- Ms Word Passive Voice Error
- Microsoft Word 2016 Passive Voice Checker
- Microsoft Word Passive Voice Check
- Microsoft Word Passive Voice Consider Revising
- Microsoft Word Passive Voice Checker
If you’re anything like me, over the last few years you’vemade the shift to writing in Google Docs.
They’re great for sharing and collaboration.
Active Voice vs. If you’ve used Grammarly or Microsoft Word to edit your documents, you’ve probably been chastised on multiple occasions to use less passive voice. MS Word will even underline the sentence in squiggly red (the scary color editors use to invoke fear in a writer). If you don’t have a proper understanding of. Microsoft Word can help you find the use of the passive voice in your writing. It ain't pefect, but it can help your editing. Firstly, Microsoft Word does not mark passive sentences as 'style errors'. Here is an extract from its advice: Here is an extract from its advice: For a livelier and more persuasive sentence, consider rewriting your sentence using an active verb (the subject performs the action, as in ' The ball hit Catherine ') rather than a passive verb (the.
It’s easy to view change history.
You don’t have to worry about losing your work.
And now Grammarly even integrates with it!
As much as I love Google Docs, I recently realized that Iwas missing a lot of the powerful editing tools baked into Microsoft Word.
You heard me correctly. MicrosoftWord.
A tool so seemingly ancient that the only thing you mayremember about it is its helpful mascot, Clippy.
But hear me out. Microsoft Word has saved me on multipleoccasions. Let me take you back about seven years (don’t worry, we’ll get tothe tips soon – or hey, just jump ahead now if you’re not in the mood for storytime).
My first job in digital marketing was as a content developerat an agency that worked primarily with law firms. While you may be thinking ofyour run-of-the-mill billboard attorneys or the Cellino & Barnes jingle, I workedwith some pretty high-brow firms. I wrote content for a lawyer who was runningfor state Senate as well as the content for lawyers who were handling highlypublicized civil cases (ones you’ve definitelyheard of). When it came to their content, I couldn’t afford to get it wrong.
It all started with my client who had an axe to grind withpassive sentences. He had a zero-tolerance policy. As soon as I discovered youcould add passive sentences to the spelling & grammar check in Word, I washooked.
How to use Microsoft Word’s advanced grammar settings
Everyone who has Microsoft Word has access to its advancedgrammar settings.
Go to the “Review” tab and click “Check Document” in the top navigation.
Microsoft Word will then display an editor box. Click “settings.”
Once you’re in settings, you’ll go to “Proofing” and select “Settings”next to “Writing Style.”
There are other tools in Word Options that I’ll go over inthis guide, but some of the primary ones I want to focus on are in thissection.
One last point before we dive in – I’m going over my personaltop ten tools. Those ten barely scratch the surface of everything you can getout of Microsoft Word’s editing software, so I encourage anyone who wants toproduce better content to check it out!
1. Cut out complex words
The original heading for this section was “Eliminate complex words.”
That might seem ridiculously restrictive, but this settingforces you to simplify, making your content clearer and more approachable.
To have Microsoft Word start checking your content foroverly complex words, once you’re in the grammar & refinements settings,select “Complex Words” under the “Clarity & Conciseness” section.
2. Ditch the jargon
We’re all guilty of using words that confuse and alienate our audience. These are the words that might be common in our own industries but not layman’s terms. If you want to avoid losing your readers, make sure you have the “Jargon” box checked (same settings).
3. Get active!
The setting that sparked my love for Microsoft Word’sediting tools, “Passive Voice” and “Passive Voice with Unknown Actor” promoteconcise, punchy content that’s easier to read.
What’s the difference between the two? Passive Voice willsuggest flip-flopping your sentence order. For example:
(Before) The fence wasrepaired by the handyman. (After) Thehandyman repaired the fence.
Passive Voice with Unknown Actor, on the other hand, shows passivesentences with no subject (or an unclear one). For example:
(Before) The cookieswere baked. (After) She [had to addin a subject] baked the cookies.
