5 reasons to stop relying on grammar checkers

Leaning too much on technology can weaken your writing and editing muscles and prevent you from mastering the basics.

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Writers today have a plethora of tools to help get the right words onto the page.

Proofreading software and grammar checkers—those blessed gifts from above that highlight embarrassing errors and silly mistakes—are wonderful aids, but they are far from comprehensive.

If you rely on your proofreading software too much, here are five reasons to reconsider:

1. Grammar checkers go strictly by the book.

Grammar checkers or proofreaders are software programs that understand the binary code version of whichever grammar rulebook was consulted in the development process.

Writing is not math. Language is flexible and subject to change—as are the rulebooks that we adhere to.

2. Grammar checkers are outdated.

Did you know that Merriam-Webster added more than 1,000 words to its dictionary last year?

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