How to Fix Passive Voice in Your Writing

You read a sentence back and something feels off. It is not exactly wrong, but it sounds soft, vague, or weirdly distant. That is often passive voice at work. It sneaks into emails, essays, blog posts, and captions because it sounds formal enough to pass at first glance.

Fixing passive voice is usually not hard. You just need to spot who is doing the action, move that person or thing to the front, and let the sentence breathe a little.

What passive voice actually is

Passive voice happens when the subject of the sentence receives the action instead of doing it.

Example:

• Passive: The email was sent by Mia.
• Active: Mia sent the email.

In the passive version, “the email” gets acted on. In the active version, “Mia” does the action. That is why active voice usually sounds clearer and more direct.

Why passive voice feels weak

Passive voice is not evil. It just tends to do a few annoying things:

• hides the doer
• makes sentences longer
• sounds less direct
• creates distance between the action and the reader

Compare these:

• The mistake was made.
• We made a mistake.

The second sentence is shorter, clearer, and more honest. That is usually the better choice.

The fastest way to spot passive voice

Look for this pattern:

• a form of “be”
  like is, was, were, has been, had been
• plus a past participle
  like written, sent, chosen, made, broken
• sometimes followed by “by”

Examples:

• The post was shared by the team.
• The rules were ignored.
• A decision has been made.

Not every sentence with “was” or “is” is passive, so do not panic every time you see those words. The real question is this: is the subject doing the action, or receiving it?

A quick test that works

Ask:

Who did the action?

If the answer comes after the verb, or is missing completely, the sentence is probably passive.

Example:

• The window was broken.

Who broke it? The sentence does not say. That is a strong clue.

How to fix passive voice in 3 steps

1. Find the real doer

Look for the person, group, or thing actually performing the action.

Passive:

• The article was edited by Sara.

Real doer:

• Sara

2. Move the doer to the front

Put the actor where readers expect it.

• Sara edited the article.

3. Use a stronger verb

Once you rewrite the sentence, you can usually trim extra words too.

Passive:

• A review was conducted by the manager.

Active:

• The manager reviewed it.

That is cleaner already.

Passive to active voice examples

These are the kinds of rewrites that make the pattern click fast.

• Passive: The project was completed by the team.
  Active: The team completed the project.
• Passive: The cake was baked by my sister.
  Active: My sister baked the cake.
• Passive: The door was left open.
  Active: Someone left the door open.
• Passive: A new policy was announced by the company.
  Active: The company announced a new policy.
• Passive: The book was written in 1998.
  Active: The author wrote the book in 1998.

When passive voice makes writing worse

Passive voice is most annoying when it hides responsibility or slows the sentence down.

In school writing

• Passive: The experiment was completed, and the results were recorded.
• Better: We completed the experiment and recorded the results.

In work emails

• Passive: The file was not attached.
• Better: I forgot to attach the file.

That second version sounds human. It also saves everyone time.

In blog writing

• Passive: Several tips are included in this article.
• Better: This article includes several tips.

This is one of my biggest preferences as an editor. Blog writing should move. Passive voice often puts little speed bumps everywhere.

When passive voice is actually fine

Not every passive sentence needs to be “fixed.” Sometimes it is the right call.

Use passive voice when:

• the doer is unknown
  Example: My bike was stolen.
• the action matters more than the doer
  Example: The road was closed for repairs.
• you want a formal or neutral tone
  Example: The request was denied.
• the active version sounds clunky or fake
  Example: The suspect was arrested.

Trying to eliminate every passive sentence usually makes writing worse, not better.

Common passive voice patterns to watch for

These show up a lot:

• was completed
• were made
• is known
• has been decided
• was given
• were asked
• was found
• had been written

When you see one of those, stop for a second and ask whether the sentence would improve if the doer came first.

Sentences that sound passive but are not always a problem

Some sentences use “be” plus another word and still are not passive in the way people mean.

Examples:

• She was tired.
• The room is quiet.
• They were happy.

These are not passive voice problems. They are just linking verbs plus adjectives. Do not waste time “fixing” sentences that are already doing their job.

Common mistakes people make when fixing passive voice

Making the rewrite awkward

Passive:

• The ball was thrown by Jake.

Bad fix:

• Jake was the one who threw the ball.

Better:

• Jake threw the ball.

Do not replace one clunky sentence with another.

Inventing a fake subject

Passive:

• The report was submitted yesterday.

Bad fix:

• Someone submitted the report yesterday.

If you do not know who did it, and that detail does not matter, the passive sentence may be fine.

Overcorrecting every passive sentence

This happens a lot once people learn the rule. They start rewriting perfectly acceptable passive lines just to prove they can. That usually produces stiff, unnatural writing.

A quick checklist for fixing passive voice

Before changing a sentence, ask:

1. Who is doing the action?
2. Does the sentence say that clearly?
3. Would active voice make it shorter?
4. Would active voice make it more direct?
5. Does the doer actually matter here?

If the answer to most of those points is yes, rewrite it.

Easy passive voice practice

Try these rewrites:

• The speech was written by Lena.
• The dishes were washed by my brother.
• The final choice was made by the committee.
• The lights were turned off.

Better active versions:

• Lena wrote the speech.
• My brother washed the dishes.
• The committee made the final choice.
• Someone turned off the lights.

That last example is a good reminder: sometimes active voice forces you to name a doer. Sometimes that helps. Sometimes it does not.

The easiest habit to build

When you finish a draft, do one read-through looking only for these:

• was
• were
• is
• been
• by

You will not catch every passive sentence that way, but you will catch a lot of them. Then check whether the sentence hides the actor or weakens the point.

That one pass can tighten an article faster than most people expect.

Always Remember

Passive voice is not automatically wrong. It just gets overused when writers want to sound formal, cautious, or polished. Most of the time, active voice sounds better because it puts the doer first and makes the sentence clearer.

So if a line feels foggy, do this: find the real actor, move them up front, and use a direct verb. If the rewrite sounds stronger, keep it. If the passive version serves the sentence better, leave it alone. That is the real goal. Not perfect grammar theater. Just cleaner writing.