That said, it’s worth saying that the reason Microsoft Word always dings the passive voice is because English teachers generally ding the passive voice . Passive Voice [The] Passive voice produces a sentence in which the subject receives an action. In contrast, [the] active voice produces a sentence in which the subject performs an action.
Microsoft Word’s grammar check consistently places green squiggly lines underneath places where we have used the passive voice. Double-clicking on those errors prompts a “Passive Voice (consider revising)” message from Word’s grammar checker. Often, this error is not understood, and therefore we ignore it.
The Grammar Settings dialog box. Make sure there is no check mark next to the Passive Sentences option (Word 2013 and earlier) or the Passive Voice option (Word 2016 and later). Click on OK to close the Grammar Settings dialog box. Click on OK to close the Word Options dialog box.
Does Microsoft Word 2016 have a passive voice tool?
However, Microsoft has redeemed itself by returning the passive voice tool in a recent software update. In celebration, today’s tutorial shows how to add the passive voice tool to Microsoft Word 2016’s Spelling & Grammar check and the readability statistics.
Microsoft Word 2019 also has options to check for passive voice. For example, if you go to File > Options > Proofing you can check the box next to Mark grammar errors as you type. Now when you are typing or when you perform a spelling and grammar check you should see passive verbs with a blue underline.
How do I check for passive voice in Microsoft Word?
To activate the check for passive voice, follow these three steps. Step 2: In the ‘Spelling & Grammar’ tab of the Options dialog box, enable the ‘Check grammar as you type’ and ‘Check grammar with spelling’ options.
Is it bad to use the passive voice too much?
In good writing, the passive voice should not be used too much. However, never using the passive voice is also bad writing style. The best thing to do with the Microsoft Word grammar corrector is to turn it off.
How do I add passive voice to the grammar check and readability?
If you want to add passive voice to the grammar check and readability statistics in Word 2016, visit “How to Use the Passive Voice Tool in Word 2016.”. Select the File tab. Select Options on the left-hand side of the Backstage view. Select Proofing in the Word Options window.
Select the OK button in the Grammar Settings dialog box. Select the OK button in the Word Options dialog box. After adding passive voice to your proofing options, you can run the Spelling & Grammar check and view the readability statistics with passive voice.