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Score:93.06%

Adverbs ending in ly

Issues

Explanation

While an adverb ending with -ly has no grammatical problem, many consider it as bad style. Straight from "On Writing Well, 5th Edition" by William Zinsser: "Most adverbs are unnecessary. You will clutter your sentence and annoy the reader if you choose a verb that has a specific meaning and then add an adverb that carries the same meaning. Don't tell us that the radio blared loudly - "blare" connotes loudness. Don't write that someone clenched his teeth tightly - there's no other way to clench teeth. Again and again in careless writing, strong verbs are weakened by redundant adverbs."

So instead of using an adverb that modifies a verb, make sure you have a strong verb instead.

References

http://www.users.qwest.net/~yarnspnr/writing/adverbs/adverbs.htm

Contributor: Zsofia Miko

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Archaisms

Issues

Explanation

Archaism is an obsolete form of speech or writing.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaism

Contributor: George

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Circumlocutions

Issues

Explanation

We commonly use roundabout expressions, circumlocutions, that take several words to say what could be said more succinctly. We often overlook them because many such expressions are habitual figures of speech. In writing, though, they should be avoided since they add extra words without extra meaning.

References

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/572/04/

Contributor: George

Clipped Form

Issues

Explanation

Clipped forms, shortened abbreviations of words, are often informal and unacceptable in formal writing.

References

http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/department/docs/punctuation/node20.html
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/20-clipped-forms-and-their-place-if-any-in-formal-writing/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipping_(morphology)

Contributor: George

Double Negatives

Issues

Explanation

A double negative employs two negatives in the same sentence so that they cancel each other and create a positive. In Shakespeare's day, double negatives were considered emphatic, but today, they are considered grammar mistakes.

References

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/doubneg.html

Contributor: George

Expletive Constructs

Issues

Explanation

Expletive constructions begin with "there is / are" or "it is", and their variations. These do not add any meaning, and can be easily replaced for example:
There are twenty-five students who have already expressed a desire... can be easily rewritten to
Twenty-five students already expressed a desire...

References

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

Contributor: George

First and Second Person

Issues

I love you guys!
can not tell you how much !!

Explanation

The more formal the writing, the more you should avoid using first and second person.

References

http://www2.ivcc.edu/rambo/eng1001/eng1001_words.htm
http://www2.ivcc.edu/eng1002/tip_formal_writing_voice.htm
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/citation/should-i-use-i

Contributor: George

Gender Bias

Issues

Explanation

A phrase like “a good congressman knows his duty” excludes women, and it may show good style to rewrite such a sentence in a gender neutral form, like "good representatives know their duty". Check the references for more info on techniques to avoid gender bias in your wriitng.

References

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/style/genderbias.html
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/grammar-and-syntax/gender-neutral-language/
http://styleguide.yahoo.com/writing/be-inclusive-write-world/write-gender-neutral-copy
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/608/05/

Contributor: George

Intensifiers

Issues

Explanation

Avoid using words such as really, very, quite, extremely, severely when they are not necessary. It is probably enough to say that the salary increase is inadequate. Does saying that it is severely inadequate introduce anything more than a tone of hysteria?

References

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm

Contributor: George

Nominalization

Issues

Explanation

Abstract nouns, such as "decision", often have verb forms, "decide", and several experts urge you to use verbs when possible rather than noun forms known as nominalizations. Sentences with many nominalizations usually have weak verbs such as have, make, give and forms of be as the main verbs. Using the action verbs disguised in nominalizations as the main verbs--instead of forms of be--can help to create engaging rather than dull prose. This check aims to identify abstract nouns, but not all will have a verb form.

Example:
Bad Nominalization: We conducted an investigation of the funding.
Good Sentence: We investigated the funding.

References

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Handouts/nominalization.html
http://www.clearwriting.com/know.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/572/04/
http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nominalterm.htm
http://faculty.virginia.edu/schoolhouse/WP/UsefulNominalizations.html

Contributor: Zsofia Miko

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Passive Voice

Issues

Explanation

Many scholars promote turning passive voice into active voice.

The Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993) stated that:

Active voice makes subjects do something (to something); passive voice permits subjects to have something done to them (by someone or something). Some argue that active voice is more muscular, direct, and succinct, passive voice flabbier, more indirect, and wordier. If you want your words to seem impersonal, indirect, and noncommittal, passive is the choice, but otherwise, active voice is almost invariably likely to prove more effective.^[10]

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_passive_voice
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/passive.htm

Contributor: George

Pleonasms

Issues

Explanation

Pleonasm (from Greek, pleon: more, too much) is the use of more words or word-parts than is necessary for clear expression: examples are black darkness, or burning fire.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleonasm

Contributor: George

Positive Form

Issues

Explanation

From the Elements of Style: "Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language. Use the word not as a means of denial or in antithesis, never as a means of evasion."

He was not very often on time.	He usually came late.
He did not think that studying Latin was much use.	He thought the study of Latin useless.

References

http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk5.html#12:

Contributor: George

Preposition Overuse

Issues

Explanation

Some grammar experts claim that the fewer prepositions the better, and this check warns you if the ratio of prepositions is more than 1 preposition per 5 words.
Abundant prepositions: The data from the participants of younger age in this study were compared with those of subjects of older age by an analysis of variance.
“Healthy” ratio of prepositions: The data from the younger and older study participants were compared by an analysis of variance

References

"Mastering scientific and medical writing" by Silvia M. Rogers

Contributor: George

Slang

Issues

Explanation

Informal words that are more common in speech than writing

References

Contributor: George

Split Infinitive

Issues

Explanation

A split infinitive is an English-language grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, comes between the marker to and the bare infinitive (uninflected) form of a verb. Many scholars consider it as bad style.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_infinitive

Contributor: George

Stacked Modifiers and Nouns

Issues

Explanation

Avoid using long strings of modifiers or nouns. These stacked modifiers and nouns can be hard to read and sometimes create ambiguity. Add a few words (especially prepositions and conjunctions) to make the relationships between nouns clear to the reader.

Weak Example

Previous work has shown that a purified pro-oxidant, vitamin E-deficient fish oil diet protects mice against malaria parasites.

Improved Example

Previous work has shown that feeding a pro-oxidant diet containing fish oil, but devoid of vitamin E, protects mice against malaria parasites.

--Orville A. Levande et al., "Protection against Murine Cerebral Malaria by Dietary-Induced Oxidative Stress," Journal of Parasitology

References

http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/stacked.htm
http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/stackingterm.htm

Contributor: George

Grammar

Adjectives

Absolute Adjectives and Modifiers

Issues

Explanation

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_(grammar)#Absolute_adjectives
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000269.htm

Contributor: George

Double Comparative

Issues

Explanation

A type of faulty comparison is the double comparative when a comparative ending in "er" follows words like "more" or "less". For example, instead of "more tastier" you would say tastier.

References

http://www.uhv.edu/ac/grammar/pdf/faulty.comparison.pdf

Contributor: George

Double Superlative

Issues

Explanation

A type of faulty comparison is the double superlative when a superlative ending in "est" follows words like "most" or "least". For example, instead of "most brightest" you would say brightest.

Contributor: George

Incomplete Alternative Comparison

Issues

Explanation

This check is as good as it gets. Use "as adjective as" to make an alternative comparison.

References

http://german-latin-english.com/grammarcomparisons.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incomplete_comparison

Contributor: George

Incomplete Comparison

Issues

Explanation

Make sure that if you start a comparison you finish it with a clause starting "than".

References

http://www.uhv.edu/ac/grammar/pdf/faulty.comparison.pdf

Contributor: George

Superlatives should have a "the" determiner in front of them

Issues

Explanation

Form superlatives with a "the" in front of the adjective.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superlative#In_English

Contributor: George

Adverbs

Adverbs do not modify nouns

Issues

Explanation

Adverbs do not modify nouns, so try converting this adverb to an adjective.

