How Many English Words Do You Know?
By M.-L.
@MALUSE (69413)
Germany
September 22, 2017 3:21pm CST
I type with ten fingers and at a certain speed but I make a lot of typos. I do know how a word is spelt, but my fingers don't always obey me. I check my texts attentively before I post them because I don't want other members to think, "Ah, well, she's a foreigner. No surprise then that she doesn't know how to spell."
Yet, it can always happen that I overlook something. So, when I chanced upon the site (www) .grammarly.com [strangely, I can't add the direct link here] I was glad. It promised to alert me to all my typos.
I've had it for many months now and I must say that it has developed from a helping tool to an entertainment factor. What I need is only a red line under a typo. Then I can correct the word myself. I know how to spell correctly!! Mr Grammarly, however, loves to suggest words which he thinks should be used instead of the one I've used. You may know this function from other correcting devices. Sometimes, I want to kick the stupid thingy, sometimes I have to giggle about the nonsensical suggestions.
Why I keep and like the site is the fact that once a week a get a follow-up about my online work. Although I'm not competing with anyone and am not a great fan of challenges in general, I like being informed about how good I am. I feel *my belly brushed* as the Germans say. Yesterday I got a report about the last ten weeks. It made me proud.
PRODUCTIVITY
30.594 words checked.
You were more productive than 98% of Grammarly users.
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ACCURACY
You are more accurate than 60% of Grammarly users.
(The week before it was 76%!)
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VOCABULARY
4,061 unique words used. You used more unique words than 99% of Grammarly users.
(Hurrah! I can use more than 4,000 words in a foreign language. Not bad, even if I say so myself.)
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I find the so-called Grammar Mistakes neglectable. Punctuation is not grammar in my opinion. I know that I've got problems with the English punctuation because it's nearly the same as in German but not exactly. Very puzzling. I'm now learning to follow the English rules although I find them highly debatable. Unfortunately, there is no arguing about grammar rules.
GRAMMAR MISTAKES
1. Missing comma in compound sentence
5 mistakes
2. Missing comma after introductory phrase
3 mistakes
3. Missing closing punctuation
2 mistakes
WHO CARES?
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So, if you need a bit of *belly brushing*, you may want to use this site.
14 people like this
13 responses
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
22 Sep 17
See if I try to write "spelt" I get the red underline telling me I misspelled the word. But I can write " I do not know how a word is spelled." and that is correct here, In my neck of the woods.
When I am writing my book and I find errors I fix them but I also edit, but still want another editor.
3 people like this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
22 Sep 17
It's okay. Apparently by 2120 even us Brits will be using spelled instead of spelt, dreamed instead of dreamt and leaped instead of leapt. It will be sad if that prediction comes true. There's something nice about having two different versions of the same language.
5 people like this
@LadyDuck (458230)
• Switzerland
23 Sep 17
@Poppylicious I am glad I will not be of this world to see.
2 people like this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
22 Sep 17
@Poppylicious I am sure I will not be alive in 2120 so????
3 people like this
@hereandthere (45651)
• Philippines
23 Sep 17
for me i get stumped at lie, lay and laid. then there's also lain.
2 people like this
@MALUSE (69413)
• Germany
23 Sep 17
@NJChicaa @hereandthere I've seen so many mistakes concerning these words! I don't understand where the problem is. My pupils could learn the correct forms. Why can't native speakers learn them, too? (the member from the Philippines is excluded, of course :-))
It's 'lay' of course.
1) to lie, lay, lain
2) to lay, laid, laid
Watch this video! Don't be confused by the German text. The man in the video talks English.
Jeden Tag neue Vokabeln, Erklärungen und Übungen rund um die englische Sprache. Perfekt für alle, die nebenbei ihr Englisch auffrischen und verbessern wollen. Der tägliche 5-Minuten-Snack zum Englisch lernen. 27. November 2009 / 10 Comments Die Verben „to
1 person likes this
OK, I know it's a paintbrush 
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
23 Sep 17
The site would probably be seriously laughing in my case @MALUSE .
1 person likes this
@acelawrites (19273)
• Philippines
22 Sep 17
Congratulations! It is always understandable for us "non-English-speaking" people to commit such mistakes; but thanks, it is easy to check such.
2 people like this
@Jackalyn (7559)
• Oxford, England
23 Sep 17
I have the free version of grammarly in any browser I use so it's really useful when I'm online on my laptop and it also works within my word processor but I also have After the Deadline and several others as well but I use.
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
22 Sep 17
Oooh, I like the idea of knowing how many unique words I use. The mistakes, not so much! Your English is fabulous. I can count the number of German words I know on one hand. :(
@lovebuglena (43080)
• Staten Island, New York
23 Sep 17
I've never used this site but I am sure it's not 100% perfect. I usually use the MS Word spell check and there are plenty of times when its suggestions are not right.
@Ganma7 (3664)
•
2 Oct 17
Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. You are always so helpful!
