Active Voice Checker
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The passive voice detector scans sentences for auxiliary verbs ('be' or 'get') paired with past participles, offering rule-based active rewrites and an interactive 'by zombies' test. It reports paragraph-by-paragraph passive density, Flesch Reading Ease, and Microsoft Word proofing steps, running 100% client-side in browser memory.
Instantly find and fix passive voice in your writing. Make your sentences stronger and more direct.
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What is Passive Voice and How Does the Detector Identify It?
Interactive Highlighted Text & 'By Zombies' Verification: The Highlighted Text tab underlines passive constructions in blue, flags corporate clichés in red, and highlights wordy filler words in yellow. To verify passive voice intuitively, toggle the By Zombies switch. Based on a classic grammatical test, if inserting "[by zombies]" immediately after the verb phrase makes grammatical sense, the clause is in the passive voice.
Rule-Based Active Rewrites Engine: The Active Rewrites tab automatically analyzes each flagged passive sentence, extracts the agent ('by [agent]') or suggests a context-appropriate placeholder (such as "We", "The team", or "The author"), removes the auxiliary verb, and formats the active verb. While AI-based tools send drafts to remote cloud servers, our rule-based engine runs instantaneously inside your browser sandbox with complete document privacy.
Paragraph Breakdown & Readability Scoring: The Paragraphs tab provides a granular breakdown showing total sentences, passive counts, and passive percentage for every individual paragraph in your document. Simultaneously, the tool computes real-time readability metrics based on proven psychometric formulas:
- Flesch Reading Ease: Evaluates sentence length and syllable density on a 0–100 scale (scores above 60 indicate standard, accessible English).
- Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: Calculates the estimated US school grade level required to comprehend the text.
How to Check Passive Voice in Microsoft Word: Writers composing in Microsoft Word can enable native passive voice auditing via Word's built-in proofing engine (as documented on support.microsoft.com):
1. Open Microsoft Word, click File, and select Options.
2. Select Proofing in the left sidebar.
3. Under "When correcting spelling and grammar in Word", ensure "Mark grammar errors as you type" is checked.
4. Next to "Writing Style", click Settings....
5. In the Grammar Settings dialog, scroll down to Clarity and Conciseness and check Passive sentences.
6. Click OK and click Recheck Document.
For writing samples and transformation strategies, consult our Passive Voice Checker & Examples Guide.
Worked Example:
- Input: "The report was finished late because data was collected by hand. The new design got approved on Friday."
- Passive Count: 2 out of 2 sentences (100% passive)
- Zombie Test: "The report was finished [by zombies]..." (Valid passive)
- Active Rewrite: "The team finished the report late because staff collected data by hand. Management approved the new design on Friday."
A passive voice checker identifies sentences where the grammatical subject receives the action rather than performing it. Our client-side detector flags both 'be' and 'get' passives across ~140 irregular past participles, highlights 22 clichés and 22 filler words, and features an interactive 'by zombies' test switch to help writers convert passive clauses into clear, direct prose.
Definition: Passive Voice Structure
A grammatical construction in which the subject of the clause represents the patient receiving the action of the verb, rather than the agent performing it. It typically combines an auxiliary verb ('be' or 'get') with a past participle (e.g., 'The contract was signed by the executive').
What Grammar Analysis and Readability Metrics Are Shown?
Required Inputs
- Raw Text EditorAny plain text essay, report, email, or article typed or pasted into the input field.
- Try a Sample ButtonOne-click sample text loader demonstrating passive sentences, clichés, and filler words.
- By Zombies SwitchInteractive toggle inserting '[by zombies]' after flagged participles to verify passive structures.
Expected Outputs
- Underlined Passive SentencesBlue underline highlighting sentences containing identified passive verb phrases.
- Active Rewrites TabRule-based active conversion suggestions with identified agent and active verb structure.
- Paragraph BreakdownPer-paragraph table reporting total sentences, passive sentences, and passive density percentage.
