This change is extremely distressing, as college students need to see their passive-voice writing to change it to active voice.

Click on OK to close the Word Options dialog box. However, I recently learned that the newest version of Microsoft Word (2016) no longer highlights passive-voice writing with the blue squiggly line and no longer provides a percentage for passive-voice writing.

Click on OK to close the Grammar Settings dialog box.

(You'll need to scroll down a bit to see the option.)

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).

Word displays the Grammar Settings dialog box. The Proofing options of the Word Options dialog box.

Click the Proofing option at the left side of the dialog box.

In Word 2010 or in a later version display the File tab of the ribbon and then click Options.)

(In Word 2007 click the Office button and then click Word Options. To change this particular setting (the one for passive voice), follow these steps: Word allows you to choose which grammar checking rules it follows and which it doesn't. 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. The grammar checker on Word always marks instances of passive voice. Active voice can facilitate effective communication.Sheryl prefers passive voice for some of her writing (such as business documents and correspondence) rather than active voice. Once you configure the check for passive sentences, MS-Word will squiggly-underline (in green color) most instances of passive sentences as illustrated below, just like it does squiggly-underline (in red color) spelling mistakes.Ĭlarity and ease-of-comprehension are two of the most important requisites to effective communication. Step 3: In the ‘Grammar Settings’ dialog box, enable the ‘Passive sentences’ under the ‘Style’ category. Select ‘Grammar & Style’ from the ‘Writing style’ drop down and click on the ‘Settings’ button. Step 2: In the ‘Spelling & Grammar’ tab of the Options dialog box, enable the ‘Check grammar as you type’ and ‘Check grammar with spelling’ options.

Step 1: Select ‘Tools’ from the ‘Options’ menu To activate the check for passive voice, follow these three steps. You can use the ‘Grammar Check’ feature in MS-Word to identify and eliminate passive voice. Sentences in active voice (e.g., ” I appreciate your feedback”) are simple, direct, persuasive, and easier to understand. To summarize, sentences in passive voice (e.g., “Your feedback is appreciated,”) though grammatically correct, seem impersonal and obscure the responsibility of actions or feelings they convey. A previous article had promoted the use of active voice for persuasive communications.

Passive voice microsoft word 2016