What does "passive voice misuse" mean in Grammarly?
"Passive voice misuse" is Grammarly's label for a sentence it thinks would be clearer in the active voice — usually one where the doer is missing or buried at the end. It is a clarity suggestion, not a grammar error, and Grammarly's own guidance says the passive is often appropriate. The flag tells you to look at the sentence; it does not tell you the sentence is wrong.
What the flag is actually saying
Grammarly files passive voice under clarity, alongside wordy sentences and unclear antecedents. When it shows “passive voice misuse,” it has found a form of be plus a past participle and judged that the sentence hides or delays the doer. Its guide to the passive voice is explicit that the construction is not an error and is often the right choice; the product’s wording is blunter than its own advice.
So read the flag as a question: who did this, and should the reader know?
Three kinds of flagged sentence
1. A passive that hides something. “The deadline was missed.” Your reader wants to know who missed it. Rewrite: “The vendor missed the deadline.” This is the case the flag exists for.
2. A passive that is fine. “The suspect was arrested Tuesday.” “Samples were stored at −80 °C.” “My car was stolen.” The doer is obvious, irrelevant or unknown. Dismiss the suggestion. The Purdue OWL and every other style authority allow these.
3. Not a passive at all. “I am interested in the position.” “The team was exhausted.” “The store is located on Main Street.” These are adjectives after be. Nothing was done to anyone. Grammarly, Word and Google Docs all over-flag these because they match the pattern; our checker marks them with a dotted underline and leaves them out of the count.
Users report false alarms on adverbs
People trying Grammarly have noticed that sentences like “It is obviously done this way” get flagged until the adverb is removed. The detector is pattern-based and adverbs between be and the participle can confuse it. The underlying sentence is passive either way (“it is done”); the question of whether to rewrite it depends, as always, on whether the doer matters.
Fixing the ones that need it
- Find the participle and the be verb: was missed.
- Ask who did it. If you know and the reader should know, make them the subject: The vendor missed the deadline.
- Keep the tense: was missed → missed; has been missed → has missed; will be missed → will miss.
The converter does the mechanical part and leaves a “[Who?]” placeholder where you have to supply the doer.
Checking without a subscription
Grammarly’s web passive voice checker is a sampler for the product. If you want every passive in a long document, with a count, a percentage and the reason for each flag, paste it into ours. It is free, has no word limit, runs in your browser, and does not confuse “I am interested” with “I was fired.”
Questions people ask
- What is passive voice misuse?
Grammarly’s name for a passive sentence it recommends rewriting in the active voice, typically because no doer is named or the sentence would be shorter and clearer the other way round. “Misuse” is a strong word for what is a style suggestion.
- Is passive voice misuse a grammatical error?
No. Grammarly’s own passive voice guide says the passive is not grammatically incorrect and is often useful. The flag appears under clarity, not correctness.
- Why does Grammarly flag "I am interested" as passive voice?
Because it has the shape of a passive — be + past participle — and Grammarly’s detector does not always distinguish adjectival participles from true passives. “Interested” describes a state; the sentence is active and the flag can be dismissed.
- Does Grammarly's free version check passive voice?
Grammarly’s web page offers a free passive voice checker, and the free product shows some clarity suggestions. Fuller passive-voice rewriting is part of the paid plans. Our checker is free with no limit.
- How do I fix passive voice misuse?
Name the doer and put it first: “The report was submitted late” → “The vendor submitted the report late.” If the doer is unknown or unimportant, keep the passive and dismiss the suggestion.
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