- Passive Voice Grammar
- How Do I Check For Passive Voice On Mac For Word Search
- How Do I Check For Passive Voice On Mac For Word Problems
Last week’s post discussed the difference between active voice and passive voice. The steps below explain how to add passive voice to Microsoft Word’s grammar check and readability statistics.
This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.
Watch more than fifty other videos about Microsoft Word and Adobe Acrobat on my YouTube channel.
The images below are from Word 2013; however, these steps will work for Word 2019, Word 2016, and Word 2010.
For images from Word 2016, visit “How to Use the Passive Voice Tool in Word 2016.”
How to check for passive voice in word on mac. Posted on November 13, 2020 by November 13, 2020. How to check for passive voice in word on mac Home; About; Menu; Contact. The default configuration for Word will automatically check spelling and grammar as you type. By default it checks your grammar for 'standard' English. This includes, in addition to spelling, capitalization, negation, misused words, commonly confused words, use of passive voice, possessives, use of plurals, agreement in plurals and subject. Under When correcting spelling and grammar in Word, make sure the Check grammar with spelling check box is selected. Select Show readability statistics. After you enable this feature, open a file that you want to check, and check the spelling by pressing F7 or going to Review Spelling & Grammar. The easiest way to spot passive voice is to look for state-of-being verbs and often the word. And the best way I know to teach this is by example.
1. Select the File tab.
2. Select Options on the left-hand side of the Backstage view.
3. Select Proofing in the Word Options window.
4. Select Show readability statistics in the When correcting spelling and grammar in Word section.
5. Select Settings.
6. Select Passive sentences in the Grammar Settings window.
7. Click OK.
8. Select Recheck Document in the Word Options window if the document is already in progress. (This step isn’t necessary for blank documents.)
9. Select OK.
When you’re ready to run a grammar check:
10. Select the Review tab.
11. Select Spelling & Grammar.
12. Change or ignore the results of your grammar check.
13. Review your passive sentence percentage in the Readability Statistics window. (This window won’t appear until you complete the grammar check.)
14. Select OK.
And now you know if your writing leans toward passivity or activity!
Even as a full-time freelance writer, I have to admit: I don’t remember much of the grammar lessons I learned in grade school.
But when writing is your bread and butter (or even just your primary hobby), figuring out the most salient points of usage takes on a new importance — or, at least, feels more important than figuring it out just to pass a pop quiz.
Chances are at least one of your teachers drilled the idea that passive voice is bad into your head.
But why did they do that? Is it that bad, really? And, with however many years separating you from your classroom experience, do you even know how to identify passive voice in the first place anymore?
Let’s take a quick, pain-and-pop-quiz-free review of this peculiar type of sentence construction.
What is passive voice?
The passive voice is a type of sentence construction wherein the subject and object switch places: rather than the subject acting on the object, the object of the action becomes, itself, the subject.
It sounds complicated, but you’ve definitely seen it used — and more than likely used it yourself without even thinking about it.
One common way the passive voice is employed (and thus an easy red flag to look for when trying to identify it in your own writing) is the use of some form of “to be” verb plus a past participle. For example:
The paper had been written when I was young and inexperienced.
(An active voice version of that idea might read: I wrote the paper when I was young and inexperienced.)
However, not all sentences that use “to be” verbs or past participles are passive! For example, all of the following sentences are in the active voice:
I had been writing all night long, but I wasn’t getting anywhere.
I have to submit my manuscript by tomorrow!
He had gone to his editor more than once about it.
“To be” verbs and participles aside, the most conclusive way to figure out whether or not a sentence is in the passive voice is to identify the subject, verb, and — if there is one — the object of the action. If the object of the action is in the front of the sentence and the subject is at the end, you’ve got yourself an example of passive voice.
Another example:
PASSIVE VOICE: The book was written by my best friend, Elizabeth.
ACTIVE VOICE: My best friend Elizabeth wrote the book.
Why is the passive voice wrong?
As discussed above, the last time you talked about the passive voice was probably in the context of being told, by some well-meaning teacher, that it’s incorrect.
So let’s be totally clear: the passive voice isn’t wrong, exactly. But it’s usually a lot clunkier than an active sentence construction.
Using the passive voice distances the subject from the action of the sentence, which leads to less clarity and urgency. It can also add unnecessary words to your manuscript, since the passive voice generally requires more auxiliary verbs than the active voice does. You need a lot more space to say The ball had been kicked by me than to say I kicked the ball.
That said, there may be times when you want to employ the passive voice to purposefully draw emphasis to the object of an action — or the fact that the object is, in fact, being treated as an object.
![How Do I Check For Passive Voice On Mac For Word How Do I Check For Passive Voice On Mac For Word](/uploads/1/1/9/8/119846950/763725153.jpg)
For instance, Writer Constance Hale argues that Germaine Greer, in writing “The Female Eunuch,” uses the passive voice “ to emphasize that a subject is not a ‘doer’ but a ‘done-to’ over at the New York Times. Here’s Greer’s passage with the passive portion bolded:
The married woman’s significance can only be conferred by the presence of a man at her side, a man upon whom she absolutely depends. In return for renouncing, collaborating, adapting, identifying, she is caressed, desired, handled, influenced.
Passive Voice Grammar
When in doubt, however — and especially if you’re still working to understand exactly what the passive voice is — it’s usually a good rule of thumb to avoid it.
How to use less passive voice in your writing
Now that we’ve covered how to discern between passive vs. active voice and why the passive voice can be so problematic, you may be wondering how to fix or avoid it in your own writing practice.
And to be honest, like most things in the writing world — and in the whole world, as a matter of fact — a lot of it comes down to plain old practice. As you continue to write, take time to review your work specifically for instances of passive voice usage and change the sentences to active voice when you see them. Over time, using the active voice will become second nature.
Of course, everyone needs some help along the way. Fortunately, we’ve come across some grammar checker tools that include a passive voice checker amongst their suite of goodies — and although premium versions of those programs cost, many offer a free edition.
How Do I Check For Passive Voice On Mac For Word Search
Armed with this knowledge of passive voice, go forth and do some writing…as opposed to letting your writing do you!
How Do I Check For Passive Voice On Mac For Word Problems
Photo via Prostock-studio / Shutterstock