# Grammar Style Checker > Review, correct, and improve the grammar, mechanics, style, and tone of academic writing. Use this skill whenever the user wants proofreading, grammar correction, style improvement, or feedback on language quality in an academic context. Trigger for: "proofread this," "fix the grammar," "check my writing," "is this grammatically correct?", "improve the style," "is this too informal?", "fix my ten… - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-muhammad1438-academic-writer-skills-grammar-style-checker` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [muhammad1438](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/muhammad1438) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Agent Skills](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/agent-skills) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [muhammad1438](https://github.com/muhammad1438) - **Source:** https://github.com/muhammad1438/academic-writer-skills/tree/master/skills/grammar-style-checker ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-muhammad1438-academic-writer-skills-grammar-style-checker ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Grammar & Style Checker Academic grammar transcends basic syntactic correctness — it encompasses tone, voice, precision, and the deployment of inclusive, unambiguous language. Careless sentence construction introduces ambiguity, distracts readers, and fatally impedes scholarly communication. --- ## 1. Voice — Active vs. Passive ### When to Use Active Voice - APA 7th explicitly recommends active voice for clarity - Best for: describing what researchers did, making your argument clear - *"We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 participants."* ✓ ### When to Use Passive Voice - Appropriate in STEM when the focus should be on the procedure/phenomenon, not the researcher - *"Samples were collected and stored at −20°C."* ✓ - Appropriate when the agent is unknown or irrelevant - Appropriate for impersonal academic constructions ### The Test Ask: **Who is doing the action?** If the actor matters, use active. If the phenomenon or action matters more, use passive. --- ## 2. Tense Conventions by Section | Section | Tense | Example | |---|---|---| | Introduction — general facts | Present | "Anxiety affects approximately 18% of the adult population." | | Introduction — specific past studies | Past | "Smith (2019) found that..." | | Methods | Past | "Data were collected using..." | | Results | Past | "Results indicated that..." | | Discussion — interpreting your findings | Present for interpretation | "These findings suggest that..." | | Discussion — your specific results | Past | "The present study found that..." | | Conclusion — implications | Present | "These results have significant implications for..." | | Literature review — established findings | Present | "Research consistently demonstrates..." | | Literature review — specific study | Past | "Jones (2020) reported..." | **Key rule:** Never mix tenses randomly within a section. Choose appropriately and be consistent. --- ## 3. Parallel Structure All items in a series, list, or comparison must share the same grammatical form. **Broken parallel:** > "The study aimed to *identify* the risk factors, *the development* of a screening tool, and *how to train* healthcare workers." ✗ **Corrected:** > "The study aimed to *identify* the risk factors, *develop* a screening tool, and *train* healthcare workers." ✓ ### Applies to: - Bulleted and numbered lists (all items same part of speech) - Headings within the same level (all noun phrases, or all gerunds, or all sentences) - Coordinated elements with "and," "or," "but" - Comparative constructions ("more X than Y" — X and Y must be same type) --- ## 4. Pronoun Reference — Eliminating Vague Pronouns "This," "it," "they," "which," and "these" must have clear, unambiguous antecedents. **Vague:** > "The study showed that the intervention reduced anxiety. *This* is significant." ✗ (*What* is significant? The reduction? The study? The intervention?) **Clear:** > "The study showed that the intervention reduced anxiety. *This reduction* is significant." ✓ **Rule:** Add a noun after "this," "that," "these," and "those" whenever the referent could be ambiguous. Never let "this" stand alone as a subject. --- ## 5. Avoiding Anthropomorphism Do not attribute human mental processes to inanimate objects, concepts, or texts. | Anthropomorphic (Wrong) | Corrected | |---|---| | "The theory *argues* that..." | "This theory *holds* that..." / "According to this theory..." | | "The study *believes*..." | "The study *suggests*..." / "The authors *argue*..." | | "The data *feel*..." | "The data *indicate*..." | | "The results *want* to show..." | "The results *demonstrate*..." | | "The paper *thinks*..." | "The author *contends*..." | **Rule:** Theories, studies, papers, and data do not argue, believe, or feel. Only humans do. Use: indicate, suggest, demonstrate, show, reveal, find. --- ## 6. Bias-Free and Inclusive Language (APA 7th Standard) - Use the **singular "they"** as a generic third-person pronoun (not "he/she" or "he or she") - Respect self-identification: use the terms people use for themselves - Avoid reductive labels: describe the condition, not the person ("a person with diabetes," not "a diabetic") - Acknowledge intersectionality where