Millions of adults are now unable to write sentences without making simple mistakes

'Be', 'have', 'do', 'in', 'and', 'on' and 'at' caused the most problems as 27% of writers forget to include them in simple sentences. Also missing were 'a', 'an' and 'the' in the 5,000 texts analysed.

Despite these shocking results, nearly half of 1,000 survey
participants, aged 18 - 80 thought that good grammar and spelling were important when writing or receiving written material.

The text analysis and research was carried out on behalf of English grammar and writing software firm WhiteSmoke and coincides with the launch of its latest release - WhiteSmoke 2008 Extended Edition.

5,000 writing samples were analysed by a team of linguists and 85 percent of all documents contained one or more errors.

After missing words, writers failed miserably on punctuation. 24.3 percent of writers failed to use a question mark, full stop or comma in the right place.

Some 7 per cent of writers mixed up subtleties in their subject and verb agreement, for instance, by using a plural noun with the singular form of a verb. Here is an example: the members of the team runs well, which should read: the members of the team run well.

Other problem areas are spelling, using the wrong words, and repeating words.

The survey also gave an insight into how important writing properly was for respondents.

One in five said that they paid less attention when writing to friends and family, while 50 per cent took their time to check their writing before they sent it to their bosses.

Incredibly, 11 per cent of people didn't think it was important to write well when communicating with their work colleagues or their customers.

Amit Greener, VP Sales and Marketing for WhiteSmoke said: 'The poor quality of writing today is a worrying phenomenon. However, it is encouraging to know that despite getting basic sentences wrong, the majority of survey participants regard quality writing as important to them. When they feel a document is critical for their career they do proofread more carefully and use technology by companies such as WhiteSmoke to help them eliminate
errors.

WhiteSmoke is like having a second pair of eyes when checking grammar, punctuation, spelling, and content,' adds Greener.

Unlike many other grammar checkers and spell checkers included with word processing and email applications, WhiteSmoke 2008 Extended Edition spots missing words and faulty punctuation. The product also helps people
improve grammar by explaining why it suggests changes. The spell checker dynamically updates to keep up with the pace of new words being introduced in business and on the Internet. In addition, the new Biotech Version contains
130,000 up-to-date medical and scientific terms.

WhiteSmoke 2008 Extended Edition is available in May 2008 and offers several new functions that can improve English writing. Based on patented natural language processing technology, WhiteSmoke performs advanced and context-based English grammar, spelling, and punctuation checking, as
well as text enrichment to enhance writing with synonyms, adverbs and adjectives.