A runbook step reads: "The database backup is initiated by the cron job at 02:00 UTC." A technical writer suggests making it active voice. Which rewrite is correct, and is the change an improvement?
Option A is correct. When the agent is known and relevant, active voice is preferred in procedural documentation. Here, the cron job is a specific, nameable component — knowing it is responsible matters for debugging ("if the backup is missing, check the cron job"). Active voice also eliminates the by-phrase, making the sentence more concise. Option B removes the agent entirely (ergative form) — acceptable for alerts but loses the cron job reference. Option C would be valid if the runbook were about backup monitoring and the cron job were irrelevant background detail. Passive is not wrong here, but active is the better choice given the context.
2 / 18
Which sentence is a case where passive voice is the better choice in technical documentation?
Option B is correct. Passive voice is preferred when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or deliberately omitted. "The config.yaml file is loaded at application startup" describes a system behaviour — the agent (the framework, the runtime) is background infrastructure, not something readers need to track. This is the canonical passive use case in technical documentation: system events, background processes, and state changes where the actor is irrelevant to the reader's task. Options A, C, and D all have clear, relevant agents (engineer, we, user) that should stay in active voice. The rule: omit the agent with passive only when the agent adds no actionable information.
3 / 18
An incident report reads: "Errors were introduced into the production database during the migration." A manager requests a rewrite that identifies responsibility. Which version is correct?
Option B is correct. When accountability needs to be clear — as in post-mortems and incident reports — active voice identifies the causal agent. "The migration introduced errors" names the migration as the direct cause, which is essential for the root-cause analysis section of an incident report. Option A keeps the object ("production database") as subject, still obscuring the agent. Option C improves on the original but uses a clunky by-phrase. Option D ("ended up") is evasive — it sounds accidental and hides causality entirely. In post-mortems, active voice with a named agent is the professional and accountable choice.
4 / 18
A senior engineer comments on this API documentation sentence: "Requests must be authenticated before they can access protected endpoints." Should this be rewritten in active voice?
Option B is correct. This is a good use of passive voice in documentation. The sentence describes an architectural constraint — the requirement that requests must be authenticated. The agent (who authenticates them — the client, the SDK, the user?) varies by integration and is not the point. The passive construction naturally emphasises what must happen ("must be authenticated"), not who does it. Rewriting to "users must authenticate requests" assumes a specific integration pattern. Options C and D both state absolute rules that do not hold — passive and active each have their appropriate uses. The skill is choosing deliberately, not defaulting.
5 / 18
Which paragraph uses active and passive voice most deliberately and effectively for a deployment guide?
Option B is correct. This paragraph uses voice deliberately: the user-facing instruction ("Push to main") uses the imperative, which is the active-voice gold standard for procedural steps. The GitHub Actions steps use active voice with a named agent. The final step ("is then started automatically by systemd") uses passive — correctly, because "systemd" is background infrastructure and "automatically" is the key information, not who does it. Option A uses passive throughout, burying agents unnecessarily. Option C is too casual and loses precision. Option D mixes tenses inconsistently. Option B demonstrates the core principle: choose active when the agent matters, passive when the action or outcome matters.
6 / 18
Team Lead: 'The system automatically logs all user interactions to the audit trail. We're reviewing the logs for suspicious activity.'
Which of the following best captures Team Lead's statement in active voice while maintaining a professional tone suitable for a Slack message discussing security concerns?
The original sentence uses passive voice with 'are logged,' obscuring who or what is performing the action. Rewriting it as 'we're reviewing' directly identifies the actor and clarifies responsibility. Options A and B maintain the passive structure unnecessarily, while Option D simply restates the original in a slightly different order without addressing the core issue of active vs. passive voice. Using active voice here ensures clarity and accountability within the context of security monitoring.
7 / 18
{code}. The team is debating whether to change this sentence to active voice.
Which of the following rewrites best clarifies responsibility and uses active voice while maintaining a formal tone suitable for a PR description?
The original passive voice obscures who or what performs the logging. Option 2 clearly states 'the system' performs the action and utilizes active voice. Options A and D maintain a less precise structure and are therefore weaker choices for a PR description requiring clarity and accountability. Option 3 is also slightly awkward phrasing.
8 / 18
Team Lead: 'The system automatically logs all user interactions to the audit trail. We're reviewing the logs for suspicious activity.'
Which of the following best captures Team Lead's statement in active voice while maintaining a professional tone suitable for a Slack message discussing security concerns?
The original sentence uses passive voice with 'are logged,' obscuring who or what is performing the action. Rewriting it as 'we're reviewing' directly identifies the actor and clarifies responsibility. Options A and B maintain the passive structure unnecessarily, while Option D simply restates the original in a slightly different order without addressing the core issue of active vs. passive voice. Using active voice here ensures clarity and accountability within the context of security monitoring.
9 / 18
{code}. The team is debating whether to change this sentence to active voice.
Which of the following rewrites best clarifies responsibility and uses active voice while maintaining a formal tone suitable for a PR description?
