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Could Bad Grammar Mean a Lonely Valentine’s Day for Dating Hopefuls?

Updated on February 1, 2019Lifestyle

Editor’s note: This post was published in 2016 and does not reflect our current house style.

In the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, hopeful romantics take to online dating apps and send millions of messages (50 million, according to Match.com) to potential partners. What traits are they looking for in their matches? Common interests and mutual attraction are important to just about everybody, but one must-have that both men and women find important may surprise you—good grammar.

Grammarly collaborated with eHarmony to find out how grammar affects online dating. We reviewed 10,000 male/female matches generated by eHarmony’s matching algorithm. Fifty percent of the matches advanced to two-way communication, while the other 50 percent failed to advance. Each male and female in a match wrote long-form answers to questions on their dating profiles. We then used our automated proofreader to check for accuracy in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Does language affect love?

We discovered that in matters of love, language matters! A man with just two spelling errors in his online profile was 14% less likely to get a response. That could be because women find it necessary to be more particular about who they choose to connect with. Women on OKCupid receive nearly 17 times as many messages as men do. On the other hand, a woman’s chances didn’t seem to be affected by her writing, even though women made nearly twice as many grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors per 100 words.

Grammar is important to both sexes, though. Men and women ranked good writing chops as more important than confidence in a Match.com survey, which means that if you’re among the millions of Americans who’ll be turning to online dating to find true love before Valentine’s Day, proofreading is important!

Valentine's Day Grammar 2016 Infographic

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Methodology

Grammarly reviewed 10,000 eHarmony male/female matches generated by eHarmony’s matching algorithm. Fifty percent of the matches advanced to two-way communication, while the other 50 percent failed to advance. Each male and female in a match wrote long-form answers to questions on their dating profile. These writing samples were analyzed by Grammarly’s automated proofreader for accuracy in grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

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