Passive voice checker that tells you which passives to keep
Your teacher or editor wrote "too much passive voice" in the margin. Not every passive is wrong, though: in a lab report "the samples were heated" is normal. This prompt has your todo.is agent find every passive sentence, decide which ones work, and rewrite the rest in active voice with a clear doer.
The prompt
- Check this text for passive voice: [TEXT OR FILE]. It is a [TYPE OF TEXT]. Find every passive construction (forms of "be" or "get" + past participle), including hidden ones like "it was decided" or "mistakes were made". For each one, say whether to keep it or change it, with a one-line reason: keep when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious, or when the field expects it, like methods sections. Rewrite the ones to change in active voice with a clear subject; if the doer is missing, use [WHO DOES THE ACTIONS] or ask me. Give the passive percentage before and after. Return the text with changes highlighted in a Word file.
What to change
- [TEXT OR FILE]: Paste your text or attach a Word file or PDF.
- [TYPE OF TEXT]: e.g. "business report", "lab report", "news article", "policy document", "novel chapter".
- [WHO DOES THE ACTIONS]: The usual doer when the text hides it, e.g. "our team", "the council", "we (the authors)".
Example result
- Result
- Quarterly operations report · 1,200 words
- • Passive sentences: 23 of 68 (34%) → 8 of 68 (12%)
- • Kept: 8 · Rewritten: 15
- Rewritten (sample)
- • "It was decided that the launch would be delayed." → "The leadership team delayed the launch." *Reason:* "it was decided" hides who made the call; readers want to know.
- • "Mistakes were made in the invoicing process." → "Our billing team made errors in 40 invoices." *Reason:* owning the error builds trust and adds the scale.
- • "The new software was adopted by all three warehouses." → "All three warehouses adopted the new software." *Reason:* shorter, and the warehouses are the point.
- • "Customer complaints were reduced by 18%." → "We cut customer complaints by 18%." *Reason:* puts your team's result up front.
- Kept as passive (sample)
- • "The warehouse was built in 1998." The builder doesn't matter here.
- • "Two suppliers were affected by the port strike." The suppliers are the topic, not the strike.
- • "Data was collected from all 14 stores." Method sentence; the collector is obvious.
- Hidden passives found
- • "The issue got fixed" (a "get" passive) → "IT fixed the issue on Tuesday."
- • "Has been reported" (twice) → "Store managers reported..."
- How to spot a passive yourself
- • Look for a form of be (is, was, were, been, being) or get + a past participle (made, decided, reduced)
- • Try the "by zombies" test: if you can add "by zombies" after the verb and it still makes sense, it's passive. "The launch was delayed (by zombies)."
- Not passive (often confused)
- • "The office was busy": be + adjective
- • "Sales were rising": past continuous, active
How to do it with todo.is
- Paste your text, say what kind of writing it is and who usually does the actions.
- Send it in todo.is on the web, or on Telegram, Slack or WhatsApp.
- Open the Word file: rewritten sentences are highlighted, kept passives are marked with the reason.
- Disagree with one? Reply "keep sentence 7 passive" and you get an updated file.
Tips for a better result
- Don't aim for zero. Scientific methods, legal texts and some news writing use passive voice on purpose.
- Passive voice often hides responsibility. In business writing, naming who did what reads more honest and clearer.
- Rewriting a passive often makes the sentence shorter. If it gets longer, the passive may have been the better choice.
- Check style guides: many journals now accept "we" in methods, which removes most passives.
passive voice checker: FAQ
- What is passive voice? A sentence where the subject receives the action, like "The report was written by Ana". In active voice the subject does the action: "Ana wrote the report".
- Is passive voice wrong? No. It is useful when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious, or when you want to focus on what was affected. It is a problem when it hides who is responsible or makes sentences long and vague.
- How much passive voice is too much? Many editors suggest keeping it under about 10 to 15% of sentences in general writing. Scientific and legal texts often use more.
- Can it check a whole document at once? Yes. Attach a full Word file or PDF and your agent checks every sentence and returns a highlighted copy.
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