Mark Grieveson wrote: > It was very good. It would not only point out grammar errors, but gave > thorough explanations as well (for example: "This sentence is in the > /passive voice, /ie, 'The ball was thrown by John'. Consider rewording > to the /active voice,/ ie, 'John threw the ball'").
Ah, yes, the active, passive voice "error".
Mary's black eye stung. It had been hit by a ball. She looked at each of
her classmates. John was the only one who would not look her in the eye. She
knew, the ball had been thrown by John.
DINGDINGDING, passive voice! But that's what fits there.
> A function of computers is to help people to communicate, and become
> empowered.
No, the function of computers is to do what we tell them to do, not the
other way around.
> Some computer users are recent immigrants, for whom English
> is not their first language. Some computer users did not have a chance
> to attend post-secondary education, and worry about how they sound. And
> some are educated, but still like to have both their spelling and
> grammar checked once in a while.
These are precisely the people who shouldn't be using grammer software and
should use spelling software with care. It is because just these people might
not know there is a mistake in the words their software approves because
they're spelled correctly[1]. Spelling, being far more mechanical than
grammer, is easier to check. Grammer suffers exponentially from the same
problem. Just because the computer says it is right doesn't make it so. It's
great for people who are fluent so they can have a second check on their work.
But it must always be secondary to their own spelling and grammer. They must
have the confidence to know when they are correct and the computer is
incorrect otherwise they will make many misguided mistakes and end up sounding
like their missives were computer generated.
[1] Why yes, their, there and they're were put into that sentence as an
example. Have a cookie!
--
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
PGP Key: 8B6E99C5 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
-------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature
