By Ross Young
As a full-time writer and an English graduate, I feel pretty well-positioned to write this article about Grammarly. However, I must start with a disclaimer—my writing is not perfect, and I make mistakes just like everyone else! So, if you find any typos or errors in this piece, appreciate the irony and get on with your day 😊.
I was motivated to write this article because I use Grammarly daily as a content writer and editor. I use it to improve my work, and it helps me edit submissions from freelancers and colleagues before passing them on to our boss, who sends them to our respective clients.
But as with every tool, I don’t think Grammarly is flawless. In fact, if you run with Grammarly unchecked and without a comprehensive understanding of the English language, you might find yourself in a bit of a pickle.
Here’s an example from one of my articles this morning that made me chuckle. I wrote:
“The English Premier League is the biggest domestic football league on the planet.”
Grammarly suggested that I change this sentence to:
“The English Premier League is the world’s most oversized football division.”
Now, grammatically, both sentences are correct. But you don’t need me to tell you that Grammarly’s “correction” misses the mark. Quite spectacularly, I may add.
In my view, herein lies the biggest issue with Grammarly—it can undoubtedly help sharpen your work and correct simple mistakes, but you must use it carefully and understand why it makes the suggestions that appear in your document.
You should also have a good understanding of grammar and the English language to use it efficiently and effectively.
With this in mind, I want to run through some of the pros and cons of Grammarly, with some examples, to show you where I think it works and where it doesn’t necessarily help your writing.
Why I like it
✅It removes fluff & filler content
When writing with a word count in mind, it can be easy to waffle on to try and hit the target. The result is fluff and filler content that editors hate (just ask MWM Chief Wizard Simon Young!)
Often, we writers don’t even realise we’re filling an article with fluff. And sometimes, we instinctively use unnecessarily long phrases to say something we could have said with one word.
This is where Grammarly thrives. In no uncertain terms, it tells us we should “re-write for clarity” or opt for something “less wordy.” Here’s an example from one of my articles this morning:
This might seem like a small example, and it only saves two words, but often, I find that by using Grammarly’s suggestions throughout a 1,500 or 2,000-word article, I might shave off 100-odd words that I could better use elsewhere in the piece.
So, for removing fluff and filler content, Grammarly gets a big thumbs up from me.
✅It picks up typos & most grammatical errors
The main reason to use Grammarly is to improve the grammatical correctness of your work and to cut out typos, which can make your writing look rushed.
Grammarly excels at identifying typos and grammatical mistakes, and it’s really easy for you to put things right before publishing.
Sometimes, I only pay attention to Grammarly’s correctness tab, ignoring clarity, engagement, and delivery. After all, your grammar and spelling are either right or wrong, while the other suggestions from Grammarly are subjective and open to interpretation.
Here’s an example of Grammarly picking up some of my typos in one of my recent articles:
If you type quickly, typos are inevitable, and a basic spell-checker does not always pick them up. So, even if you don’t use it for anything else, I highly recommend asking Grammarly to check your article for correctness to ensure it’s free from spelling mistakes and simple grammatical errors before clicking publish.
✅It goes beyond British English
At Magic Word Media, we regularly write for clients in different regions. One of our biggest clients serves the Australian and Canadian markets, while another publishes articles primarily for UK audiences.
One of the most helpful things about Grammarly is that you can toggle between British, Canadian, Australian, American, and Indian English. This is super helpful when you’re writing content for different geographical regions. Here’s an example from my work this morning:
I asked Grammarly to correct me in American English, and the above recommendation was one of several errors that it picked up in my writing. Again, though this is a minor detail, it makes a big difference to your credibility as a copywriting firm when publishing content for different markets.
Why I don’t like it
❌It can stifle creativity
When I dreamed of becoming a writer when I was younger, I aspired to write fiction, with long sentences packed with meaning and eloquent prose.
But now that I’m a professional copywriter, I have been trained to write succinctly. I keep things simple and as easy as possible for my readers to understand.
After all, when people search for something on Google, they want the information they need as quickly as possible, without extrapolating meaning from a 10,000-word text!
Grammarly helps in this regard. When you download Grammarly for desktop, you can adjust your writing style and toggle options depending on how you want your article to read:
Above, you can instruct Grammarly to rewrite your text for improved effect and split up long sentences to make them easier to read. While this is great for B2B content, it undoubtedly stifles creativity.
Since becoming a professional copywriter, I have completely adapted my writing style. It is now short, succinct, and to the point, which wasn’t the case when I was a young English undergrad student wanting to write the next Harry Potter series.
Perhaps because I’m an English graduate, I do enjoy reading online content from authors who disassociate themselves with the expectations of the status quo by using colourful language where it might not be necessary.
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I feel like Grammarly stifles creativity and encourages users to write much more concisely, even if it is for the greater good.
❌It’s not always correct
One of my biggest issues with Grammarly is that it’s not always correct, particularly when making recommendations for stronger word choices, as my example in the introduction illustrates. I want to give you another example.
At Magic Word Media, we write a lot about games and bonuses at online casinos, and as writers, we often refer to them as “special,” “inviting,” or something similar.
Bonuses are available at practically every casino, as are games with free spins rounds and other special features like wilds and scatter symbols.
Yet, in nearly every article I edit for our iGaming clients, Grammarly tries to get me to change the word “special” for “unique” when writing about these bonuses:
As mentioned above, these bonuses are not unique! They are prevalent at dozens or more casinos, and many games we write about include precisely the same bonus rounds as other games. To describe these bonuses as unique would be incorrect and misleading to the reader, but Grammarly does not pick up on this as a mistake.
Like all the examples I’ve given you in this article, this is just one small example. But it’s illustrative of the wider point that you can’t trust Grammarly blindly and should not accept all of its suggestions.
How to use Grammarly: My advice to others
At Magic Word Media, we use Grammarly because we collectively feel that it improves the quality of our output.
Personally, I think Grammarly is essential for identifying typos and grammatical slip-ups, particularly as I’ve read lots of submissions from writers who don’t use the tool for this purpose. If Grammarly didn’t exist, I believe we would see typos everywhere on the Internet, from branded blog posts to website copy.
But equally, if every copywriter relied on Grammarly and accepted 100% of its recommendations, we would have access to a lot of online content that makes very little sense!
Therefore, in conclusion, I think Grammarly is an excellent tool for professional copywriters. However, it needs to be used carefully and with consideration.
If you’re not ready to embrace Grammarly in its entirety, at least use it to check each of your articles for correctness. This will undoubtedly improve the quality of your written content and significantly elevate your branding as a result.
Should you need help with your content and are looking for an agency to help you produce engaging articles for your website or blog, Magic Word Media can help. We use Grammarly, so you don’t have to!
Contact us: +44 1473 526424 / [email protected]