This probably isn't news to people who are both good writers and use MS Word, but its grammar checker sucks.

I personally find it a frustrating mix of useful and extremely annoying. It does occasionally catch a word I misspell (something that I do rarely), but it almost never gives me good grammar advice. Ninety percent of the time (probably more) its recommended changes are either of no value, or would actually be wrong (I notice in particular that it has problems recognizing subjects and objects when recommending singular or plural forms of irregular verbs). I'll probably keep using it, but given my writing style, I wish that I could disable the "long sentence, no suggestions" feature, because that's the one that I most often get false alarms with.

Anyway, as the article says, if you're a student (or worker) and think that your product is spelled correctly and grammatical just because Microsoft says so, think again. There's still no substitute for a human editor, whether yourself or, if you're unsure, another.

[Via Geek Press]

What version of Word are you using? In 2003, at least, there is fairly granular control of the Grammar and Style checker.

1) In the Tools Menu, select Options.
2) Click the Grammar Tab.
3) There is a pull-down menu to select "Grammar Only" or "Grammar & Style." Underneath, there is a button for "Grammar Settings." You can choose what you want Word to check. For example, under Style there's "Sentence Length" and "Sentence Structure."

I use Grammar Only, and don't have many problems.

Rand, have you seen this poem?

Eye Halve a Spelling Chequer

I'm using Office 97...

So I suppose I shouldn't be commenting on their latest efforts. But my experience seems to match that described in the linked article.

Looking at my configuration, I don't see an option referring to long sentences, so I can't turn that particular one off without just turning off grammar checking.

It depends on how you use it. I keep the grammar check turned on, even though it rarely offers good advice. But when it does flag something I'll eyeball it, just to see if the sentence can be improved. About 40% of the time, I'd estimate, I'll change a flagged sentence, though rarely the way the grammar checker suggests.

Having the grammar checker on is like having a very stupid person looking over your shoulder. Even though they're dumb, at least they're a second pair of eyes. And that much I appreciate.

Having the grammar checker on is like having a very stupid person looking over your shoulder. Even though they're dumb, at least they're a second pair of eyes. And that much I appreciate.

Yeah, that's why I'll keep using it. But I wish I could at least train the idiot to stop telling me my sentences are too long (even if, occasionally, they are).