What do students, writers and people that are trying to learn English as a second language have in common? They all make mistakes when composing text. The most important thing is getting your ideas organized and then putting them into words. Fixing your errors is the very last thing that is done, if you even know that they exist.

In order to write efficiently, some people hire someone to proofread their work and there are some tools that will try to fix spelling, punctuation and common grammar errors. These inefficient tools make more mistakes and waste more valuable writing time. This can be very frustrating to say the least. There are several english grammar tools out there that can put a quick end to all of this misery.

To compare the most popular english grammar software, you can see these comparison posts about:

Grammarly Vs. Whitesmoke

Ginger Software VS. Grammarly

Ginger VS. Whitesmoke

RightWriter Vs. Ginger Software

And, if you don’t want a powerful grammar checker like whitesmoke or grammarly, but a plain english writing software, you can try stylewriter – The plain english editing & proofreading software for crystal clear english writing!

What can Grammar Software do for you?

• Spell Checker – Everyone has probably heard about artificial intelligence at one point in their life. When you use the spell checker you get to see artificial intelligence in action. Engineers have come up with a complex system of algorithms that make spell checking fast and accurate. Correct simple mistakes, complex mistakes and misused words.
• Grammar Checker – More people make more grammar mistakes than anything else while composing text. There are very few grammar checkers on the market that actually work. Grammar Software’s WS uses a patented complex combination of algorithms and analyzes sentence structure to complete this task. There is no other software on the market that can accurately fix grammar mistakes as well as this one.
• Translation Tool – Highlight full blocks of text and translate them with the click of a button. Create whole documents, web sites or text in your native language and accurately translate them into eleven other languages. Choose from Chinese, English, Arabic, French, Japanese, Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish or Russian.
• Punctuation Checker – Never second guess a comma, colon or semicolon again. Put the power of automatic punctuation correction at your fingertips.
• Instant Feedback – Know instantly when you make a mistake and how to correct it. This can be a great learning tool by helping you identify common mistakes and allowing you to learn from them.
• Auto Correct – Using advanced language detection and artificial intelligence puts the power of auto correction to work for you. Watch in real time as your mistakes are corrected.
• Second Language – If you are learning English as a second language then you know just how difficult the English language is. There are confusing rules about sentence structure, punctuation and spelling that make learning English very difficult. The power of Grammar Software’s WS makes it easy to write, read and compose text in English. Students all over the world have put the power of this software to work for them.
• Ease Of Use – Grammar Software’s WS easily and effortlessly integrates into popular software programs that you use every day. With the touch of a button you can use this suite of powerful tools in Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Firefox Mac OS and more.

English grammar software offers the most complete array of software solutions for the writing community. It has some of the best software solutions for all writing needs that can transform a simple work in English into something sophisticated. With grammar software, you will be writing better English in a short time, automatically correct grammatical and spelling errors, enrich sentences and phrases, or use the software in proofreading. The community based spell checker is very handy for instantly looking up English words to help you perfect your writing.

The grammarsoftware.co.uk delivers in its mission to make available truly professional and cost effective software solutions as well as being an intuitive and user-friendly site that loads fast as you navigate around it.

Put the power of Grammar Software to work for you and start to be a ghost writer now!

Grammar Expert Plus means well and it does find flaws that other writing programs miss. But the software has several flaws that make Grammar Expert Plus less useful for the novice writer than other software.

The grammar checker looks for thousands of common grammatical errors, syntax errors, misused words, wordy phrases, subject-verb disagreements, misuses of its and it’s, your and you’re, etc.

But unlike other software, such as StyleWriter, WordDog, ClearEdits, and Whitesmoke, Grammar Expert Plus does not integrate into or become part of any other application (for example, Word). Rather, Grammar Expert Plus is a “stand alone” program. This means you must copy and paste text from your word application into the grammar checker. This not only takes time, but also can cause formatting problems. For example, when we copied formatted em-dashes from Word into Grammar Expert Plus, the em-dashes became hyphens. The makers of Grammar Expert Plus acknowledge, in the user manual, the problem of lost formatting.

