Grammatik 6 for Macintosh has benefited hugely from its programmers’ efforts. The interface has been dramatically improved. Gone are the Chicago and Monaco fonts it used for your original text and the program’s critique; it now clearly highlights proposed rewrites in context, through the tasteful use of boldface. There is also a pop-up menu of writing styles — Advertising, Fiction, Speech, and so on.
Grammatik opens most document formats: non-Fast-Saved Microsoft Word 3.0 through 5.1, FrameMaker 2.0 through 3.0, LetterPerfect2.1, MacWrite II 1.0 through 1.5, Microsoft Works 1.1 through 3.0, WordPerfect 2.0 through 3.X, WordPerfect Works 1.2.x, and WriteNow 2.0 through 3.0 — and text files, RTF files, and the Clipboard contents. (Note the omissions: ClarisWorks 2.0, WriteNow 4.0, and Word 6.0.)
Complete, example-rich explanations of Grammatik’s suggestions are only a button-click away. The impressive new Parse Tree feature shows you a parts-of-speech analysis of any sentence; it somehow knows how to recognize even complex clauses.
Grammatik is also backed by a smarter brain. In my November 1993 column in Macworld, I subjected Grammatik 5 and its rivals to a torture test from the classic guide to good writing. The Elements of Style (Macmillan, 1972). In that shoot-out, a program earned a point for each correct diagnosis, and lost a point for each unflagged error — and for each bogus error it “found.”
Grammatik 5 had the worst score of all grammar checkers. It earned a -11 out of a possible 35. Correct Grammar (WordStar International) had the highest score — a +8. A live human editor scored +33.
Grammatik 6 also scored a +8, tying for first among the software editors. (The test and scores are posted on America Online and eWorld in the Macworld forum.) Most of the improvement came from eliminating bogus-error flagging. There are actual enhancements in this version, though; Grammatik now has a better eye for run-on sentences, and its improved parts-of-speech recognition catches misplaced or missing prepositions and bad punctuation. For example, the old Grammatik found nothing wrong with My opinion is as good or better than his; version 6 nailed the missing as.
The Last Word Grammatik first blows your mind by displaying what you swear is actual English comprehension. (Version 6 even suggests complete sentence rewrites, proposing I will always remember my first visit instead of My first visit will always be remembered by me.) Then it wrecks its credibility (by offering Both clock strike instead of Both clocks strike).
Still, Grammatik 6’s low price, pleasant interface, and improved accuracy make it worthwhile for a large number of quality-driven writers.
Pogue, David. (February 1995). Grammatik 6 for Macintosh. Macworld. (pg. 83).