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Passive Voice Detector

Text

Flag sentences written in passive voice and see the exact phrase that triggered each match

Paste a document draft and get sentences using passive voice highlighted, like "the request is processed by the server" instead of "the server processes the request," which is a quick pass before publishing a blog post or tightening up a README. Detection looks for a form of "to be" followed by a past participle, allowing for an adverb or two in between, and separately flags whether an explicit agent introduced by "by" is present. This is pattern matching against common English verb forms, not real part-of-speech tagging or a language model, so it will occasionally miss a passive construction or flag something that isn't quite passive. It's also worth remembering passive voice isn't inherently wrong; this tool surfaces it for review, not as a rule to mechanically eliminate every flagged sentence.

passivevoicegrammarwritingreadability

How to use Passive Voice Detector

  • 1.Paste a paragraph of documentation or a blog draft to highlight every sentence written in passive voice, with the triggering phrase underlined.
  • 2.Use it before publishing API docs to convert passive constructions like "the request is processed by the server" into more direct active phrasing.
  • 3.Scan a long README section by section to catch passive voice that slipped in during multiple rounds of editing.

Frequently asked questions

Does this run in my browser or send text to a server?
Detection runs entirely client-side using pattern matching — your text isn't uploaded anywhere.
Is the detection perfect?
No — it relies on grammatical patterns (forms of "to be" plus a past participle) and can occasionally flag false positives or miss passive constructions that don't follow the common pattern, so use it as a guide, not an absolute rule.
Does it automatically rewrite sentences to active voice?
No, it only flags passive constructions — rewriting is left to you, since converting to active voice usually requires knowing who's performing the action.
Is passive voice always wrong?
No, passive voice is sometimes the right choice, such as when the actor is unknown or unimportant ("the file was deleted") — this tool flags instances so you can make an informed decision, not to eliminate every one.

Use via API, SDK, or MCP

cURL# Free: 1,000 req/day · Pro: 10,000 req/day
curl -X POST https://api.utilix.tech/v1/tools/passive-voice-detector \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer utx_live_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"text":"The report was reviewed by the committee. They approved it."}'

Get an API key from your dashboard · Full API docs →

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