The makers of Grammar Expert Plus are very honest and upfront about the software’s limitations. Some of these limitations apply to all grammar checkers generally; but some of the limitations apply specifically to Grammar Expert Plus. For example, the makers of the software have chosen to find “false positives” in preference to missing possible errors. At first, this approach made sense to us. But as we continued to use the software, the “errors” that Grammar Expert Plus found, which weren’t really errors, began to annoy us. This is despite a nifty little feature that lets users tell Grammar Expert Plus how hard the software should try to find errors (by adjusting the software’s “confidence level”).

Some of Grammar Expert Plus’s suggestions were truly bizarre. For example, the software said we should consider changing “given” to “givens” and “can be” to “cans be”. When we began a sentence with “Born in the USA,” the software suggested we consider replacing “Born” with “Born” or “Born” (that is, the two suggested alternatives were the same as the original). The software also sometimes inserted rogue spaces.

While these glitches may be problems to do with coding, Grammar Expert Plus made some other suggestions that we would quibble with. For example, the software suggested changing a sentence that began with “But” to “However” or “Nevertheless”. This seems like an old-fashioned suggestion. The trend is away from multi-syllabic words to shorter-sounding words. Also, Grammar Expert Plus rightly said that “and/or” should be avoided; but then added “except in legal text”. But “and/or” is also often over-used by lawyers where “and” or “or” would do.

Overall, Grammar Expert Plus does have a use: professional writers who know what they’re doing, and who can properly assess the software’s suggestions, could use the software to find flaws that other software may miss. But someone who did not know English well might get lulled into making a change that could potentially weaken their writing.

The $59 asking price might be better spent on Editor or one of the other software titles around the same price. But there is a big difference between RightWriter and Grammar Expert Plus, is the price. The modest investment of $29.95 pushes RightWriter from the “Good” category into the “Very Good” category.

Click Here, Give RightWriter a Try

Download a free 30-day grammar expert plus evaluation copy here

RightWriter analyzes your documents and make suggestions to help you improve the grammar and readability. RightWriter often provides sage advice. But, unlike other english editing software, RightWriter provides advice only; it does not suggest specific alternatives that you can accept or reject at a click of the mouse.

In this respect, RightWriter is a lot like Editor. But, unlike Editor, RightWriter does not seem to provide an “Ignore All” function, which means RightWriter often repeats the same advice. And while Editor, like RightWriter, does not integrate with Word or other word processing applications, Editor does let you import documents rather than relying on the “copy and paste” function. Editor also seems to process text faster; we used RightWriter on a 100-page document that took several minutes to process. Both programs acknowledge this limitation and suggest you process documents in smaller chunks. With RightWriter, there were some formatting problems when we copied formatted text into the RightWriter window.

Despite these limitations, there is something quite charming about RightWriter. Perhaps it’s the old-fashioned Courier New “typewriter” typeface or the way RightWriter reminded us of our old High School Grammar teacher correcting our school essays.

Another big difference between RightWriter and Grammar Expert Plus, is the price. The modest investment of $29.95 pushes RightWriter from the “Good” category into the “Very Good” category.

Get RightWriter Now!

Grammarly calls itself the “world’s most accurate grammar checker.” While this paid online service does a very good job of notifying you of mistakes in your writing, we wanted to figure out how accurate it truly is compared to other sites.

While Grammarly isn’t technically software, this online grammar check service features Microsoft Office integration, which allows you to check your writing in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Outlook. After downloading this add-in, a menu toolbar will appear in the Office program you choose to use. However, Grammarly is still, primarily, an online grammar check service with limited offline functionality. It doesn’t compare well to other writing enhancement software we reviewed.

During our review, we used a test paragraph to determine the accuracy of this grammar checker. This writing sample featured a variety of intentional grammar errors. While this service did better than some software, such as Word Q, it wasn’t able to catch as many errors as WhiteSmoke or Writer’s Workbench. This automated proofreader quickly identified spelling errors and simple grammatical errors, but it didn’t do much more than Microsoft’s spelling and grammar checker would have done on its own.

