Re: grammar checking

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Pedro Andres Aranda Gutierrez <paaguti@gmail.com>
> Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2023 07:52:23 +0200
> 
> 1. I have worked with different word processors that provide grammar
> checking in addition to spellchecking. At the end of the day, I had to
> ignore 49 suggestions to accept a good one, which I would have caught
> with reasonable proof-reading. Writing is something that needs time.
> And I feel it every day, even for technical writing. And there are no
> shortcuts to that.
> 
> 2. I have tried grammar checking on different languages. Yes, I speak
> a couple of languages and I write fluently in four. And at the end, I
> either disable grammar checking or I just leave it there for fun. Some
> suggestions are as good as spellchecking was 20 years ago. And a good
> laugh may be worth it, but seriously, I'd rather not use grammar
> checking when in a hurry.
> 
> 3. I'm honoured to count professional writers and journalists among my
> friends and, no, they don't use grammar checking ;-) because they feel
> the tools currently force them into a style of writing which is not
> theirs.

That's okay: if this will become part of Emacs, it will be an optional
feature, so if you don't find it useful, just don't activate it.  Many
features in Emacs exist only for those who find them useful, and this
one is no exception.

From my POV, if people who write doc strings and manual submissions
for Emacs will be able to have their text proof-read before they
submit it, it will be an advantage, since the patch reviewers will
need to invest less time in finding and fixing their grammar mistakes
(although probably not in your submissions).

> I feel it would be more urgent to concentrate on spellchecking and see
> how to improve support for languages with word composition on current
> solutions in core Emacs or packages in ELPA.

We will continue developing and improving our spell-checking features
independently of whether grammar checking will or will not be added.
There's no zero-sum game here; these are two separate features, and
none of them will come at the expense of the other.