Passive Voice Detection Rule

This rule is designed to identify instances of passive voice in writing by detecting common grammatical patterns that indicate passive construction. The rule looks for forms of the verb "to be" (am, are, were, etc.) followed by past participle verbs.

Writing in active voice is generally preferred because it:

  • Makes text more direct and engaging
  • Clarifies who is performing the action
  • Often results in more concise sentences
  • Improves readability and comprehension

Examples of what it flags:

✗ Passive constructions (flagged):

  • "The document was written by John"
  • "The tests are being conducted"
  • "The feature has been implemented"

✓ Active alternatives (not flagged):

  • "John wrote the document"
  • "We are conducting the tests"
  • "The team implemented the feature"

The rule works by checking for:

  1. A form of "to be" (am, are, were, being, is, been, was, be)
  2. Followed by either:
    • A word ending in "ed"
    • OR one of many irregular past participles (like "shown", "built", "known")

Rule Source

This rule comes from: https://github.com/mesosphere/dcos-docs-site

Rule Definition

extends: existence
message: "'%s' may be passive voice. Use active voice if you can."
ignorecase: true
level: warning
raw:
  - \b(am|are|were|being|is|been|was|be)\b\s*
tokens:
  - '[\w]+ed'
  - awoken
  - beat
  - become
  - been
  - begun
  - bent
  - beset
  - bet
  - bid
  - bidden
  - bitten
  - bled
  - blown
  - born
  - bought
  - bound
  - bred
  - broadcast
  - broken
  - brought
  - built
  - burnt
  - burst
  - cast
  - caught
  - chosen
  - clung
  - come
  - cost
  - crept
  - cut
  - dealt
  - dived
  - done
  - drawn
  - dreamt
  - driven
  - drunk
  - dug
  - eaten
  - fallen
  - fed
  - felt
  - fit
  - fled
  - flown
  - flung
  - forbidden
  - foregone
  - forgiven
  - forgotten
  - forsaken
  - fought
  - found
  - frozen
  - given
  - gone
  - gotten
  - ground
  - grown
  - heard
  - held
  - hidden
  - hit
  - hung
  - hurt
  - kept
  - knelt
  - knit
  - known
  - laid
  - lain
  - leapt
  - learnt
  - led
  - left
  - lent
  - let
  - lighted
  - lost
  - made
  - meant
  - met
  - misspelt
  - mistaken
  - mown
  - overcome
  - overdone
  - overtaken
  - overthrown
  - paid
  - pled
  - proven
  - put
  - quit
  - read
  - rid
  - ridden
  - risen
  - run
  - rung
  - said
  - sat
  - sawn
  - seen
  - sent
  - set
  - sewn
  - shaken
  - shaven
  - shed
  - shod
  - shone
  - shorn
  - shot
  - shown
  - shrunk
  - shut
  - slain
  - slept
  - slid
  - slit
  - slung
  - smitten
  - sold
  - sought
  - sown
  - sped
  - spent
  - spilt
  - spit
  - split
  - spoken
  - spread
  - sprung
  - spun
  - stolen
  - stood
  - stridden
  - striven
  - struck
  - strung
  - stuck
  - stung
  - stunk
  - sung
  - sunk
  - swept
  - swollen
  - sworn
  - swum
  - swung
  - taken
  - taught
  - thought
  - thrived
  - thrown
  - thrust
  - told
  - torn
  - trodden
  - understood
  - upheld
  - upset
  - wed
  - wept
  - withheld
  - withstood
  - woken
  - won
  - worn
  - wound
  - woven
  - written
  - wrung