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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Subjunctive mood and Microsoft
If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that this sentence is wrong. It would suggest that I use the indicative mood instead. Its reasoning is that I have a problem with subject-verb agreement. My use of the subjunctive in the second sentence is not an issue for obvious reasons. It doesn't actually say that I should change from the subjunctive to the indicative, but it is effectively telling writers that they are wrong if they don't do so.
I did a search on the archives of alt.usage.english. I found a post that said that this problem existed back in Word 97. I find it hard to fathom that this problem could exist for so long and Microsoft is not addressing it. What are others doing? Is it up to all users to get an add-on product for basic grammar checking? I would not want my kids to have to rely on something like this when doing a report. Is their any way we can let Microsoft know that there grammar checker does not understand basic grammar? Is there a reason that Word did not complain about my previous sentence? It's bad enough when they miss an error, but when they tell writers to introduce errors into their writing, that's pretty bad.
By the way, if I don't care about dividend taxes, Microsoft is just fine with the first sentence. Go figure.
I did a search on the archives of alt.usage.english. I found a post that said that this problem existed back in Word 97. I find it hard to fathom that this problem could exist for so long and Microsoft is not addressing it. What are others doing? Is it up to all users to get an add-on product for basic grammar checking? I would not want my kids to have to rely on something like this when doing a report. Is their any way we can let Microsoft know that there grammar checker does not understand basic grammar? Is there a reason that Word did not complain about my previous sentence? It's bad enough when they miss an error, but when they tell writers to introduce errors into their writing, that's pretty bad.
By the way, if I don't care about dividend taxes, Microsoft is just fine with the first sentence. Go figure.
Top answer
[nq:1]If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that ... By the way, if I don't care about dividend taxes, Microsoft is just fine with the first sentence. [/nq] Yes, it is up to the users, and no, there isn't anything they can do about it except learn to notice grammar mistakes or better not to make them in the first place.
- [nq:1]If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that ...
- By the way, if I don't care about dividend taxes, Microsoft is just fine with the first sentence.
- [/nq] Yes, it is up to the users, and no, there isn't anything they can do about it except learn to notice grammar mistakes or better not to make them in the first place.
- There isn't any 'grammar checker' available that works.
- Period.
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95 Answers
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[nq:1]If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that ... By the way, if I don't care about dividend taxes, Microsoft is just fine with the first sentence. Go figure.[/nq]
Yes, it is up to the users, and no, there isn't anything they can do about it except learn to notice grammar mistakes or better not to make them in the first place.
T
Yes, it is up to the users, and no, there isn't anything they can do about it except learn to notice grammar mistakes or better not to make them in the first place.
T
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[nq:1]Is their any way we can let Microsoft know that there grammar checker does not understand basic grammar?[/nq]
I doubt whether there* is any way that *their spelling checker would either!
Alec McKenzie
I doubt whether there* is any way that *their spelling checker would either!
Alec McKenzie
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[nq:2]Is their any way we can let Microsoft know that there grammar checker does not understand basic grammar?[/nq]
[nq:1]I doubt whether there* is any way that *their spelling checker would either![/nq]
That there is a good point.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" (Email Removed) Info for manufacturers:
[nq:1]I doubt whether there* is any way that *their spelling checker would either![/nq]
That there is a good point.
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" (Email Removed) Info for manufacturers:
00
I couldn't have put it better myself. "Check spelling as you type" alerts me to (some of) my occasional (well, okay, I'll admit it, frequent) typos, but I would never explicitly run the spelling checker (too much time wasted telling it, "Yes, yes, that's all right, go on"), and I would never allow the grammar checker near my prose!
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
W
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
W
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[nq:1]Grammar checking is hard.[/nq]
Let's go shopping!
(Somebody had to say it.)
Let's go shopping!
(Somebody had to say it.)
00
[nq:1]I couldn't have put it better myself. "Check spelling as you type" alerts me to (some of) my occasional (well, ... wasted telling it, "Yes, yes, that's all right, go on"), and I would never allow the grammar checker nearmy prose![/nq]
On the whole I agree with you: but it's written for idiots, after all. But it can alert me to my typing errors, and that's good. One thing that it m
On the whole I agree with you: but it's written for idiots, after all. But it can alert me to my typing errors, and that's good. One thing that it m
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[nq:2]Is their any way we can let Microsoft know that there grammar checker does not understand basicgrammar?[/nq]
[nq:1]I doubt whether there* is any way that *their spelling checker would either![/nq]
Did you read the sentence I had right after that? Quoting it out of context makes it look like an error.
Speaking of the spell checker, Word had a history of giving suggestions f
[nq:1]I doubt whether there* is any way that *their spelling checker would either![/nq]
Did you read the sentence I had right after that? Quoting it out of context makes it look like an error.
Speaking of the spell checker, Word had a history of giving suggestions f
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[nq:1]If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that this sentence is wrong. It would suggest that I use the indicative mood instead.[/nq]
If you change the sentence to the correct "If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that this sentence to be wrong," Word doesn't object, does it?
If you change the sentence to the correct "If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that this sentence to be wrong," Word doesn't object, does it?
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It's not just idiots who make typos. Word is reasonably good at finding them. The problem is that it can make users lazy. It's still important to proofread, but not everybody does it.
It's also not a reasonable expectation for many people to understand grammar. In my local school district, I question whether more than a small fraction of the teachers know much about grammar. Therefore, it's di
It's also not a reasonable expectation for many people to understand grammar. In my local school district, I question whether more than a small fraction of the teachers know much about grammar. Therefore, it's di
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[nq:2]If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, ... wrong. It would suggestthat I use the indicative mood instead.[/nq]
[nq:1]If you change the sentence to the correct "If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that this sentence to be wrong," Word doesn't object, does it?[/nq]
I'll take your word for it, but it's not relevant. I
[nq:1]If you change the sentence to the correct "If I were to type this sentence into Word 2003, and dividend taxes were gone, Word would tell me that this sentence to be wrong," Word doesn't object, does it?[/nq]
I'll take your word for it, but it's not relevant. I
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