Grammar Check for Content bought on DP

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by Gold Sales, Nov 28, 2012.

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Perfect English and Grammar?

  1. Yes Perfect Article

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  2. Not Perfect But Acceptable

    2 vote(s)
    50.0%
  3. Multiple English and Grammar Errors

    2 vote(s)
    50.0%
  1. #1
    I recently bought Content from DigitalPoint in the Content Forum and found it to be less than perfect.
    The Grammar was bad and the sentences did not make sense in places. It looked to me like Spun content or that it had been written by a non-English speaker.

    Upon complaining to the writer/Content provider they promptly quoted me various Grammar rules and began defining the words that I felt were used wrongly.

    What I would like is for some Copywriters on here to take a look at the one of the articles they provided below and let me know how many errors you can find. Or let me know if you think that the article is acceptable English, if thats what you believe.

    [​IMG]
     
    Gold Sales, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  2. Senobia

    Senobia Notable Member

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    #2
    It's quite impressive, compared to SOME things I've seen people buy on here. Not bad at all, really. A few minor tweaks, but overall, way above par for DP.
     
    Senobia, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  3. Spoiltdiva

    Spoiltdiva Acclaimed Member

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    #3
    What jumped out at me was "that light weighted it is !". That is an example of an improper application of English. But overall not too bad,I've seen much worse.
     
    Spoiltdiva, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  4. Gold Sales

    Gold Sales Well-Known Member

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    #4
    Senobia
    Maybe I am expecting too much then. But I could have written my own articles in the same time it takes for me to proofread and rewrite these articles.
    So would you use phrases such as:
    "that light weighted it is" Sounds like YODA lol :)


     
    Gold Sales, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  5. Senobia

    Senobia Notable Member

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    #5
    I said:

    "It's quite impressive, compared to SOME things I've seen people buy on here."
    "A few minor tweaks, but overall, way above par for DP."

    I'm going to venture a guess that this was not written by a native English speaker, due to a couple of glaring usage issues. I'll also guess that the rate that you paid them was considerably less than the rate a native English speaker with better skills would have charged.

    That said, you generally get what you pay for and when you go to the low-end route, it doesn't leave much room to complain.
     
    Senobia, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  6. Brandon Sheley

    Brandon Sheley Illustrious Member

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    #6
    And was that article 1 buck or 2?
     
    Brandon Sheley, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  7. Gold Sales

    Gold Sales Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Yes they were cheaper articles. So the consensus on here is that the cheaper articles are not going to be good enough to use without some rewriting.

    Their DP details state they are from Romania. That is exactly how the articles sound to me, written by a non-native English speaker.
    So it seems that I might as well spend the time writing my own articles as spend it rewriting and checking cr*p articles that I have bought.
    So how much do you think one needs to spend before the quality is actually usable (without any changes required)?
     
    Gold Sales, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  8. Senobia

    Senobia Notable Member

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    #8
    Flawless is relative. I might like a phrase I used and thought it was quite snappy, but the editor thinks, "No - I like ____ better, so Imma change it." Not that there's anything wrong with it, but changes come about all the time for lots of reasons. Never anticipate "No changes required".

    I don't think there's a magic number in regards to $X = Super Content. You can pay a dime a word for crap just as easily as you can pay a tenth of a cent for the same trash. The reality is a good writer - a skilled writer - is going to (or should) value their talent and you're never going to find them whoring it for pennies. You wouldn't look for a Louis Vuitton bag at Walmart, right?
     
    Senobia, Nov 28, 2012 IP
  9. YMC

    YMC Well-Known Member

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    #9
    It looks spun and also looks like it was written to artificially inflate word count. A number of the sentences would work far better with fewer words. I agree with Senobia that it is better than most of the dreck being offering in the BST areas but it is certainly not something I would post on one of my sites.
     
    YMC, Nov 29, 2012 IP
  10. Gold Sales

    Gold Sales Well-Known Member

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    #10
    You've hit the nail on the head. That is a perfect way to describe it that I hadn't thought of, it seems like sentences have been lengthened using redundant words and phrases.
    Maybe they started with an article spun from PLR content then bloated it by adding phrases and words where they weren't required.

    Thats my problem, there is no way I can use that as content without a total rewrite.

     
    Gold Sales, Nov 29, 2012 IP
  11. averyz

    averyz Well-Known Member

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    #11
    Personally it doesn't look spun to me. Most spun stuff I see has words that just don't really fit in because they were replaced with spinning software. I could be wrong.

    I just looks to me like English is not the writers first language. Seems like you average run of the mill DP content, I have seen much worse around here..
     
    averyz, Nov 29, 2012 IP