A grammar checker based on web searching

This paper presents an English grammar and style checker for non-native English speakers. The main characteristic of this checker is the use of an Internet search engine. As the number of web pages written in English is immense, the system hypothesises that a piece of text not found on the Web is probably badly written. The system also hypothesises that the Web will provide examples of how the content of the text segment can be expressed in a grammatically correct and idiomatic way. Thus, when the checker warns the user about the odd nature of a text segment, the Internet engine searches for contexts that can help the user decide whether he/she should correct the segment or not. By means of a search engine, the checker also suggests use of other expressions that appear on the Web more often than the expression he/she actually wrote.