The plagiarism detector on this editing program is oversensitive. It would claim commonly used phrases were plagiarized from random websites. Nonetheless, this editing service offers helpful suggestions on how to cite the “plagiarized” section, if needed. It also focused on when our sentences ran on a bit long, but it didn’t notice when we used the same word over and over again. Most of the grammar software we reviewed noticed redundancy, which is good, because redundancy will quickly cause people to question your credibility.

Your grammatical errors are highlighted in red. Each time you click on an error, a card will pop up with information about the error. While helpful, these cards tend to be fairly wordy themselves and could cause some to feel overwhelmed. Writing enhancement software is supposed to be a tool to help people improve their writing, but if it gives you a three-paragraph explanation for a simple typo, users will stop reading the explanations. Thankfully, there is an option to “See Less” off the explanation card, and there are also “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” buttons to give feedback for their feedback.

Unlike some software that only necessitates a single purchase, this service requires a monthly subscription. In addition, since this is only an add-in application for Microsoft Office, it doesn’t have the functionality of a software package. No writing templates or tutorials are available. No real dictionary is offered and it doesn’t allow you to specify what type of paper you are writing. While there is email support and telephone support for the online service, there is no live chat and no user manual.

Give Grammarly a Try!

The layout of Grammarly is quite simple. There is a box for your text and a “Start Review” button to start the scan. The application then goes through a thorough grammar checking process. As it scans, the checker informs you of what grammar rule it is checking for. The scan says it may take up to five minutes, but none of our scans took that long. At the end of the review, your writing is given an overall score and you’ll see a list of all the mistakes that were found.

Accuracy:

Grammarly checks for a large number of grammar errors, but it still isn’t as accurate as a human editor. When the error list pops up, it displays a list of grammar categories such as “Plagiarism,” “Contexual Spelling Check,” “Grammar,” “Punctuation” and “Style and Word Choice.” These categories are then broken down further in the next column. If no error is made, the application shows a blue check mark. If there are errors, then it shows a red “x” next to the broken rule.

Our test paragraph featured a variety of hand-picked grammatical errors. Out of the 14 different common grammar issues we were testing, Grammarly identified 10. The other grammar check services we reviewed caught an average of six. This automated editor did quite well at identifying problems with prepositions, subject/verb agreement and run-on sentences, but it missed when we incorrectly used negatives or numbers. Sentences such as ” I didn’t not want to never see her not alive again” and ” 1 shots was all it took” apparently merited a blue check in the detailed report.

Also, we noticed an odd quirk where the Grammarly seemed to catch more errors when we were logged in. When we plugged in our test paragraph without logging in, it would ignore a “commonly confused word” it found when we were logged in, or it would have a lower percentage of plagiarism than before. Usually, it was only a variation of three to five mistakes, but it seemed unusual to us that this would make a difference at all.

Feedback:

When Grammarly detects errors, it presents them to you one at a time. The erring word or sentence is highlighted in light red, and a text box with an explanation appears just below it. These text boxes give an explanation about the error, show correct and incorrect examples and offer suggested corrections. After reading the feedback, you have the option of letting Grammarly know if the card was helpful or not with a simple “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” format. Then you can click “Next” to see the next editing suggestion.

The information in the correction card seems crowded and general. Instead of simple feedback, this service tries to cram a broad writing lesson into every correction. This box discusses the specific error and suggested changes, but then it gives a lengthy explanation, pre-made incorrect and correct examples and even exceptions to the rule mentioned. There is an option to “See Less” in this correction box, but even the summarized correction is fairly wordy. While all this corrective information may help some writers, it may overwhelm those who just want a quick edit.

Editing Tools:

Grammarly does a thorough check for spelling and grammar. It also offers synonyms to help vocabulary enhancement. In addition, this online service noticed that our test paragraph was wordy and needed to be cut down. These tools are essential in creating a well-written paper. This online editor also offers MS Office integration functionality, which is available at no extra cost.

