5+ Best Passive Voice Checker Tools for Flawless Writing [2023]

Writing can be challenging, whether you write novels, short stories, screenplays, audiobooks, blogs, or anything else! You have to worry about grammar, punctuation, and making your point in a way that is interesting and engaging for your reader.

But what if there was an easy way to ensure your writing was always on point? Passive voice checker tools can help identify passive sentences and make corrections. This can result in improved clarity, fluency, and overall quality of your writing.

With flawless writing, you can focus on making your points clear and exciting for your reader. Imagine how impressed they will be when you show them a piece of writing that is free from errors!

Read this article to learn more about the best passive sentence checker tools available today!

What Is the Best Passive Voice Checker?

Many passive voice checkers are available online, but which is the best?

To answer this question, it is essential to understand what passive voice is and how it can impact writing.

Passive voice occurs when the subject of a sentence is acted upon by the verb rather than performing the action itself. For example, “The ball was thrown by John” is in passive voice, while “John threw the ball” is in active voice.

While there are times when passive voice can be used effectively, it is generally considered to be weaker and less direct than active voice. As a result, an excellent passive voice checker should be able to identify sentences in passive voice and suggest revisions.

There are several different factors to consider when choosing a grammar checker:

• One crucial consideration is accuracy; you want to be sure that the checker will correctly identify instances of passive voice.

• Second, consider the level of precision you need. Some checkers will highlight instances of passive voice, while others will provide more detailed information about why each instance is problematic.

• In addition, some passive-voice detectors will give options for active sentences that you could use – many simply require a single click, and your passive-voice sentence is turned into an active-voice sentence automatically!

• Another vital consideration is user-friendliness; you want to be sure that the checker is easy to use and understand.

• Finally, you may also want to consider the cost; while many passive voice checkers are free, some come with a price tag.

How I Evaluated Each Checking Tool

To check the accuracy and features of each tool, I used the same passive-voice loaded paragraph in each one:

“A cloud was seen by Sarah. A new car will be bought by me. The lamp was knocked over by the cat. The plates were being washed by Karen when I got home. Pretzels will be sold at the game. The teacher will be talked to about this by the principal. The truth will be uncovered eventually. You will be rewarded for your exemplary behavior. We have been practicing our instruments for hours. The dog was being walked by Tim when he saw the squirrel.”

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1. Grammarly

Overview

Grammarly is a great online passive voice checker that can help you improve your writing by identifying and correcting instances of passive voice. Not only does Grammarly catch grammatical errors that you might miss, but it also provides helpful explanations so that you can learn from your mistakes and improve your writing skills overall.

Top Features

Catching all passive voice errors can be challenging when editing your work. An artificial intelligence tool like Grammarly can be invaluable in catching errors you might otherwise miss.

• Grammarly will highlight your passive voice errors and show you how to correct them.

• You just need to click on the fixed version of your sentence (with active voice construction) to make your writing stronger automatically!

• However, you need Grammarly Premium to use the passive voice checker (it’s not included in the free version, unfortunately!).

Pricing

While the free version of Grammarly will help you fix spelling mistakes, punctuation, and other simple grammatical errors, you will need the paid plan to check for the passive voice in your writing.

Paid plans are:

For Individuals: The Premium subscription starts at $12 per month (if paid yearly). It is $20 per month if you pay quarterly and $30 per month if you pay month-to-month.

For Businesses: Business plans start at $15 per month (paid yearly), and the price increases depending on how many team members you want to include.

My Experience & Bottom Line

When I added my passive-voice-laden paragraph to my paid version of Grammarly, it found six passive-voice sentences immediately.

Grammarly suggested new, active-voice constructions for three of the sentences, and I could click and change those sentences to better ones. But, unfortunately, Grammarly did not provide quick re-writes for the three other sentences it found. It told me that they used the passive voice and should be rewritten, but it did not provide a one-click suggestion.

Grammarly Premium is best for people who need to check the grammar of a high volume of written work and see the value in a tried-and-true, high-quality, paid passive voice checker product. It’s so easy to fix a passive-voice sentence with a click of the mouse!

Grammarly will help you with the tone of your writing, making sure the grammar is correct, and even using inclusive language and checking for plagiarism. You can even use it in Microsoft Word. It is an all-in-one solution for those happy to pay for a premium product!

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2. ProWritingAid

Overview

ProWritingAid is a high-quality grammar checker that can help you spot instances of passive voice in your writing so you can edit them accordingly. With its help, you can ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and sounds great to boot!

Top Features

There are many reasons why ProWritingAid is one of the best online tools for checking for passive voice.

