Using Grammarly as a Teaching and Writing Resource

Today I’d like to talk about a tool I have been using for the last few years, Grammarly.  There are both the Grammarly application and the Grammarly website.  Long before I used the application, I had been using the website for help with some of the nuances of the English language.

  • Do you know what a split infinitive is? Is it something you should avoid?
  • What is a run-on sentence?
  • What is a comma splice?
  • What is the primary function of an adverb?

These are just a handful of the questions I have searched and found useful responses to through Grammarly.

I remember referencing Grammarly to settle a debate between a student and myself.  We were trying to determine how the context and intention of a sentence should determine the singularity or plurality of the noun in a particular case.  An issue you would think is quite straightforward but apparently wasn’t!

Even when teaching Spanish, Grammarly has been useful to me.  One of the courses we teach is a Contrastive Grammar course which studies links and differences between Spanish and English Grammar.  Grammarly’s extensive notes on English Grammar have proven to be a useful tool in this regard, both as a teacher resource and to help students brush up on their English Grammar.

The main Grammarly application can be used on desktops, mobiles and phones by uploading the “add-in” or “extension”.  After doing this Grammarly will provide alerts to spelling and grammatical errors as you type.

Here are some of the types of errors the Grammarly writing tool can help with:

Grammar and punctuation

The program not only detects grammar and punctuation mistakes but also provides suggestions and guidelines on how to correct the mistakes.  The program will highlight your ‘incorrect’ sentence and suggest ‘correct’ versions and will even explain why your sentence is incorrect.

Spell Check

A robust spell check tool is key to any writer’s arsenal.

Plagiarism

As a teacher, I speak to my students often about the perils of plagiarism.  Essay and written assignments are submitted via a program called Turnitin, which allows me to see how much of their work is original and how much may have come from other online sources.  Grammarly can help the student before they even submit to me by detecting plagiarism.  Grammarly does this by comparing the student’s writing to billions of pages across the web. This can even be useful for bloggers or anyone striving to produce original content.

Writing Style

Grammarly can even help with writing style.  Yes, a writer wants to have an identifiable style, but if that style is too “unique” it could lead to reader confusion.  Also, a style that is appropriate for an academic essay may not be appropriate for a business memo.  Grammarly helps writers adapt their writing style for a particular audience and provides insights on readability score and sentence-length.

In terms of cost, Grammarly offers a free browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox that highlights and corrects critical writing errors across platforms including Gmail, Facebook and Twitter.  If you try the free version and like it or want more features, you can consider upgrading to Grammarly Premium which is a paid service that offers over 400 types of checks and features. It checks for grammatical errors, provides vocabulary enhancement suggestions, detects plagiarism, and provides citation suggestions.

In my work as a teacher and researcher, I have found Grammarly to be a very effective tool.

Affiliate Disclosure: Based on my positive experience with this resource, I decided to become an affiliate for the product.  This post therefore contains affiliate links.  There is no charge to you for using these links but if you purchase anything through one of my links I will get a small commission.

11 Comments

  1. pick1solution November 14, 2018 at 12:46 pm

    Great post. Grammarly is my savior in writing. I just wish an app would just publish my thoughts. Grammarly is one the best aides in writing I have been able to find. Keep us up on all your latest.

    Reply
    1. K D November 14, 2018 at 4:00 pm

      Oh yes! I think it and the app publishes it. Lol. I’d love that too.

      Reply
  2. Laurie November 14, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    Thanks for the very helpful post. I use Grammarly with every post. I couldn’t publish without it!

    Reply
    1. K D November 14, 2018 at 4:01 pm

      It’s such a handy tool! Thanks for stopping by Laurie.

      Reply
  3. ambroseandelsie November 14, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    “Contrastive Grammar course which studies links and differences between Spanish and English Grammar.” Ooo! That sounds like a very interesting course.

    I never knew that Grammarly had a plagiarism detecting feature. That is so cool and awesome!

    Reply
    1. K D November 14, 2018 at 4:03 pm

      Many of our students find that course helps them better bridge the gap between the two languages.

      I’m so behind on your site! Lol. Will be back over soon!

      Reply
      1. ambroseandelsie November 14, 2018 at 7:06 pm

        I can see how that course would help.

        And, yes. You’re just a little bit behind. 😆 I’m looking forward to your return. 😉

      2. K D November 15, 2018 at 11:18 am

        🙈😂

  4. Diana Tyler (la muse excentrique) ☕ November 15, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    Great post, Kim! I use Grammarly all the time.

    Reply
    1. K D November 16, 2018 at 1:24 pm

      It’s so useful. Better than autocorrect for sure! Lol

      Reply
      1. Diana Tyler (la muse excentrique) ☕ November 16, 2018 at 2:20 pm

        Agreed!

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