The plagiarism check is impressive. It links to the where similar material was found. It also shows a variety of ways to cite the plagiarized material, if needed. However, the plagiarism function seems to be a little oversensitive. The grammar checker said there was some copied material in our original writing. Our original phrase “is a time to go to the cemetery” was flagged as plagiarism. Grammarly linked it to a magazine article written in November of 2001 where that same phrase happened to be used. It also noticed our copied line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, but it said it was plagiarized from a textbook on strategic management. In summary, when using the plagiarism detector on Grammarly, make sure to do some research before you make any judgments or adjustments.

Ease of Use:

This grammar checking application is very easy to use. The interface is simple and well-designed. It does take longer than some other online grammar services that we reviewed, but that seems to be because it’s doing a thorough scan. Also, during the scan, Grammarly lists the various grammar rules that are in their database as they are being checked.

When correcting your text, this application calls out each correction one by one, but it also allows you to jump to a specific editing category. This can be helpful if you’re looking for a particular error, or if you want to go back and double check a correction. You can also correct your writing while it is highlighted for errors. However, there is only a “Next” button in the correction box, so you’ll have to use the sidebar if you want to look at a previous error.

Help/Support:

Clicking on the “Help” link at the top of the page will take you to the Grammarly Helpdesk. This page features FAQs as well as contact information. Grammarly offers telephone support and e-mail support. There is also a section where you can check your existing requests to see if your questions have been answered. These are all very helpful features when using any online service.

Summary:

The Grammarly online grammar checker is a competent, thorough and accurate application. It is easy to use and provides useful feedback, even if the corrections are cluttered and somewhat overwhelming. However, you should check your own work even after you’ve put it through the automated editor. This service recognizes a variety of common grammatical errors, but it does not catch every one. Grammarly should not be considered the final word in spelling, syntax and grammar, but it is a very helpful aid when you need a quick spelling and grammar check.

Grammarly is best used as an online service. Their site is among the best grammar checking services available online. As a simple add-in, however, they can’t compete with complete writing enhancement software packages. Software offers tutorials, templates and other learning experiences, while this downloaded toolbar gives only a slightly more thorough check than what Microsoft Office already features.

If you want a detailed and comprehensive edit of your writing along with a variety of learning tools, this is not the service for you, stylewriter plian english writing software will be a good choice!

Click Here for Grammarly Free Trial

Ginger software is a new spell checker program for writers and just about anyone. It is said to be and intelligent spell checker and go beyond your normal spell checkers. It picks up on your intended meaning of your sentence and provides the proper corrections. For example if your sentence was this: Bill asked ware are we going tonight? Ginger is supposed to pick up on the proper word you are meaning which is where. Ginger’s target audiences are business people, school kids, and people with learning disabilities like dyslexia, or if English is your second language. In my case it’s a writer whose grammar is lacking even though she used to get B’s in English. Ginger not only works on word processor, but also in your email and pretty much anywhere you are typing on the internet like say a forum. You have to be connected to the internet in order to use Ginger as well.

Ginger’s mission is to facilitate error-free writing, particularly for those who use English as a second language, or for those with learning difficulties like dyslexia. Ginger’s breakthrough automatic spell and grammar checker enables struggling writers to independently generate error-free texts of unprecedented accuracy for business and personal use.

Ginger is a spell and grammar checker. Lexington, Mass. (June 15, 2009) – The National Center for Technology Innovation (NCTI) named Ginger Software, Inc., one of five award recipients in the 2009 Technology in the Works competition.

Ginger is an intelligent spell checker that identifies and fixes all your mistakes. Ginger recognizes words in context and provides the most appropriate corrections for spelling and grammar mistakes according to the intended meaning of your sentence. Ginger can tell when a correctly spelled word is misused and replaces it with the right word.

Once installed, Ginger is simple to use. It works within any Microsoft text or mail editor, such as Word and Outlook, and will soon support Internet Explorer as well. It requires an Internet connection to access the online database that powers the software. That’s all Ginger needs.

