MS Word has an issue with "which way" in the above sentence. Is there anything grammatically incorrect about this? I thought about replacing "which way" with "where", as below, but I am not sure I like the repeated use of "where" in this sentence.
It's fine. Software grammar checkers should be given the same credence you would give a literate eight year old. It's worth taking a second look, but don't worry if it doesn't make sense to you. You MUST be your own best grammar authority. Grammar checking software, including that in MSWord, is an idiot with moments of near brilliance. Expect it to be the idiot. If the false hits are too distracting, you can turn the feature off.
What version of Word are you using? Mine doesn't throw up a grammar error with that sentence. Though it is an odd sentence to me, or at least sounds strange. I just expect a sentence like that to be more like, "No matter which way he turned, Jack couldn’t tell where they were." The way you have it seems an odd sentence for someone who knows where they are, but maybe that's just me and the way I am reading it.
Cheers all. [MENTION=54501]huntsman40[/MENTION]: I am using a Mac version of word 2011. Also, I agree that the sentence does not make sense, and it is in fact not the exact sentence I have used in my MS, but the 1st clause is the same. When I put the sample sentence into word it still has the same effect.
I would suggest this instead: "Every way he turned, Jack could tell where they were." Or better yet, "Jack was so confident in his sense of direction that he could tell where they were no matter which way he turned."
He already said that it wasn't the real sentence, and to be honest none of them are good sentences. Not because of how they are structured, but just the fact you'd never do it in reality. You only tend to turn around in all directions if you are lost and looking for a landmark. If you know where you are and where you need to go, then you just head that way and don’t stand spinning around on the spot. Anyway it was just an example sentence, but if it wasn't and I read it in a book, I wouldn't find it that believable.