4. Cut the clutter
The “Wordiness” setting is another one of my favorites. Itcatches words that don’t need to be there (the sentence would be fine – even clearer– without them).
A common one is “period of time” or “large in size.” You canusually change these to simply “period” or “large.”
5. “Read aloud” to catch mistakes!
You see what you want to see.
That’s as true in life as it is in content. I can’t tell youhow many times I’ve visually proofed something, only to have a client find amistake. “How on earth did I miss that? I reviewed it ten times!”
It’s because we read our content how we meant to write it, not how we actuallywrote it.
The tool will start reading wherever you place your cursor.You can speed up or slow down the reading pace according to your preferences,and you can even change the voice (my personal favorite is Mark).
6. Get a readability score
On the main “Proofing” page, make sure you have “showreadability statistics” selected. This is what gives you your Fleschreadability score.
You should aim for a score of 70-60, which is an 8thor 9th grading reading level. Best practices define this as “plain English”and easy for most people to understand.
Anything lower than 60 is difficult to read.
If you’re having trouble finding where to go to get yourscore, Microsoft Word notes that you must run through the editing process and addressall issues before you can get your score.
There are no readability statistics in Google Docs, so if you want to view things like Flesch Reading Ease and Grade Level, you’ll need Microsoft Word.
7. Keep it brief
Ms Word Passive Voice Error
In addition to your Flesch score, the readability check willalso show your average sentences per paragraph and average words per sentence.
Paragraphs are easiest to read when they’re about three tofive sentences long. If you’re unsure when you should start a new paragraph, agood rule of thumb is to hit “Enter” whenever you start a new idea.
Keep your sentences around 15-20 words, but remember,cadence is just as important as average length. Cadence is rhythm. It makesyour content more enjoyable to read. (See what I did there?)
8. Edit for other English dialects
My writers had the hardest time on their UK and Canadianclients until we realized they could switch Microsoft Word to edit for differentEnglish dialects.
This made it so much easier to catch things like flavor/flavour,optimization/optimisation, etc.
Microsoft Word 2016 Passive Voice Checker
Just keep in mind that thereare plenty of other colloquialisms and word variances between English-speakingcountries (ex: torch vs. flashlight). Check them out.
9. Find synonyms and antonyms quickly
Yeah, you could just open Google or Thesaurus.com, but isn’tit nice to have a Thesaurus right in your Word processor? I think so.
Just go to the “Review” tab, select a word, and click “Thesaurus.”
This is especially helpful if you want to avoid repeat wordsor if you’re struggling to find the perfect word for your sentence.
10. Try Smart Lookup
Bing powers Microsoft Word’s Smart Lookup tool. Yeah yeah, it’s not Google and the search results aren’t as great, but it’s a terrific way to quickly explore content that’s ranking for certain phrases/concepts you’re addressing on the page.
Smart Lookup is located under the “References” tab. Enable it, select a section of your content, then right-click “Smart Lookup.”
You’ll get a pop-up that looks like this:
I tested it on the phrase “write better content.” Evaluatingthe Smart Lookup results against Bing’s SERP, I noticed that Microsoft Wordpulled in the first and fifth results.
As an SEO, I find this helpful for quickly discovering whatcontent is performing well for my targeted concepts. I can click to open thoseresults and see how those top-performing pages are addressing the topic and usethat for inspiration.
Still not convinced?
Microsoft Word Passive Voice Check
There’s no shame in admitting you need help. We’re human. Wemake mistakes. I’ve been writing professionally for more than seven years and Iknow I could still use the help.
Microsoft Word Passive Voice Consider Revising
When I realized I had switched almost entirely to GoogleDocs, I moved the project I was working on at the time to Microsoft Word, andyou know what? There were things I absolutely had not caught!
Microsoft Word Passive Voice Checker
I love Microsoft Word’s editing tools because they supply anextra layer of accountability. Whether you’re writing for yourself or you’rewriting for clients, someone’s reputation is on the line. Why wouldn’t you usethat safeguard?