At the click of a button, Ginger starts correcting your document. Unlike spell checkers that halt at each mistake and prompt you for a correction, Ginger simultaneously corrects all the errors in an entire sentence. It pauses only after the sentence is corrected. The resulting text correction is faster and more effective.

Occasionally, when Ginger is unable to determine the proper term, it suggests the most probable corrections. Each option is presented with a sample expression, allowing you to consider the usage and to choose the correct word.

If you have difficulty writing in English, for any reason, get Ginger to help you. Overcome the challenge of spelling mistakes and grammar errors. Write documents perfectly, and make yourself proud!

Ginger Grammar Checker Review

Don’t buy Basic Ginger Software, but Ginger Premium Software!

So much free writing enhancement software could include same writing enhancement features like basic ginger software, except Ginger’s “context-based corrections” features. If you think you or your loves with dyslexia, may be you should try Ginger Premium Software.

Ginger Premium software has all the features of the basic Ginger software, and includes a Text-to-Speech system that reads sentences aloud before and after corrections, and allows dyslexics to be certain that what they wrote is what they meant to write.

In the near future, Ginger Premium will also include a Frequent Errors Reporting system(Just like “writing review” of Whitesmoke Writer 2010) to enable review and analysis of users’ most common mistakes, and determine the areas where help and practice are needed most. It will also include a Display Settings control panel that allows users to personalize the Ginger interface with their preferred fonts and colors.

Ginger Premium one-time payment $149

but now they has a Limited Time Special Offer

you can save 60% if buy it now!

Ginger Software is sold directly from their web-site, which you can pay a visit to by clicking here: gingersoftware.net . The product isn’t sold via any other outlets, even if you could possibly come across other websites which link straight to the payment processor page. Even so, it is best to click through to the source to find out the most up-to-date price.

Via: Ginger Premium Review from Writing Software Reviews

WhiteSmoke features grammar and spelling software that intends to improve your english skills like writing for school papers, college or even professional writing. WhiteSmoke Writer 2011 is a groundbreaking editing and proofreading tool with a core aim which is to help you write better. It acts alongside with all text-based applications that helps you write correct English every time.

This WhiteSmoke Review will give you a brief run down on what to expect from the product and will help you decide whether you need it or not.

Don’t Buy Whitesmoke

Check This Whitesmoke Special Offer First!

Things to Know about WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke can be safely used along with your current word processor. WhiteSmoke is exceptionally designed for non-native and native English speakers. This product is generally useful for a non-native English speaker or has difficulty writing in English.

This product is widely available in lots of various packages tailored to suit your preference. I can foresee that the product seems to be aiming IT specific like blog writers and students or pupils who want to improve their English grammar skills.

With a more advanced grammar and spelling checker than word, WhiteSmoke seems to highlight far better on grammatical and syntax errors than Word does.

I can see that the product has become increasingly useful for persons who has recently started a career and needs ample help in business or technical writing areas. Visually, the product itself is very remarkable and straightforward to use. The only thing that makes WhiteSmoke invaluable is if you are a native English speaker and if you possess good standard of English with updated word processor.

WhiteSmoke is avaliable in various packages:

General Writing

The General Writing figure is the most suitable introduction to the arena of WhiteSmoke Writer! This version covers the core spell checker, grammar checker and style enhancement features common to all WhiteSmoke versions, as well as a dictionary-thesaurus and spelling database suitable for general writers.

Business Writing

The Business Writing figure is specifically designed for all your business transaction writing needs! This version covers the core grammar checker, spell checker, and style enhancement features common to all WhiteSmoke versions, and a dictionary- thesaurus and spelling database tailored for business writing.

Creative Writing

The Creative Writing figure is the perfect version of WhiteSmoke for those who adore writing fiction or other creative forms. This version covers the core grammar checker, spell checker, and style enhancement features common to all WhiteSmoke versions and a dictionary-thesaurus and spelling database with a wide variety of entries suited to creative writing.