References

http://www.annies-annex.com/Adjective%20or%20Adverb.htm

Contributor: George

Conjunctive Adverb - Comma if at start of sentence

Issues

Explanation

A Conjunctive Adverb must be followed by a comma if you position it at the beginning of the sentence to indicate result, concession, apposition, addition, time, contrast, summary, or reinforcement.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctive_adverb
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/gram_conj_adv.html

Contributor: George

Conjunctive Adverb - Joining Clauses

Issues

Explanation

Conjunctive Adverbs in the middle of the sentence should only join independent clauses, and only with a semi colon before and a comma after:

The gods thundered in the heavens; furthermore, the mortals below cowered in fear.
Dr. Wheeler is a grammar tyrant; thus, he requires correct punctuation

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctive_adverb
http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/gram_conj_adv.html

Contributor: George

Relative Adverbs instead of Preposition Plus Relative Pronoun

Issues

Explanation

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.
For example

"This is the store in which I bought my car" ? "This is the store where I bought my car".

Contributor: George

Articles

Indefinite Article - Subject Agreement

Issues

Explanation

Indefinite articles, a/an, take singular nouns only.

Incorrect: "A big beds of roses"
Correct: "A big bed of roses"

Contributor: George

No article before preposition

Issues

Explanation

You shouldn't place a determiner before a preposition.
For example: Many flowers are the on table. => Many flowers are on the table.

Contributor: George

Determiners

Words that require an 'a' instead of 'an' as determiner

Issues

Explanation

Words that require 'a' instead of 'an' as a determiner, even though they begin with [aeiou] (words are case-insensitive).

Contributor: George

Words that require an 'an' instead of 'aa' as determiner

Issues

Explanation

Words that require 'an' instead of 'a' as a determiner, even though they don't begin with [aeiou].

Contributor: George

Nouns

Proper Nouns Do Not Take Articles

Issues

Explanation

Proper nouns (e.g. John, Alice and India) do not take articles.

Incorrect: The New York is a lovely city.
Correct: New York is a lovely city.

References

http://www.mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/tsw/art-pnou.htm

Contributor: George

Sentence Without Noun

Issues

Explanation

Most sentences should have a noun, unless very short ones like "No!"

Contributor: George

Prepositions

Double Preposition

Issues

Explanation

Some grammarians argue that two consecutive prepositions should be avoided.

References

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/prepositions.htm#double
http://www.startribune.com/business/39530327.html?page=1&c=y

Contributor: George

Preposition at end of sentence

Issues

Explanation

Some grammarians argue that you should not use prepositions at the end of a sentence, others say that such an idiomatic expression is a valuable resource to the English language.

References

http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarfaq/f/terminalprepositionmyth.htm
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/churchill.html

Contributor: George

Pronouns

Comma Before Nonrestrictive Relative Clause

Issues

Explanation

Use “that” restrictively, and “which” nonrestrictively. The easy way to remember: which is preceded by a comma; that is not (in 99% of the cases). This check makes sure you have a comma before which.

References

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/645/01/
http://www.plainlanguagenetwork.org/legal/legalwriting.pdf
http://grammartips.homestead.com/nonrestrictivecommas.html
http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaClauses__Restrictive_and_Nonrest.htm

Contributor: George

Lowercase pronouns mid-sentence except "I"

Issues

Explanation

Mid-sentence pronouns are lowercase except "I", which is always uppercase regardless of position.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalization#Pronouns

Contributor: George

No Comma Before Restrictive Relative Clause

Issues

Explanation

Use “that” restrictively, and “which” nonrestrictively. The easy way to remember: which is preceded by a comma; that is not (in 99% of the cases).

References

Contributor: George

Possessive Determiner Pronoun before Gerund

Issues

Explanation

The use of a possessive determiner pronoun before a gerund lends formality.

References

A Concise Grammar for English Language Teachers
http://grammartips.homestead.com/possessivewithgerund.html
http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/pronomen.htm
http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/gerundspro.html

Contributor: George

Verbs

Change of Tense

Issues

Explanation

The first verb in a sentence establishes the tense of any verb that comes later. If you begin writing in the past, don’t change to the present. Similarly, if you begin writing in the present, don’t change to the past.

Incorrect: In the story, the king loses his kingdom, but he regained everything in the end.
Correct: In the story, the king loses his kingdom, but he regains everything in the end.
Incorrect: The team won yesterday, but goes and loses this afternoon.
Correct: The team won yesterday, but went and lost this afternoon

References

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/consistency.htm
http://web.mit.edu/course/21/21.guide/shift-t.htm

Contributor: George

Sentence Without Verb

Issues

Explanation

Most sentences should have at least a verb. An exception to this is an exclamation like "How quick!"