• First, it underlines instances of passive voice in your text so you can quickly and easily identify them.

• Second, it provides suggested corrections for each instance of passive voice (and sometimes multiple examples!), which makes it easy to edit your text.

• Third, it keeps track of your progress to see how well you’re doing with improving your grammar skills.

• Fourth, it’s a free tool that is a passive voice corrector and grammatical error finder!

Pricing

ProWritingAid is a free passive voice checker that also has a paid version. The best part is that both versions check for passive voice issues!

If you do want to upgrade to the premium version, it will cost:

$20/month if you pay monthly

$6.58/month if you pay yearly (67% savings!)

$399 for a lifetime subscription, including all future updates

My Experience & Bottom Line

When I tried ProWritingAid with a paragraph of passive-voice sentences, it found seven instances of passive-voice construction.

ProWritingAid fixed the above sentences into the following:

As you can see, it provided corrected sentences for six of the sentences but did not provide a fix for the last one. I would need to develop a better, more active sentence by myself. I also would need to go through this paragraph again and accept the changes to correct the capitalization of the word “A.”

ProWritingAid is the best passive voice detector for budget-conscious writers who want to correct most of their grammar and spelling mistakes and their passive voice usage issues.

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3. Hemmingway App & Hemingway Editor

Overview

Hemingway Editor is one of the best passive voice checkers because it is easy to use, effective at catching the passive construction, and free!

Top Features

Hemingway is an excellent tool for checking for passive voice.

• It highlights any instances of passive voice in your text, so you can quickly revise them.

• Hemingway shows you your passive voice mistakes quickly.

• Hemingway is free!

• However, Hemingway does not give you examples of active voice sentences that you could use (like Grammarly and ProWriting Aid do) – you need to change the sentence on your own.

Pricing

Hemingway App is free to use online!

My Experience & Bottom Line

When I put in my paragraph of passive-voice sentences, Hemingway App identified seven of them! I loved how fast and easy it was to use the program, but I found it frustrating that no suggestions for better sentences were provided.

Hemingway is best for budget-conscious writers who like to create every word of their written work themselves!

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4. Ginger Grammar

Overview

Ginger Grammar is a fantastic all-around grammar checker. and Grammarly alternative. It has both a free and a paid version; however, the passive voice checker is only found in the paid version.

Top Features

While there’s nothing wrong with using passive voice occasionally, too much of it can make your writing sound dull and awkward. That’s where Ginger comes in. Ginger is a great grammar checker – here’s why:

• Ginger can help you identify sentences that are in passive voice (premium version only).

• Ginger can suggest alternative phrasing for sentences that are in passive voice.

• Ginger is fantastic for people who write in languages other than English (it is a language translation tool for 40+ languages!).

• Ginger has a rephrasing function – helping you change the tone or style of a sentence. This rephrase function will find instances of passive voice issues in sentences and will provide multiple options to change them into the active voice.

Pricing

Ginger Grammar Premium has multiple options for payment:

$13.99 per month if you pay monthly

$11.19 per month if you pay quarterly (every four months)

$7.49 per month if you pay yearly

$6.99 per month if you pay for two years at once

My Experience & Bottom Line

When I tried my passive-voice-loaded paragraph in Ginger, the “rephrasing” option provided me with well-written, active-voice sentence possibilities. I liked how many options it provided and how easy it was to change the sentence (just one click changed each sentence to a better version!).

Disappointingly, however, Ginger did not provide an active-voice equivalent for a few of my sentences (example shown below). Instead, the suggested sentences had completely different meanings!

Ginger Grammar is best for writers who need to check the grammar of both English and non-English written works. Otherwise, I would look elsewhere for a better English-language passive-voice checker (such as Grammarly or ProWriting Aid).

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5. LanguageTool.org

Overview

LanguageTool.org is an online grammar checker tool that detects and corrects errors in passive voice usage. The tool is designed to help writers of all levels produce error-free content quickly and efficiently. LanguageTool.org utilizes advanced algorithms to detect common errors such as incorrect verb use, misplaced modifiers, and subject-verb agreement issues.

It also offers helpful recommendations for edits, so users can make the necessary improvements quickly. With its comprehensive coverage of English and other languages, LanguageTool.org is perfect for anyone looking for a reliable passive voice checker!

Top Features

• Comprehensive coverage of English and other languages, making it the perfect passive voice checker for any writer.
• Advanced algorithms detect common errors such as incorrect verb use and misplaced modifiers.
• Offers helpful recommendations for edits so users can make necessary improvements quickly.
• Detailed reports provide clear information on which errors were detected and which changes should be made.
• No software installation is required – all you need is an internet connection.