Bio-Tech Writing

The Bio-Tech Writing figure is the perfect solution for medically inclined professionals. This version covers the core grammar checker, spell checker, and style enhancement features common to all WhiteSmoke versions, and a wide dictionary-thesaurus and spelling database suitable for bio-tech and medical writing needs.

Hi-Tech Writing

The Hi-Tech Writing figure is the exact writing solution for hi-tech and IT professionals. This version covers the core WhiteSmoke features – the grammar checker, spell checker, and style checker and a dictionary-thesaurus and spelling database well – refined for hi-tech writing.

Executive Package

The Executive Package figure is the premier version of WhiteSmoke 2009. This version incorporates the core grammar checker, spell checker, and style enhancement features common to all WhiteSmoke versions, and all available writing profiles for the dictionary-thesaurus and spelling database.

WhiteSmoke is indeed great for anyone who needs a boost with their writing confidence!

This is a spectacular product for anyone who lacks confidence with their English skills. The general writing product is ideal for non-native speakers and there are a range of other packages for anyone who needs help in a specific field.

Try it by downloading Whitesmoke Software here if you really want to improve your English skills.

Plain English consultant Daphne Perry reviews the latest StyleWriter style-checker software 4.

How would you like it if every letter and report from your professional adviser was quick and easy to read? If their documents were quick to review, with the main points emerging clearly? If you could copy their advice to your business colleagues without first having to translate it into business English?

Some law firms know their clients would love this, but are not quite ready to deliver it. Their lawyers learned their style from judgments, statutes, textbooks, teachers and colleagues, all pretty much using the same style clients have been complaining about for hundreds of years. (IT professionals sometimes meet similar criticism from lawyers.)

That style is not easy to read or quick to review. See how long it takes you to find the error in this 56-word sentence.

‘Without prejudice to any other right or remedy we may have, we reserve the right to set off any amount owing at any time by you to us, whether under this Agreement or any other agreement which may exist from time to time between us, against any amount payable by you to us under this Agreement.’

Perhaps your clients don’t mind legalese in their agreements. But do they want it in your advice? Or in your legal updates and pitch documents? One way to eliminate hard-to-read documents is to use plain English style checking software, such as StyleWriter.

What does StyleWriter do?

StyleWriter is a Word add-on. You click on a button and in seconds it has checked the whole document for the three main obstacles to understanding: long sentences, passive verbs, and hard words. It gives the document a score for the first two, and an overall score for clarity. And it suggests improvements. About how to use stylewriter, see following posts:

Using StyleWriter with Ami Pro
Using StyleWriter with Microsoft Word
Using StyleWriter with WordPerfect

It works like a spellchecker, flagging word patterns it has been taught to recognise as potential problems. Where possible, it offers alternatives for the writer to accept or reject (or ignore) with a click of the mouse. Or it may suggest ways to edit out the problem. As you edit, StyleWriter updates its scores. It gathers statistics to help organisations audit their documents for clarity. What you can measure, you can manage.

In three years of working with StyleWriter, I have found its advice sensible and user-friendly. If a document scores well on StyleWriter Software, it is not hard to read.

What doesn’t it do?

StyleWriter is no substitute for expert editing. It can’t solve problems, only flag them up. It can’t tell you where to add headings, or how to chop up a long sentence or why lawyers keep saying ‘from time to time’. If you don’t know these things, you need training to go with it. But it can tell you whether your own solution to these problems is easy or hard to read.

StyleWriter can only check language, not other important aids to ease of reading such as good layout, useful headings or a logical treatment of the subject. And it is no judge of context, so the author must always decide whether to accept its advice.

Other Writing Software like whitesmoke, ginger software are only check spell & grammar too, but they are focus on text enrichment & grammar checking. More about these 3 top rated writing software, see whitesmoke, stylewriter, ginger software comparison.

Example

Here’s what you get when you run StyleWriter on the clause just quoted.

