Rule 3.6: Use the active voice

What a checker looks for

A clear deviation from the rule.

• Test each sentence with 'by whom or by what?' — if the grammatical subject receives the action (typically 'is/are/was/were + past participle,' often followed by a 'by <agent>' phrase), flag it as passive.
• In procedural/instructional text, flag any passive-voice sentence regardless of whether the agent is known — procedures must always be active or imperative.
• In descriptive text, flag a passive-voice sentence only when the agent is actually identifiable from context — do not flag genuine agent-unknown cases.

What this rule does not cover

• A passive sentence in descriptive writing where the agent is truly unknown or unknowable (e.g. 'During transmission, the data was corrupted') is compliant and should not be flagged.
• Using 'something' as a placeholder agent is approved only when the agent is genuinely unknown/unknowable, not merely unstated.
• Using 'you' or 'we' as the subject is approved only with positive evidence of who the agent is: 'you' when the reader is genuinely the agent, 'we' when the writer's own organization is genuinely the agent. Do not default to 'you'/'we' just because no agent happens to be stated in the sentence — if the true agent is genuinely unknown, prefer the descriptive passive or 'something' instead.

How to fix it

Convert to active voice using one of: (1) move the named agent (often in a 'by' phrase) to the subject position, (2) replace a passive infinitive construction with a direct active verb, (3) use the imperative for procedural instructions, or (4) use 'you' only with positive evidence the reader is the agent, or 'we' only with positive evidence the writer's organization is the agent — never as a default for an unstated agent.

Constraints on the fix

• For descriptive sentences with a genuinely unknown agent, keep the passive voice (or use 'something' as agent) rather than fabricating a false agent.
• Do not select 'you' or 'we' merely because the sentence does not name an agent — confirm the reader or the writer's organization is actually the one performing the action first.