read so many publications and articles with grammatical errors.

No matter.  I've never used Word grammar guide.  I gave it a try many, many years ago and the advice rarely made sense.

Thank goodness, Mrs. Kennedy came before Word.

Oct 27, 2014 09:55 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Lenn Harley I leave it turned on because it helps catch my errors if I'm revising something and forget to remove a word or two. I proofread everything, but don't trust my eyes to catch small things when I "know" what I wrote. 

Oct 28, 2014 03:47 AM
Patricia Feager, MBA, CRS, GRI,MRP
DFW FINE PROPERTIES - Flower Mound, TX
Selling Homes Changing Lives

You raise an excellent point. When it comes to content that goes out to the public, we can't rely on Word Check. We must go back to a real dictionary or thesaurus. Knowledge is power. Editors played a very important role in publication. I wonder how many lost their jobs because of Word? 

Oct 28, 2014 08:16 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Patricia Feager, MBA, GRI, Cert Negotiations Expert, Military Relo Prof I have an idea that serious authors are still hiring professional proofreaders and editors. 

We who write blog posts, emails, and letters would do well to consult our dictionaries and go to places like Grammar Girl to learn correct usage - but my feeling is that many who don't know simply don't know that they don't know... So don't know they need the help. 

Then the ones who are really trying to do it right get bad information from the Word grammar checker - and they believe it. 

Oct 28, 2014 01:31 PM
William Johnson
Retired - La Jolla, CA
Retired

Hi Marte, I has to laugh at this phrase. "that caused Word to think" which in this case is a sheer oxymoron. 

Oct 28, 2014 03:27 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

William Johnson Hmmm... come to think of it, that WAS a bit silly.

Oct 28, 2014 03:47 PM
Mike Carlier
Lakeville, MN
More opinions than you want to hear about.

Whats seem to bes the problem? 

Oct 29, 2014 06:58 AM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz
Las Vegas, NV

Hello Marte ... and as you may know, VB does so much writing that his grammar is terrible ... Sorry, I just don't have time to even think about grammar!

Your post has been featured to the group:

EXPRESS WITH WORDS AT ACTIVERAIN

Oct 31, 2014 08:32 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Mike - I dunno.

Robert (Vegas Bob) Swetz I didn't notice that your grammar was bad - now I'll have to pay better attention. 

Oct 31, 2014 08:56 AM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Marte, clearly the grammar checkers need a grammar checker!  Like, um, maybe Sister Mary Wbats Her Name?  Nuns know grammar!

Oct 31, 2014 01:12 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Patricia Kennedy I think you're right. Microsoft should hire a team of Sister Mary Somebody's to whip that into shape. 

Oct 31, 2014 02:16 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375
Atlanta Homes ODAT Realty - Love our Great City - Love our Clients! Buckhead - Midtown - Westside - Atlanta, GA
Concierge Service for Our Atlanta Sellers & Buyers

Dear Marte -
Thanks for bringing this FLAW front and center.
Often I puzzle over the green line!
Have a happy day -
Lynn

Nov 01, 2014 03:56 AM
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