Grammar checkers can help with some of the sentence-level problems in a typical draft. But they will often misdiagnose errors, especially because they cannot account for your intended meaning. When the grammar checker makes a suggestion for revision, you must decide whether the change is more effective than your original.

It’s just as important to be aware of what your grammar checker isn’t picking up on. If you count on your grammar checker to identify trouble spots, you might overlook problems with such areas as coordination and subordination or sentence variety that the grammar checker does not notice.

However, grammar checkers can identify certain patterns, such as sexist language and passive verbs. You might learn from the grammar checker that you rely too much on prepositional phrases or on passive voice. Grammar checkers also offer some descriptive statistics on your style that you may find helpful: average sentence length or readability measures, for instance.