Pricing

The basic version of LanguageTool is free to use. However, its effectiveness at finding passive voice is enhanced if you buy the premium version.

My Experience & Bottom Line

This software tool required me to sign in to use the free version, which I did not love. However, there was no advertising on the site which made the experience much nicer!

This tool found only one of the passive voice mistakes in my paragraph. It did suggest a much better sentence that I could use with just one click, which was great. I bet that if I paid for the premium version of this software, it would likely find more of my grammatical errors.

Overall, I think this would be a great passive sentence checker if you pay for the premium version. It’s also a good choice if you write in a language other than English, as it works in more than 30 languages and dialects. Its main languages are English, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, and Portuguese. 

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6. GrammarCheck

Overview

GrammarCheck is an easy-to-use, free passive voice checker. One nice feature is that it does not ask for personal information before using it.

Top Features

• GrammarCheck does an excellent job of finding simple spelling and grammar errors.

• However, it is not good at finding more complex grammar mistakes or at helping you improve your writing style.

Pricing

GrammarCheck is free to use!

My Experience & Bottom Line

When I inputted my passive-voice loaded paragraph into this online tool, it did not find or underline a single sentence! It did tell me that there may be multiple errors in my work, and it sent me to Grammarly Premium to do a “deep check”.

GrammarCheck is best for writers who are looking for a free, easy-to-use, simple spelling and obvious grammar-mistake checker. In my experience, it was terrible at detecting passive-voice sentences!

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What Are Passive Voice Checker Tools?

At their most basic, passive voice checkers are a kind of writing tool designed to help you identify and correct instances of passive voice in your writing. Passive voice occurs when the subject of a sentence is acted upon by the verb rather than performing the action itself. This can often make sentences sound awkward or unclear.

For example, consider the following sentence: “The ball was caught by John.” In this sentence, John is the subject, but he is not performing the action of catching the ball – instead, the ball is being caught by someone else. This makes the sentence sound awkward and difficult to read.

Passive voice checkers can help you identify and correct these sentences, making your writing much more unambiguous and concise!

Common Questions About Passive Voice-Checking Tools

How do you identify passive voice?

To identify passive voice, look for a sentence construction that includes a form of the verb “to be” followed by a past participle. For example, “The ball was thrown by Mark.” In this sentence, the subject (the ball) is being acted upon (thrown) by the object (Mark).

To change the passive form of a sentence into the active form, reverse the order of the subject and object. In the example sentence, this would give you “Mark threw the ball.” You can also add details to active voice sentences to make them more interesting, such as “Mark threw the ball across the room.”

Does Grammarly detect passive voice?

Yes, Grammarly detects passive voice sentence construction – but only in the paid premium version!

How do you check if a sentence is active or passive?

To determine whether a sentence is active or passive, you must pay close attention to the verbs. In an active sentence, the subject is doing the verb. For example, “I am writing a paper.” In a passive sentence, the subject is acted upon by the verb. For example, “The paper is being written by me.”

What is the easiest way to correct passive voice?

The best way to fix passive voice is to switch the order of the subject and the verb in a sentence. In active voice, the subject is performing the action of the verb. For example, “The ball was hit by John” is in passive voice. This can be rewritten as “John hit the ball.”

What is a passive voice misuse checker?

What is a passive voice misuse checker? It’s a tool that helps you improve your writing and sentence structure by identifying instances of passive voice. Passive voice is often used in academic writing (and it’s not technically grammatically incorrect), but it can make your writing sound dull and challenging to read. The passive voice checker online tools will help you find instances of passive voice so that you can revise your writing to make it more straightforward and exciting.

Why is a passive voice-checking tool important for screenwriters and playwrights?

Screenwriters and playwrights need to write in the present tense, so a passive voice-checking tool is essential for their writing process. The passive voice can make writing sound stilted and awkward, so catching and fixing it early is important. The tool will help you identify instances of the passive voice in your writing so you can revise them. This will make your writing more vigorous and active, which is essential for engaging readers and audiences. So, if you’re a screenwriter or playwright, be sure to invest in an excellent passive voice-checking tool and great screenwriting software!

Wrap-Up: Tools to Check for Active and Passive Voice

Whether you’re a writer looking to improve the quality of your writing or want to ensure you’re not using too many passive voice sentences in your work, the best passive voice checkers can help.

By taking advantage of these helpful resources, you can easily and quickly identify any potential problems with your writing and make the necessary corrections.

Start using one of these tools today and see how your writing improves!

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