I have been using Grammarly’s grammar check for the past couple weeks because, let me face it, I frequently write posts full of run-on sentences way longer than this one right here – sentences that might be perfect for confusing my readers, where they might go, “Huh? What is she trying to say? Guess her proof-reader took the day off today!” and, honestly, I love grammar (though cannot profess to be perfect, discovering its quirks across languages, learning its rules, and knowing when and how to use them is always fun for me).
I will continue using Grammarly for a few more days as I have been offered a free trial for one month to try it out. I will then post a review of the tool. After the first couple of uses, I realized that I need to use the ‘casual’ or ‘creative’ options while putting my posts through Grammarly’s proofreading.
The above section of my post, for example, scored a 75/100 (and a 78/100 when I ran it a second time? – see notes below), when I picked the paper type as ‘Academic’ while the ‘Casual’ paper type option gave me a score of 90/100. So guess which one I prefer?
Paper Type: General – run 1: I got a score of 75 with 3 issues and I wondered why since two of the issues pointed to the same thing – use of passive voice.
Paper Type: General – run 2: One of the 2 issues mentioned above just disappeared (with no changes to my text so looks like there are things that need to be worked on) 
Paper Type: Casual
First thoughts: while it might be a better tool for people writing books or papers (business/technical/thesis) than for casual or creative writers, it has definitely taught me stuff and is fun to use. So, while I am still the final editor of my posts and I decide which mistakes are OK to be included in the post, it is good to know proof-reading tools such as this (and hopefully keep improving with time) exist. The explanations provided for most of the issues it finds are informative.
Disclaimer: Before I decided to try using Grammarly, I had to confirm that the first
email I got inviting me to try it out was real so I went on their
website and wrote to support asking them to confirm the genuineness of
the invitation for me. This peek into Grammarly as well as my upcoming review in a couple of weeks will both be sponsored posts by Grammarly but the opinions – completely my own.
It is that day of the year again. When hearts are everywhere – literally! Love is in the air (I love this phrase!) and I am singing in the rain! The kids had a Valentine’s day party at school today, and I loved being a part of that party.
There is so much more I wanted to include in this post so I am sure this will get an update later tonight, but for now, as Valentine’s Day dinners are being enjoyed in the western-most parts of the world, here is wishing everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day!
