Are you looking for a way to make your writing more polished?
If you’ve ever handed in a paper for an assignment, hit publish on that blog post or sent a resume in and then realised you missed that one spelling or grammatical error, you need Grammarly.
It is one of the best tools out there for improving your writing.
Grammarly is an online grammar checker, spell checker and plagiarism detector that offers real-time corrections while you write an email, school paper or blog post.
If you write anything, you need to sign up for Grammarly.
Get started with Grammarly now!
Why You Should Use Grammarly
There are so many reasons to start using Grammarly now.
- It corrects hundreds of different types of errors, some so complex that perhaps you didn’t even know they were mistakes!
- Automatically detects issues such as grammar, punctuation, spelling, and word choice mistakes in writing
- Algorithm flags potential issues with a red underline in your writing and provides suggestions based on your content
- Supports browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge as well as services such as Microsoft Office and Google Docs
- It’s also available as an app for both IOS and Android
If these reasons weren’t enough for you, then keep reading below.
Why You Need Grammarly
For Students
If you’re a student in any capacity, then you need to sign up for Grammarly.
With Grammarly’s Microsoft Office add-in, you can get real-time help on how to fix your spelling, grammatical and punctuation mistakes.
Alternatively, you can choose to upload your text onto the online Grammarly Editor and your errors will be pointed out.
As a student, Grammarly saved a number of my hand-in assignments, especially for those small grammatical errors.
I’ve also used their plagiarism checker numerous times when completing a research paper so that I can ensure my paper contains no plagiarised text when my school runs my paper through a plagiarism detector.
Plagiarism has become a huge problem for schools, colleges and universities in recent years due to the influx of articles on the internet available to students, so it’s a good idea to run your paper through Grammarly’s Plagiarism Checker in case any of your wording is too similar to any online articles.
Unintentional plagiarism is possible so using the checker prior to submission may save you a lot of trouble in the future.
For Job Seekers
Have you ever read a published article or book full of spelling and punctuation errors?
If so, then you can imagine how it feels to be an employer looking at a potential employee’s resume full of errors that could have been avoided.
As a job seeker, you want to make the employer like you just by reading your resume. You want them to have a good first impression so that they offer you that interview.
A resume that has even a few spelling and grammatical mistakes is not going to get you that.
Considering that a resume is at least one page long and at most three or four pages, you want those pages to be perfectly worded and appropriate to the job setting.
This is where Grammarly’s ability to detect hedging (cautious or vague) language, impoliteness and inappropriate formality level comes in handy.
There are many services out there that help you write and edit your resume, but those are usually quite expensive and you only get a quote specifically for this one service.
With Grammarly however, once you get it, you have it for as long as you want, or in the case of the free version, forever.
This means that once you’re done with your resume, you can use it to check your emails and make sure that you’ve addressed any potential employers appropriately.
For Bloggers
If you have a blog or you want to start a blog, then you definitely need Grammarly.
I have it installed as an extension in my browser so that all of my blog posts are checked before being published. I can confidently say that my blog posts would have a lot of mistakes if I didn’t use Grammarly.
Grammarly can save you a lot of editing time, especially if you write many blog posts a week.
No one wants to spend more time than they have to editing post that could have been published already.
If you have Grammarly, it recommends corrections to your writing while you write your blog post, saving you time and increasing your efficiency because your mind is already focused on the topic at hand.
Read The Comprehensive Guide to Starting a Blog.
What Grammarly Offers
Grammarly offers a plethora of services to its users, including but not limited to:
- The online Grammarly Editor
- A free browser extension for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge
- Microsoft Office add-in (only available on Windows)
- A premium service which is available as a monthly or annual plan
How to Install Grammarly
Grammarly for the Web
Signing up with Grammarly has never been easier!
All you need to do is hop over to their site and click the “Add to Chrome/Safari” button to get started. It’s a large green button so you can’t miss it!
You can choose to sign up with your email, facebook or with google. There will be a prompt asking you to personalise your Grammarly account, and then you can choose if you want to upgrade to a premium plan.
You can choose to download the extension to your browser on its own, however, signing up for an account unlocks many more features that you might find useful.
With an account, you have access to the online Grammarly editor which lets you store all your documents and access them whenever you need.
Grammarly for Microsoft Office
You can download Grammarly for Microsoft Office here. It can be integrated right into Microsoft Word so you can make alterations to your documents without having to upload it into the online editor.
This service is currently only available for Windows.
Grammarly’s Other Platforms
Grammarly now has many other platforms aside from browser extensions and the MS Office add-in.
- Grammarly’s native app for macOS and Windows, allowing you to access Grammarly directly from your desktop
- The Grammarly Keyboard for IOS and Android, allowing you to perfect your grammar on mobile
- Grammarly Handbook which is an online guide explaining the English language’s grammar and style
What are the Differences Between the Free and Paid Plan?
If you don’t want more than just basic recommendations for spelling and grammar, then the free plan should be enough for you.
However, if you want to use Grammarly in a professional setting and improve your writing to another level, the paid plan might be the better option for you.
Both plans offer the best-in-class AI system for writing correction and improvement so you can be certain that you’ll be getting the best service regardless of which plan you ultimately choose.
The free plan offers:
- Spelling, punctuation and grammar checks
- Access from both mobile and desktop devices
- Microsoft Office add-in
For the regular student and blogger, this might be enough for your writing to come across as more polished and professional.
However, the free version doesn’t come with a plagiarism checker so if that option is important to you, then you may want to consider purchasing the premium plan.
The premium plan offers:
- Fixing of more complex writing issues such as:
- Ineffective vocabulary
- Overuse of words
- Hedging language
- Passive voice overuse
- Non-inclusive language
- Impoliteness
- Inappropriate formality level
- Inconsistent writing style
- Plagiarism
- All the core features of Grammarly including:
- Access from both mobile and desktop devices
- Microsoft Office add-in
The premium version would be very suited towards you if you are a job seeker or young professional and want to make your writing more professional and more suited for the workplace environment.
The premium plan costs just $11.66 USD a month when billed annually, which is the best value for money.
Overall, if you’re simply looking for a spelling and grammar checker, the free version of Grammarly should be enough for you, but if you want more features packed in, the premium plan is definitely great value for money.
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