Grammar-checkers

1. Grammar-checkers will spot mistakes in your writing. They will highlight over-long sentences, weak grammar, and poor word-order.

2. They also highlight spelling mistakes and missing words, and they usually show you the total number of words in what you have written.

3. Run the grammar-checker at least once, immediately before you finish your work.

4. Most checkers ask you to use clear, plain writing. This is a good model to follow for most written work.

5. Some have adjustable settings for different types of writing - such as Personal/Formal/Scientific.

6. Keep your settings to 'formal' or 'severe' to make your work as clear as possible. Set the maximum sentence length at 20 words or less. Being concise is more likely to improve your writing than to spoil it.

7. At some points the checker will offer you alternate choices of words. You will need to use a dictionary to look at the differences in meaning.

8. The checker is likely to have an American-English dictionary. This will highlight words such as 'analyse' as a mis-spelling - and offer 'analyze' as the correct word.

9. You can ignore this, or add the English spelling to the dictionary.

10. Grammar-checkers are a recent invention. They can't cope with everything, and they sometimes make mistakes.

11. Some people get fed up with having their mistakes highlighted. You should grit your teeth - and improve your writing.