Review the Results
After you enter text, Highlighted Text marks detected phrases in sentence context. Matched Candidates lists each phrase with its sentence. The stats line shows the candidate total and how many sentences contain a candidate. If nothing matches, the results panel shows No passive-voice candidates found.
How Detection Works
The detector checks am, is, are, was, were, be, been, and being followed by a past-participle-like word. It allows one optional -ly adverb, checks a fixed internal list of irregular participles, and also accepts regular words ending in -ed. A by phrase may add up to four following words to the reported candidate. For example, the tool can report being reviewed by the team.
Sentences are split at ., !, and ?. Text without those marks can be treated as one sentence. Because these are fixed word-pattern rules, some passive constructions may be missed. Some be-plus-adjective forms, such as was tired, may also be flagged.
Check Text and Review Matches
- Type or paste text into the text box. Scanning starts automatically as you enter text; there is no Scan or Submit control.
- Select Upload to choose a
.txtfile, or drop a.txtfile anywhere on the page. The tool reads the file as text. - Read Highlighted Text to see detected phrases in their sentence context.
- Use Matched Candidates to review each verb phrase beside its full sentence.
- Judge each candidate in context before deciding whether to edit the sentence.
Copy or Download Detected Results
When candidates are present, select Copy to copy the detected verb phrases and sentences, or select CSV to download them as passive-voice-report.csv. With no candidates, both controls produce no output; the results table shows No passive-voice candidates found.
Browser-Based Processing and Limitations
Scanning runs in browser JavaScript, and selected files are read with FileReader. The local tool code does not upload entered text to a server. The picker accepts .txt files.
Detection uses ASCII-style tokenization, fixed word-pattern rules, punctuation-based sentence splitting, one optional -ly adverb, and a maximum of four words after a by phrase. It has no documented maximum text length, performance limit, or supported-browser matrix. Treat every result as a candidate for review, not a grammar-certain ruling.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How does the Passive Voice Checker work?
It splits your text at ., !, and ?, then checks each sentence for a be form followed by a past-participle-like word. It allows one -ly adverb and up to four words after a by phrase.
Is this a grammar-certain passive-voice detector?
No. It is a browser-based pattern matcher, not a full grammatical parser. Some passives may be missed, and some be-plus-adjective constructions, such as was tired, can be flagged.
Is my text sent to a server?
Scanning and file reading happen in your browser. The local tool code does not upload entered text to a server.
Which files can I upload?
The Upload picker accepts .txt files. The tool reads a selected file as text.