Contributor: George

Punctuation

Apostrophes

No Apostrophe After Possessive Pronouns

Issues

Explanation

Possessive pronouns already express possession, so never add an apostrophe with an s ('s) to them.

References

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/01/

Contributor: George

Capitalization

Capitalize Country Names

Issues

Explanation

Always capitalize country names!

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/592/1/

Contributor: George

Capitalize Ethnicities

Issues

Explanation

Always capitalize ethnicities!

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_people_by_nationality

Contributor: George

Capitalize Language Names

Issues

Explanation

Always capitalize language names!

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_name
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Capitalization_of_Wiktionary_pages#Capitalization_of_language_names

Contributor: George

Capitalize start of sentence

Issues

Explanation

The start of a sentence needs to be capitalized.

Contributor: George

Commas

Comma After Coordinating Conjunction

Issues

Explanation

One of the most frequent errors in comma usage is the placement of a comma after a coordinating conjunction.

References

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

Contributor: George

Comma Splice

Issues

Explanation

A comma splice is the use of a comma to join two independent clauses.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comma_splice

Contributor: George

Hyphens

Hyphenate comparative and superlative adjectives when compoundeded with modifiers

Issues

Explanation

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives are hyphenated when compounded with other modifiers (for example,"shorter-term loan").

References

http://www.justice.gc.ca/fra/min-dept/pub/legis/n4.html Section 2.3

Contributor: George

Hyphenate noun-plus-adjective compound modifiers

Issues

Explanation

Hyphenate noun-plus-adjective compounds - when they occur in that order - whether used attributively (before the noun) or predicatively (after the noun) (for example, \"duty-free goods\", \"goods that are duty-free\").

References

http://www.justice.gc.ca/fra/min-dept/pub/legis/n4.html (Section 2.2)

Contributor: George

Hyphenate noun-plus-participle or noun-plus-gerund compound modifiers

Issues

Explanation

Noun-plus-participle compounds are hyphenated (for example, "time-consuming activity", "an activity that is time-consuming").

References

http://www.justice.gc.ca/fra/min-dept/pub/legis/n4.html Section 2.2

Contributor: George

Hyphenate number plus noun compound modifiers

Issues

Explanation

Hyphenate compound adjectives in which one element is a cardinal or ordinal number (whether a figure or a word) and the other a noun (for example, "six-month period", "12-person capacity"). The introduction of the "open" style into the 1985 Statute Revision (for example, six month period) has been superseded.

References

http://www.justice.gc.ca/fra/min-dept/pub/legis/n4.html Section 2.4

Contributor: George

Hyphenate preposition-plus-noun compound adjectives

Issues

Explanation

Preposition-plus-noun compound adjectives are hyphenated as well (for example,"after-tax income").

References

http://www.justice.gc.ca/fra/min-dept/pub/legis/n4.html Section 2.10

Contributor: George

Mechanics

Duplicate Words

Issues

Explanation

Sometimes we we repeat words by accident that spellcheckers don't detect.

Contributor: George

Fused Sentence

Issues

Explanation

A fused sentence misses proper punctuation between clauses, and this check identifies such sentences and guesses the part of the sentence where you combine two clauses without proper separation. For solving these issues, study the in-depth explanations in the references.

References

http://www.chompchomp.com/rules/csfsrules.htm
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/
http://aliscot.com/bigdog/comma_splices.htm
And a great refresher for conjunctions in general: http://www.towson.edu/ows/conjunctions.htm

Contributor: George

Interrogative Subject-Auxiliary Inversion

Issues

Explanation

In written formal English the auxiliary should precede the subject!

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Question#Grammar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject-auxiliary_inversion

Contributor: George

Repeated Punctuation

Issues

I love you guys!cannot tell you how much!!
Suggestion: much!

Explanation

Repeated punctuation means a punctuation repeated two or more times. This error is common writing often ignored by word processors and spell checkers.

Contributor: George

Quotes

Colons and Semicolons Are Always Placed Outside of Quotes

Issues

Explanation

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotation_mark#Punctuation

Contributor: George

Contractions

Issues

Explanation

Many guides recommend avoiding contractions, such as "I've, they're, didn't, we've", in formal writing, even though they are grammatically correct.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraction_(grammar)#English
http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/04/dont_use_contra.html

Contributor: George

Periods and Commas Go Inside Quotation Marks (USA)

Issues

Explanation

References

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm

Contributor: George

Two Single Quotes Instead Of A Double Quote

Issues

Explanation

Some writers use two single quotes for a double quote.

Contributor: George

Spacing

Double Space

Issues

Explanation

Two or more spaces should be reduced to one.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_spacing

Contributor: George

No Space After Punctuation

Issues

I love you guys!cannot tell you how much!!
Suggestion: guys! cannot

Explanation

Punctuation should be followed by a white space, if not end of text or paragraph.

Contributor: George

Space Before Punctuation

Issues

Explanation

No space should appear before a punctuation.

Contributor: George

Statistic

General Statistics

Issues

Stat	Value
Word Count	9
Paragraph Count	1
Sentence Count	1

Explanation

Stats on your text.

Contributor: George

Readability Scores

Issues

Title	Result	Reference
Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease	108.3	Wikipedia
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level	-0.7	Wikipedia
Gunning Fog Score	1.8	Wikipedia
Coleman Liau Index	5.1	Wikipedia
Smog Index	1.8	Wikipedia
Automated Readability Index	-2.4	Wikipedia

Explanation

Various readability statistics.

Contributor: George

Sentence Length

Issues

Sentences shorter than 15 words	Word Count
I love you guys!cannot tell you how much!!	9

Explanation

Most professional editors and textbook writers try to maintain an average sentence length of 15 to 20 words. This ideal size range is based on chunking and human memory principles, and some sentences will be longer than 20 words. In academic texts for example, you may have sentences of 30 or 35 words.

References

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/03/
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/Resources/la/Shorter%20sentences%20for%20better%20writing/Good%20sentence%20length.htm

Contributor: George

Sentence Opening Variation

Issues

Explanation

Warns if sentences begin with the same words. Vary sentence beginnings for an enjoyable read.

References

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/01/

Contributor: George

Sentence Rhythm

Issues

Explanation

Vary short and long sentences for an enjoyable read.

References

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/573/01/

Contributor: George

Similar Sentences

Issues

Explanation

Algorithmic check highlighting sentence pairs with the highest similarity percentage and gives a warning if any is greater than 50%.

Contributor: George

Word Density

Issues

Full Text Density

Single Word

Word	Count	Density
you	2	22

Explanation

Word density higher than 5% may show a lack of vocabulary and variation in style resulting in a dull reading. This check verifies both paragraphs and the entire text for single and double word densities.

Contributor: George

Plagiarism

Plagiarism Check

Issues

Please enter your Bing Search API key at http://proofreadbot.com/user (click edit) to enable querying Bing. You can obtain a free Bing API key at https://datamarket.azure.com/dataset/8818f55e-2fe5-4ce3-a617-0b8ba8419f65. Once signed up, you will find your key here: https://datamarket.azure.com/account/keys.
Bing gives you 5000 queries for free per month! You can change your key later at http://proofreadbot.com/user.

Explanation

Check sentences for duplication online via Bing.

As of Aug. 1st, Proofread Bot requires for plagiarism checks a free Bing API Key that you can obtain easily at https://datamarket.azure.com/dataset/8818f55e-2fe5-4ce3-a617-0b8ba8419f65. Once signed up to Bing, you will find your key here: https://datamarket.azure.com/account/keys.
Bing gives you 5000 queries for free per month! You will need to enter this key for Proofread Bot at http://proofreadbot.com/user (click edit).

Score:93.06%

Expand All / Expand Failed

Expand All / Expand Failed

Style

Adverbs ending in ly

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: Zsofia Miko

Archaisms

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Circumlocutions

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Clipped Form

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Double Negatives

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Expletive Constructs

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

First and Second Person

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Gender Bias

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Intensifiers

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Nominalization

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: Zsofia Miko

Passive Voice

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Pleonasms

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Positive Form

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Preposition Overuse

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Slang

Issues

Explanation

References

Contributor: George

Split Infinitive