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Dangling modifiers and improper pronouns are distant memories with Microsoft checking our grammar. In Word 2004, you can eradicate most common errors by right-clicking on the green underlines and selecting the correct usage. Still, for those stuck parsing our own nouns in non-Microsoft apps, there's always Grammatica, an oldschool utility that's been around since Steve Jobs had a comb-over.
Grammatica 6.1 runs as a separate program, which is both helpful and a bit cumbersome. Sure, you can use Grammatica with just about any program, including Apple TextEdit and even Safari. Yet, Grammatica forces you to select text, then switch to the utility to find errors, as opposed to running as an integrated error checker. In tests, Grammatica worked about as well as Word 2004 at finding common grammatical problems, such as verb confusion and passive voice.
The program does have other redeeming features. For starters, the analysis tools provide better feedback than those in Word 2004. While both programs flagged the sentence "we should never have went there", only Grammatica reported why—in this case, because the verb tense is wrong. You can conjugate verbs, show the plural form of a word and add words to a custom lexicon. Grammatica also includes a nifty word definition tool. If you buy Ultralingua's dictionary products ($30 each, www.ultralingua.com), you can use Grammatica to translate words into English, French, Spanish or German.
Overall, the more educational approach to grammar checking works well for students of any age trying to sharpen their language skills. For the typical Mac user typing documents in a word processor, some of the extra grammar tools might get rather annoying. Frankly, because Microsoft Word 2004 skips the educational approach and provides integrated grammar checking, you may find yourself correcting grammar faster and more often.
–JOHN BRANDON
Grammatica 6.1: 
Ultralingua | www.ultralingua.com | $30
Pros: Educational approach to grammar correction, good analysis tools.
Cons: Works about as well as Word 2004’s built-in correction.
Requires: OS 10.2.6 or higher, G3/ G4, 350MHz or faster
macHOME recommends: 700MHz or faster
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