0

Whenever I use passive voice, grammarly gives me errors. For example, it prompts that I have misused passive voice in the following sentence.

Organized crimes such as money laundering and embezzlement can be curbed by refinement of laws.

I am curious to know if I have used passive voice correctly or not.

Thank you

2
  • 3
    Grammar checkers are all faulty --especially for marking everything passive as an error-- and they cannot be relied on. It's not you, it's them.
    – gotube
    Commented Jul 4, 2021 at 5:39
  • 1
    You might go to the settings panel of Grammarly and see if you can turn off the warning, You might also set your native language, and perhaps opt for British English, as British speakers tend to use passive more than Americans. But you will then get errors about "organized" with a z.
    – James K
    Commented Jul 4, 2021 at 7:34

2 Answers 2

2

Grammarly doesn't only check grammar. It also has opinions about the style of your writing.

Moreover, remember that Grammarly is a tool for native speakers of English, though it can help learners in some contexts. Some native speakers overuse the passive voice, which gives their writing a dull and impersonal tone. Sentences in the passive voice can often be rewritten in the active voice.

So Grammarly is asking you if you would like to consider

Refinement of laws can curb organized crimes such as money laundering and embezzlement.

Both active and passive are equally correct. You might choose the passive voice because the paragraph is about "organised crime" and not about "refinement of laws". Grammarly is clever, but it isn't clever enough to understand what a paragraph is about. So it gives you a warning, and lets the intelligent human consider the alternatives.

2

You have used passive voice correctly. Your sentence is fine. The robot at grammarly is having a bad night.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .