Grammar checkers make suggestions, not commands

Just because your grammar checker makes a suggestion doesn’t mean you have to follow it.

The suggestion may not be correct and it may not improve your writing.

I have the privilege of serving as the publication and content advisor for the U.S. Christian Chamber of Commerce. In that capacity, I edit the articles that go in the Chamber’s weekly newsletter.

In a recent piece, Krystal Parker, the Chamber’s president, wrote about feeling overwhelmed and defeated by the horrors and injustices dominating the headlines. She said she felt ready to throw up her hands and concede defeat. And then she prayed.

As part of editing the article, I wrote this:

And I realized that I needed to throw my hands up—not to give up, but to surrender it all to God.

After I sent the draft back to her, she ran it through Grammarly, which changed that sentence to this:

I realized I needed to throw my hands up—not to give up and surrender it all to God.

That doesn’t make sense—and it’s not even close to the message we intended.

Now, I agree with removing “that” and I could go either way with removing the “and” at the beginning of the sentence. But the rest of Grammarly’s suggestion? No!

Don’t blindly obey your grammar checker

Whether you use Grammarly or another grammar checker (I use ProWritingAid), you don’t have to accept all the suggestions it makes. In fact, your message will probably be stronger if you don’t.