The ‘Style index’ is the score for clarity, taking into account the average sentence length, percentage of passive verbs, and a lexicon of tens of thousands of words and phrases it has been taught may unnecessarily hamper the reader’s understanding.

Here’s another version of the clause, ten words shorter and in three short sentences, making it quicker to review. See how long it takes you to find if the mistake is still there.

‘Set-off: We may set off anything you owe us under any agreement against anything we owe you under this Agreement. This does not affect any other right or remedy we may have. It is not limited to agreements already made or sums already due.’

Its scores reflect the improvement.

Style Index 45 Average for General Writing
Average Sentence Length 15 Excellent
Passive Index 33 Good

Does it work on legal documents?

StyleWriter is designed for business, government and academic use. So it doesn’t pick up problems unique to the legal profession, like the abuse of ’shall’ and ’such’ and it questions legal terms that lawyers use correctly, such as ‘novation’ and ‘fiduciary’. You can tailor StyleWriter’s advice for legal documents; I’ve done it myself twice, although it’s not a job for the novice. But if your aim is to write business English, the original lexicon will give useful results even on legal documents.

What about pitches and legal updates?

Contracts and legal advice don’t need to grab the reader’s attention; any reader usually has a strong motive to find out what they say. If the writer has set no obstacles in their way, you can honestly call the clarity ‘Excellent’.

But the Bog index draws on an even wider lexicon of 200,000 words, plus acronyms and technical terms, to measure whether the text is gripping or boring. If boring, StyleWriter can offer only general advice – to write in personal terms (you and we), use contractions (can’t and won’t), include names (Daphne not The Author) and use lively verbs. You can display graphically the most and least boring words and sentences in your work, to help you edit. The Bog index for both the original and rewritten clauses is better than the Style index, because it gives them credit for using you and we.

The real value of the Bog index is for pitch and marketing text or anything the client or prospective client has not paid for and might decide not to bother with. Take this text from a firm’s web site, which has an Excellent style score but is still boring, with an Average Bog index (55).

A negligence claim against a professional services firm can be expensive, time-consuming and, for the individuals concerned, traumatic. Our lawyers have been helping these firms for more than 10 years. Our professional liability team consists of experienced lawyers from our commercial litigation, construction and finance groups, based in our offices throughout Europe and the Far East.

Compare this opening paragraph from a legal update, with a Good Bog index (27).

Say you received your payslip one day and noticed that out of the blue your salary had been doubled. Tempting as it would be to keep schtum, surely most of us would put our hands up and query the figure?

Doesn’t Word have a style checker?

Word 2003 and 2007 both include a Grammar check tool. It works like a spell checker, with an option to display statistics. Word’s readability statistics for the original set-off clause look like this:

This tells you the percentage of passive verbs and the average sentence length. And it says you’d need 25 years of education to understand this clause at first sight. But it doesn’t identify this clause as a long sentence, because it only does that for sentences over 60 words. In fact, Word finds no fault with the clause at all.

Its grammar checker merely tells you ‘That style is not easy to read or quick to review’. If you can add a Style check (2007 only) it actually strips out plain English, suggesting you replace But with Nevertheless and Or with On the other hand. Lawyers don’t need this sort of advice.

Other products exist to help edit your writing, such as MyWriter Tools. This is cheaper but you may not find it as useful.

Are there any technical limitations?

You need Word to get the full benefit of StyleWriter. If Word is your email editor, you can also use StyleWriter to edit Outlook files. And you can edit clipboard text copied from other programs, but you need to copy it back again when done.

You can install StyleWriter on a network, which may involve some work to get it working smoothly with a document management system. You’ll need to decide whether to allow users to add or delete words and phrases, or to do it only centrally. You could also decide to add your own house style to StyleWriter’s advice.

StyleWriter v4 costs £110 plus VAT or $160 for a single user.

Daphne Perry is a plain language trainer, writer and consultant with three years’ experience of working with StyleWriter to promote plain language in a City firm. Before moving into training and writing, she practised commercial law for 12 year: daphne.perry@clarifynow.co.uk.