Passive Verb Problems

Chapter 1: Is ain’t it

Let’s jump right in with our first writing improvement technique: Replace passive verbs with active verbs. We replace passive verbs such as is, are, be, and being with active verbs, words that do something.

For example, if we write in the passive voice, we get sentences like these:

• The ball is bounced by the boy.
• We will be going to the corner.

How would you rewrite those sentences to get rid of the word is and the word be? Well, we might write, instead:

• The boy bounces the ball.
• We will go to the corner.

As a result of these changes, the sentences become more dynamic and more direct. The action seems more immediate and more deserving of our attention. And attention matters a lot in getting messages through to our readers.

We won’t pursue this from a technical perspective, with the rules of grammar. I’ll simply remind you we want to minimize our use of is, are, be, and being. Notice I’m saying minimize, not eliminate, since the inclusion of a some passive verbs increases variety, which is a good thing (I’ve just slipped one into that last phrase, as you may have noted). More on this later.

Applying the technique

Replace be/ing structures, for example, “I will be writing.”

This may be the quickest and easiest way to making quick gains. Look for combinations of the word be followed by a verb that ends in ing (for example, “I will be writing…”). Underline, circle, or highlight all uses of the word be plus any word that ends in -ing. Using your word processor’s Find & Replace function may save time.

Try to simply remove be plus the -ing part of the word. For example, change “we will be holding…” to “we will hold…” In some cases, you may have to edit the main verb for grammatical correctness, as in, “you will be writing…” when changed to “you will write…”

Sometimes you need to rewrite the sentence to eliminate the be/ing structure. The words may change (as they did in our first example above), but that’s fine as long as the meaning remains the same.

Replace other passive verbs: Highlight all other passive verbs. Examples: is, are, be. Often, you will need to rewrite the sentence to replace these verbs.

For example:

• Original: 3 Easy Ways to Power Up Your Writing is for anyone who wants to improve his or her writing.
• Replacement: 3 Easy Ways to Power Up Your Writing will help anyone who wants to improve his or her writing.

By now, you likely possess a reasonable feel for the difference active verbs can have in making your writing more readable. Having gone through this exercise, you are more likely to spot passive verbs when you read any kind of document, whether formal or informal.

Next: Learn about one important type of writing where use of the passive verbs is a good idea. You’ll also get a practice document; use it to tune up your ability to find and replace most passive verbs (after we give you a slew of examples).