Grammatik IV - Grammar and Style Checker Copyright 1990 David Batterson The problem of illiteracy in the U.S. is an enormous one. According to Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS), over 25 million Americans are functionally illiterate, while some 50 percent of American workers have problems with spelling, punctuation and grammar. Software products such as Grammatik, Readability Plus and RightWriter correct grammar, style and spelling errors. We still need a good writing tutorial program (with lessons rather than corrections) for PCs, but that's another story. More than a year ago I reviewed Grammatik III, an excellent grammar/style/spelling checker. The company, Reference Software, later announced that Grammatik III Utilities were forthcoming. The Utilities offered improvements, including making Grammatik III RAM- resident. However, the Utilities were never released. Instead the company overhauled the software and released the enhanced Grammatik IV. It was worth the wait since Grammatik IV is quite an achievement. I think the best new feature is Grammatik IV's ability to run from within your word processor. It works with WordPerfect 5.0, Microsoft Word 5.0, Professional Write 2.1, WordStar 5.5, and XyWrite III. The process works very easily. Instead of typing your normal command to start your word processor, you use: G4RUNWP. Write your document, and then press a hot key to access Grammatik IV. For instance, within Professional Write 2.1, you merely press -G when you're ready to check your document. This automatically triggers Professional Write to save your document before bringing up the Grammatik IV opening screen. When you are finished proofreading and correcting your document, press Q (for Quit) and you go back to word processing with the edited changes now on screen. Grammatik IV saves the original file with the default extension .G4B (you can change this if you want). For those who haven't used any version of Grammatik before, you're in for a treat. Improved Artificial Intelligence techniques and its Rule Dictionary locate split infinitives, syntax errors, subject/verb disagreements, incorrect homonyms, incomplete sentences, sexist terms, vague adverbs, archaic words, wrong articles, cliches, punctuation mistakes and spelling blunders. Naturally, I had to test my own writing with Grammatik IV. I checked an opinion piece I wrote last month. The only problem it flagged repeatedly was too many instances of passive voice. ["I'll have to watch this more closely" is stronger than "This will have to be watched more closely."] Grammatik IV lets you choose among six writing styles for polishing up your writing: general, business, technical, fiction, informal and custom. The rules are slightly different for each style. For example, if you write a complex technical manual, you wouldn't want to proofread it using the general style. If you did, Grammatik IV would flag jargon and technical words as inappropriate, even though they were fine for your intended readers. Replacing recommended words or phrases is easier now. Let's say that Grammatik IV flagged "your" because you should have used "you're." Simply press and the word is corrected. Then press to proceed to the next problem area. At any time, you may ignore suggestions. You may also type in your own correction. There are instances when this is better, since you might want to rewrite the whole sentence. Grammatik IV checks for spelling errors, but you may choose not to use it since most word processors have spelling checkers. By default, this feature is turned off. Just remember to check spelling within your word processor before using Grammatik IV. You'll find excellent context-sensitive help screens at the touch of . Corporate users can also design their own customized help screens, explaining rules for their particular company or industry. Grammatik IV rates an "A" for performance and value. The suggested list price is $99 (you'll pay less); a five-user Network Edition costs $189. Registered owners of earlier versions may upgrade for $29. For more information, contact Reference Software International, 330 Townsend Street, Suite 123, San Francisco, CA 94107; 800-872-9933, 415-541- 0222, FAX: 415-541-0509, MCI Mail: 288-1979. # David Batterson is an independent writer and editor. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218.