How to Check Your English Before You Send It

1. Keep the intended meaning

Identify the date, the person responsible, and what you need from the reader before editing. These are the details a fluent rewrite can accidentally change. If you mean that a report may arrive any time up to Friday, write “I'll send the report by Friday.” “I'll send the report on Friday” commits you to that day instead. Both sentences are grammatical, so a grammar checker cannot decide which promise you meant.

Check the deadline again after editing. The same applies to names, numbers, and whether “we” or “you” will do the next step. “The file will be sent tomorrow” leaves the sender unnamed. If the reader needs to know who is responsible, write “I will send the file tomorrow” or name the person who will.

2. Fix grammar and spelling

Check verb forms, articles, prepositions, and typos one change at a time. A common email closing illustrates why the explanation matters:

The “to” in “look forward to” is a preposition. A following verb takes the -ing form, as Cambridge's grammar guide explains. This fixes the verb form without changing your request or your expectation of a reply.

After “Could you tell me”, the question uses statement word order:

In the part after “tell me”, keep the subject before the verb: “the call will start”. A direct question, “What time will the call start?”, is also correct. Cambridge's word-order examples show the same distinction. Choose the shorter question when it suits the exchange; the time you are asking about stays the same.

These edits are illustrative, not records of a live check.

3. Read requests as the recipient

“Send me the draft by Thursday.” is a clear instruction. If you are asking a colleague for a favor, “Could you send me the draft by Thursday?” is less direct. The second version changes the tone, not the grammar or the deadline. Cambridge's guide to requests describes how “could you” makes a request more indirect.

Read the whole exchange before choosing. A short instruction may fit someone who already agreed to send the draft. In a first request, say what you need and when, then choose a form that fits your relationship with the reader.

4. Review a complete email

Suppose you and Alex discussed a schedule, and you need comments no later than Friday. Here is a draft with a missing article, a deadline phrase that needs checking, and a verb form to fix.

“The updated schedule” points to the one you discussed. The closing needs “hearing”. If Friday is the latest acceptable day for Alex's reply, use “by Friday” rather than “until Friday”; Cambridge's explanation of “until” distinguishes a deadline from an action that continues up to a time. Confirm the deadline before making that change.

“Please send me” is already a polite request. You can keep it. “Could you send me” is an option when you want a less direct tone. Neither version tells you whether the updated schedule is actually attached.

5. Make a final check

Paste your English into Fix My English and review the corrected version alongside each explanation. Keep a change when it fixes a mistake and preserves what you meant. If a suggestion changes a deadline, a promise, or the strength of a request, choose the wording yourself before sending.

• Does the subject line match the message?
• Are names, dates, numbers, and who does the next step correct?
• Does the request fit this reader, and is its deadline clear?
• Did you open the attachment and check that it is the right file?

Read the complete email once more, including the greeting and sign-off.