Needs revision
The final decision was made by the committee.
GRAMMAR RULES / PASSIVE VOICE
Passive Voice Checker: Examples & When to Fix It
Passive voice makes the receiver of an action the grammatical focus instead of the person or thing performing the action.
✓ Clear rule✓ Before/after example✓ Private checker
THE RULE
Passive Voice
QUICK EXPLANATIONPassive voice is not automatically wrong. Revise it when naming the actor would make the sentence clearer, shorter, or more accountable.Use the examples below to see the difference in context.
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EXAMPLE
See the problem and the correction.
Revised
The committee made the final decision.
Why the revision works
The active version names the actor first and uses fewer words. The passive version can still be appropriate when the actor is unknown or unimportant.
FIX IT
Three checks to make in your own sentence.
- Find the real actor in the sentence.
- Move that actor into the subject position when clarity improves.
- Keep passive voice when the receiver of the action is genuinely the important focus.
TRY YOUR DRAFT
Check the real sentence, not just the example.
LINK2NOTE PRIVATE CHECKER
Grammar, spelling, punctuation, and style.
The standard checker runs Harper WebAssembly in your browser. Your draft is not sent to a grammar-checking server for the deterministic pass.
Paste text into the free checker →RELATED RULES
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FAQ
Passive Voice questions.
Is passive voice grammatically wrong?+
No. Passive voice is a valid grammatical structure, but it can make some sentences less direct.
When is passive voice useful?+
It can be useful when the actor is unknown, obvious, intentionally omitted, or less important than the action's receiver.
Can a grammar checker always decide whether passive voice is bad?+
No. A checker can flag patterns, but the writer still has to decide whether passive voice fits the context.