relevant - Avoid loaded or stigmatising terms (check APA Bias-Free Language Guidelines, Chapter 5) - Do not use "normal" as a comparison group label (implies others are "abnormal") --- ## 7. Nominalization — Use Judiciously Nominalization increases information density and objectivity. But **overuse creates impenetrable prose**. **Over-nominalized:** > "An investigation into the determination of the significance of the relationship between variables was conducted." ✗ **Improved:** > "The study investigated whether the two variables were significantly related." ✓ **Principle:** Nominalise to foreground a concept. De-nominalise when the action or agent matters and clarity is at stake. --- ## 8. Sentence Variety Repeating the same sentence structure creates monotony and reduces readability. ### Sentence Types to Mix - **Simple:** One main clause. "The results were significant." - **Compound:** Two main clauses joined by a coordinator. "The results were significant, and they replicated across all subgroups." - **Complex:** One main clause + one subordinate clause. "Although the sample was small, the results were statistically significant." - **Compound-complex:** Two main clauses + at least one subordinate clause. ### Vary Sentence Openers Avoid starting every sentence with the subject. Alternatives: - **Adverbial opener:** "Notably, the intervention..." / "Consequently, participants..." - **Participial phrase:** "Building on prior work, this study..." - **Prepositional phrase:** "In the context of globalisation, X..." - **Subordinate clause:** "Although previous studies have..., the current study..." --- ## 9. Punctuation Rules for Academic Writing ### Semicolons (;) - Join two independent clauses that are closely related (no conjunction needed) - *"The sample size was adequate; however, the attrition rate was high."* - Separate items in a list when items themselves contain commas ### Colons (:) - Introduce a list, explanation, or elaboration that follows directly - *"Three factors were identified: motivation, access, and support."* - What precedes the colon must be a complete sentence ### Em Dash (—) - Emphasise parenthetical information: "The intervention—despite its limited scope—produced significant results." - Avoid overuse; each use should be intentional ### Commas in Complex Sentences - Always after an introductory clause: "Although the data were limited, the findings were consistent." - Around non-restrictive clauses: "The study, which was conducted in 2021, found..." - Before coordinating conjunctions in compound sentences: "The sample was large, but the response rate was low." --- ## 10. Article Usage (a, an, the) — For Academic Precision ### The (definite article) Use when the noun is specific and known to both writer and reader: - Previously mentioned: "A study was conducted. **The** study found..." - Unique referent: "**The** results of this experiment" - Superlative: "**The** most significant finding" ### A / An (indefinite article) Use when introducing something for the first time or when the noun is non-specific: - "**A** literature review was conducted." (first mention) - "**An** interesting finding emerged..." ### No Article - Uncountable nouns used generally: "Research suggests..." (not "The research suggests" unless specific) - Plural nouns used generally: "Studies have shown..." (not "The studies") - Proper nouns: "APA style requires..." not "The APA style" --- ## 11. Common Style Errors — Academic Replacements | Avoid | Use Instead | |---|---| | very significant | highly significant / remarkably significant | | really important | critically important / of particular importance | | a lot of studies | numerous studies / a substantial body of research | | etc. | and similar factors / and related phenomena (or list exhaustively) | | thing | factor, element, dimension, construct, phenomenon | | get | obtain, acquire, achieve, yield, receive | | show | demonstrate, reveal, indicate, illustrate | | big difference | substantial difference / marked difference | | use | utilise, employ, apply, implement | | find out | determine, establish, ascertain, identify | | look at | examine, investigate, analyse, explore | --- ## 12. Wordiness Reduction — Cut 20% Without Losing Meaning ### Common Redundancies to Cut | Wordy | Concise | |---|---| | "the fact that" | "that" or delete entirely | | "it is important to note that" | delete (just say the thing) | | "in order to" | "to" | | "due to the fact that" | "because" | | "at this point in time" | "now" / "currently" | | "in the event that" | "if" | | "with regard to" | "regarding" / "concerning" | | "a significant number of" | "many" | | "despite the fact that" | "although" | | "on the basis of" | "based on" | ### Throat-Clearing Phrases to Delete - "It is worth noting that..." - "It goes without saying that..." - "Needless to say..." - "As has been previously mentioned..." - "In terms of [X], [X] is..." ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [muhammad1438](https://github.com/muhammad1438) - **Source:** [muhammad1438/academic-writer-skills](https://github.com/muhammad1438/academic-writer-skills) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-muhammad1438-academic-writer-skills-grammar-style-checker - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/muhammad1438 - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.