by Dr. Diana Stout
How many times have you heard, “You shouldn’t use was.*** It’s passive writing?" Far too often, I find editing software or autocorrect will say “passive writing” when it’s not true. That’s why it’s important to understand what passive writing looks like.
Notes for this Post on Passive Writing
Our goal is to identify what was is and the type of verb that generally accompanies was will better aid our understanding of how to identify passive writing so that we can fix it. I promise that by the end of this blog post, you will be able to identify passive writing with two simple questions.
Helping verbs, also called auxiliary verbs, usually accompany participle verbs, which most often end with -ing or -ed. The middle column lists the various helping verbs.
*** Important: Words or phrases being analyzed or discussed are always italicized. Quote marks are reserved for dialogue or actual quotes that require(s) mentioning the source or providing a citation.
The TYPE of helping verb | The helping verbs | Extra information |
BE | am, is, are, was, were, be, been | |
HAVE | have, has, had | |
DO | Do, does, did | done is a helping verb in British English but not in American English where it’s the past participle of do. |
CONDITIONAL | Should, could, would | |
FUTURE TENSE | will, shall | |
ABILITY, PERMISSION, POSSIBILITY, NECESSITY | can, may, might, must | The order of types matches the order of helping verbs. Ability = Can, Permission = May and so forth. |
Helping Verbs Made Easier
Now, let’s look at a timeline of official verb terminology and how each is used with these helping verbs, starting with the past way in the distance, moving toward the present, and then into the future, and beyond.
Using the word hike
Perfect Progressive Past | Perfect Past | Progressive Past | Simple Past |
I had been hiking | I had hiked | I was hiking | I hiked; I did hike |
Present
- I hike
- I am hiking
- I do hike
- He is hiking
Simple Future | Future Progressive | Future Perfect | Future Perfect Progressive |
I will hike; he should hike | I will be hiking; he should be hiking | I will have hiked | I will have been hiking |
Are you noticing how the participle -ing and -ed verbs are required when there is a helping verb? Are any of these phrases in the chart passive? No, they’re not. They’re all active. How so?
A closer examination
Let’s examine the use of was more closely with various subjects. The verb forms are italicized.
- He was walking to the bank.
- She is talking on the telephone.
- The ball was kicked.
So, are any of these sentences passive writing? Yes, one sentence is passive and it’s the last one. The first two sentences are active writing.
I can hear you thinking or saying, “But, I’ve been told using was is passive writing. I’m confused. How can I tell when was is passive or active in my sentence?”
Often, helping verbs creates wordiness. In some cases, helping verbs create telling rather than showing. Wordiness and telling do not equal passive writing. Passive writing occurs for one reason and one reason only and here’s how to find out whether your sentence is passive or not.
How to Identify Passive Writing
#1 - Identify the subject
Using the three example sentences again, I’m underlining the subjects.
- He was walking to the bank.
- She is talking on the phone.
- The ball was kicked.
#2 - Ask: is the subject performing the action?
In the first two examples, yes, the subject is doing the acting. In the third sentence, the ball is not doing the kicking.
If a subject performs the action, it’s active writing regardless of the verb form being used.
If the subject is being acted upon, the sentence is passive. The additional problem with the last sentence is that it’s unclear; it needs more information to be made clear.
Question: The ball was kicked by whom?
Answer: The ball was kicked by the little boy.
Meaning is clearer. But, notice how we now have the preposition by. Prepositions can lead to wordiness, too. Plus, the sentence is still passive.
So how do you make a passive sentence active?
Switch things around. Move the subject so that it performs the action. Notice how the preposition disappears, too.
The little boy was kicking the ball.
But, it’s still a bit wordy and slow-moving. The sentence isn’t as active as it could be. To make sentences less wordy, remove the helping verbs and use simple present or simple past tense.
- He walked to the bank. (simple past)
- She talks on the telephone. (present)
- The little boy kicked the ball. (simple past)
Reminder: To determine if your sentence is passive:
- Identify the subject.
- Ask: is the subject doing the action or is it being acted upon?
If the subject is being acted upon (passive writing), rewrite or rearrange until the subject is performing the action (active writing).
To remove verb wordiness, use simple verbs without the helping verbs.
Test Yourself
Think you understand the difference between passive and active writing now? Let’s check. Is the following sentence passive or active?
The boys in the choir who were marching in the parade were soaked by the rain.
What’s the subject? Boys
What’s the verb: were marching and were soaked
Are the boys performing the action? Yes and No. To figure it out, simplify the sentence using only subjects and verbs
The boys were marching so that first portion is active. The boys are doing something.
The boys were soaked. The boys aren’t doing anything. This sentence is a statement of fact, so that means something else is acting upon the boys. The boys were soaked by the rain. The rain is acting upon the boys.
So, the above sentence is both active and passive. Is that okay? Certainly.
Final Thought
Not all writing has to be active. The beauty is that I can change it, restructure the sentence if I don’t want part of it to be passive.
There will be times when you want your subject acted upon, when they have no control, are threatened, or are being abused by someone or something. Via passive writing, you are showing how the character has no control.
Do you have a sentence you’re not sure how to rewrite and want to share? Or, have you found a passive sentence in your work that you’ve rewritten and it’s now active? Share it! Show us how you changed it.
About Diana

Dr. Diana Stout enjoys helping other writers become better at their craft. Her main goals for 2025 are to publish her grammar and punctuation book, publish her psychological paranormal thriller, and write her fully researched based-on-a-true-story historical screenplay. To subscribe to her announcement-only newsletter of these publications, click here.
To learn more about Diana, visit her Sharpened Pencils Productions website and check out her Recommended Reading page where she provides links to helpful books and articles for all writers.
Top photo purchased from Depositphotos.