How to compare two versions of an essay word by word
By TechCompare · Updated · How we check
Put each sentence or paragraph on its own line and compare the drafts. Small edits get word marks, while a sentence you rewrote from scratch shows as a full replacement.
The example
2 changes: 3 lines removed, 3 added
| Original: street-trees.txt | Changed: street-trees.txt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Removed | Street trees make summer streets cooler for people who walk. | 1 | Added | Street trees make summer streets noticeably cooler for people who walk. |
| 2 | Removed | Their shade keeps | 2 | Added | Their shade keeps asphalt from heating up during the afternoon. |
| 3 | Trees also catch some of the rain that would otherwise run into storm drains. | 3 | Trees also catch some of the rain that would otherwise run into storm drains. | ||
| 4 | Removed | For these reasons, | 4 | Added | For these reasons, cities should plant trees on wide streets first. |
Revising an essay means many small edits: a stronger verb here, a cut phrase there, a new last sentence. After a few rounds it's hard to remember what changed. Pasting two drafts into a text diff shows each edited sentence with the changed words marked, so you can check every edit on its own.
How this is calculated
The example is a short paragraph about street trees, before and after one round of edits. The tool finds 2 changes: 3 lines removed, 3 added. In the first line, the only mark is the new word "noticeably". In the second, "pavement" became "asphalt". In the last sentence, "every city" became "cities" and the ending was rewritten. The marks cover only those words.
Word marks have a limit on purpose. When most of a line is new, marking nearly every word would only add noise, so the tool shows that line as a plain removal and addition. If you see a whole sentence without marks, it was mostly rewritten.
How you split the text decides what a line is. One sentence per line gives the clearest result, since each edit lands on its own short line. One paragraph per line works too, and the inline view helps there, because it gives each long paragraph the full width.
A diff is also a good way to review an editor's or a teacher's changes when they didn't use tracked changes. Paste your draft on the left and their version on the right, then step through each change with the next button.
Verdict
Compare each new draft with the one right before it, not with the first draft, so every review covers one round of edits. Read the marked words in their sentence. If a sentence shows up as fully replaced, reread it as new writing, since it needs the same care as the first time you wrote it.
More Text Diff scenarios
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
Can a diff tell me if I improved my essay?
Why are some changed sentences shown without word marks?
How do I check the word count of each version?
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