Grammar Rules as Computer Algorithms

Grammar checkers have become hot selling items in the software market over the last several years. The subject of numerous reviews and much discussion by software vendors, grammar checkers are long on promises and, some would say, short on delivery. Writers and English teachers who have experimented with them tend to either love them or hate them, but one message is clear?grammar checkers cannot be relied on to correct grammar, only to point out possible problems, and then only in a narrow range. Here's an example. I passed the fol lowing sentence to a grammar checker designed for my microcomputer: