Allowing Passive Voice in Writing

Sheryl prefers passive voice for some of her writing (such as business documents and correspondence) rather than active voice. The grammar checker on her version of Word always marks instances of passive voice. Sheryl would like to turn off the portion of the grammar checker that checks for passive voice so that it is not marked as an error.

Word allows you to choose which grammar checking rules it follows and which it doesn't. To change this particular setting (the one for passive voice), follow these steps:

1. Display the Word Options dialog box. (In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. In Word 2010 or in a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)
2. Click the Proofing option at the left side of the dialog box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Proofing options of the Word Options dialog box.

3. Click the Settings button. Word displays the Grammar Settings dialog box. (See Figure 2.)



Figure 2. The Grammar Settings dialog box.

4. 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). (You'll need to scroll down a bit to see the option.)
5. Click on OK to close the Grammar Settings dialog box.
6. Click on OK to close the Word Options dialog box.

Depending on your version of Word, you may need to do some digging to find where the Passive Voice setting is located (step 4). For instance, in Word 365, there are multiple categories within the Options list in the Grammar Settings dialog box. The proper setting isn't within the first group (Grammar), but in one of the later groups (Clarity). If at first you don't see the option, keep searching. It is there somewhere!

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (7350) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2024, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Allowing Passive Voice in Writing.