- Readability MetricsFlesch Reading Ease score (0–100) and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level index.
- Cliché & Filler BadgesColor-coded highlights marking red corporate clichés and yellow filler words.
Who Uses the Passive Voice Detector?
Academic & Scientific Manuscript Revision
Audit research papers and dissertations to balance passive methodologies ('experiments were performed') with active analytical claims ('the data demonstrates').
Business Proposals & Executive Reports
Eliminate ambiguous passive phrasing from executive summaries and financial reviews to establish clear accountability and direct action.
Technical Documentation & SOPs
Convert passive instruction steps ('The settings should be updated') into concise, actionable imperative directions ('Update the settings').
Blog & Content Marketing Editing
Identify and eliminate tired clichés and filler words from landing pages and blog articles to keep reader engagement high.
How Do You Find and Convert Passive Voice to Active Voice?
- 1Type or paste your text into the 'Your Text' editor panel on the left, or click 'Try a sample' to explore sample data.
- 2Review the summary statistics showing passive count, passive percentage, clichés, and filler words.
- 3Switch between the 'Highlighted Text', 'Active Rewrites', and 'Paragraphs' tabs to inspect your writing.
- 4Enable the 'By zombies' test toggle to insert '[by zombies]' after flagged verbs, confirming whether each sentence is passive.
- 5Check readability scores (Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level) to evaluate clarity.
- 6Click 'Copy' in the editor toolbar to copy your clean, active text directly to your clipboard.
Grammar Rules, Auxiliary Verb Forms, and Readability Thresholds
Privacy & Security Guarantee
Text evaluation runs entirely within your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your confidential reports, manuscripts, and drafts are never transmitted across the network or stored in external databases.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I check for passive voice in Microsoft Word?
In Microsoft Word Desktop or 365, go to File > Options > Proofing. Under 'When correcting spelling and grammar in Word', click Settings next to Writing Style (Grammar & Refinements). Scroll down to Clarity and Conciseness, check 'Passive sentences', and click OK, then click Recheck Document. Word will now underline passive phrasing as you type.
Is passive voice always a grammatical error?
No. Passive voice is a legitimate grammatical construction, not a syntax error. It is valuable when the agent performing the action is unknown, obvious, or less important than the result (for example, 'Penicillin was discovered in 1928'). However, overuse of passive voice can make writing evasive, dull, or verbose.
How does the 'by zombies' test confirm passive voice?
The 'by zombies' test is a widely recognized grammatical technique. Because passive constructions transfer action onto the subject or omit the actor, you can almost always append 'by zombies' after the verb phrase without violating syntax (e.g., 'The proposal was rejected [by zombies]'). If the sentence remains grammatically coherent, the clause is passive.
What is the distinction between a 'be' passive and a 'get' passive?
A 'be' passive uses a conjugated form of 'be' followed by a past participle (such as 'The policy was revised'). A 'get' passive uses forms of 'get' (such as 'The server got hacked' or 'The feature got approved'). While 'get' passives are common in informal English, they are often discouraged in formal academic writing.
Why are some sentences containing words ending in -ed not flagged as passive?
Many words ending in -ed function as predicate adjectives rather than passive verbs (for instance, 'She was excited' or 'He was tired'). The detector maintains a specific exclusion list of 38 common -ed adjectives to prevent false alarms, only flagging them if they are followed by the preposition 'by'.
How does the active rewrite feature suggest alternatives?
The Active Rewrites tab parses the passive clause, extracts the agent after 'by' (or assigns a clear subject like 'We' or 'The team'), strips the auxiliary verb ('was', 'were', 'got'), and conjugates the main verb into active past tense, giving you an immediate active template.
How do I rewrite a passive sentence into an active sentence?
To convert a passive sentence into active voice, identify who or what is performing the action (the agent) and make that entity the grammatical subject of the clause. For example, change 'The decision was made by the board' into 'The board made the decision'.