The original passive voice obscures who or what performs the logging. Option 2 clearly states 'the system' performs the action and utilizes active voice. Options A and D maintain a less precise structure and are therefore weaker choices for a PR description requiring clarity and accountability. Option 3 is also slightly awkward phrasing.
10 / 18
Team Lead: 'The system automatically logs all user interactions to the audit trail. We're reviewing the logs for suspicious activity.'
Which of the following best captures Team Lead's statement in active voice while maintaining a professional tone suitable for a Slack message discussing security concerns?
The original sentence uses passive voice with 'are logged,' obscuring who or what is performing the action. Rewriting it as 'we're reviewing' directly identifies the actor and clarifies responsibility. Options A and B maintain the passive structure unnecessarily, while Option D simply restates the original in a slightly different order without addressing the core issue of active vs. passive voice. Using active voice here ensures clarity and accountability within the context of security monitoring.
11 / 18
{code}. The team is debating whether to change this sentence to active voice.
Which of the following rewrites best clarifies responsibility and uses active voice while maintaining a formal tone suitable for a PR description?
The original passive voice obscures who or what performs the logging. Option 2 clearly states 'the system' performs the action and utilizes active voice. Options A and D maintain a less precise structure and are therefore weaker choices for a PR description requiring clarity and accountability. Option 3 is also slightly awkward phrasing.
12 / 18
Team Lead: 'The system automatically logs all user interactions to the audit trail. We're reviewing the logs for suspicious activity.'
Which of the following best captures Team Lead's statement in active voice while maintaining a professional tone suitable for a Slack message discussing security concerns?
The original sentence uses passive voice with 'are logged,' obscuring who or what is performing the action. Rewriting it as 'we're reviewing' directly identifies the actor and clarifies responsibility. Options A and B maintain the passive structure unnecessarily, while Option D simply restates the original in a slightly different order without addressing the core issue of active vs. passive voice. Using active voice here ensures clarity and accountability within the context of security monitoring.
13 / 18
{code}. The team is debating whether to change this sentence to active voice.
Which of the following rewrites best clarifies responsibility and uses active voice while maintaining a formal tone suitable for a PR description?
The original passive voice obscures who or what performs the logging. Option 2 clearly states 'the system' performs the action and utilizes active voice. Options A and D maintain a less precise structure and are therefore weaker choices for a PR description requiring clarity and accountability. Option 3 is also slightly awkward phrasing.
14 / 18
During a code review, Developer Alex comments: 'The API endpoint returns the user's data.' Senior Engineer Ben suggests rewriting this to highlight who *caused* the data to be returned. Which of the following revisions best achieves this goal and uses active voice?
This question tests understanding of active voice emphasizing the subject performing an action. Option A uses passive voice ('was accessed'), Option B repeats the original sentence (passive), Option C shifts to active but is less direct, and Option D incorrectly describes the action. Rewriting with 'returns' clearly shows the endpoint as the actor.
15 / 18
You're drafting a Slack message to announce a critical bug fix. The original message reads: 'A memory leak was detected in the authentication module.' Which of the following revisions best conveys this information concisely and effectively using active voice?
This scenario tests the ability to rewrite for clarity and directness. Options A and B are overly verbose. Option C is more active than the original, directly stating *who* detected the leak. Option D is the most convoluted and passive.
16 / 18
A pull request description states: 'The system's performance has been impacted due to excessive database queries.' A technical reviewer asks you to revise this statement for greater clarity and accountability. Which of the following options best reflects an active voice rewrite that identifies who is responsible?
This question focuses on identifying the actor in a situation. The original statement is passive and obscures responsibility. Option A clearly states that *excessive database queries* caused the issue. Options B, C, and D maintain the passive structure, failing to pinpoint who is accountable.
17 / 18
During a standup update, you say: 'The monitoring service automatically alerts us when CPU usage exceeds 90%.' A colleague asks if you could make this statement more actionable. Which of the following rewrites best clarifies the action and uses active voice?
This question examines how to restructure sentences for clearer action. Option A repeats the original statement. Option B clearly states *that* the monitoring service is triggering the alerts, making the sentence active and actionable. Options C and D rephrase but maintain a passive construction.
18 / 18
You're writing a section of an API documentation explaining how to update a user profile. The original sentence is: 'Data will be validated by the system before being saved.' Which revision best uses active voice and clarifies responsibility?
This question tests understanding of active vs passive voice in a specific context – API documentation. Option A clearly states *that* the 'system' performs the validation. Options B, C and D are all passive constructions, obscuring who is responsible for the validation process.
What will I practise in "Active vs Passive Voice in Technical Writing — Grammar Exercise"?
Practice choosing between active and passive voice deliberately in API docs, incident reports, runbooks, and deployment guides.
How many exercises are in this module?
This module has 18 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
Is this exercise free to use?
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What happens if I choose the wrong answer?
You'll immediately see which answer was correct, plus a full explanation covering the grammar rule and reasoning behind it — mistakes are where most of the learning happens.
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Where can I find more Grammar exercises?
Browse the full Grammar hub for related drills, or check the "Next up" link below to continue with a connected topic.
How is this different from reading an article on the same topic?
Articles explain grammar rules in prose; this exercise tests and reinforces those rules through active recall with immediate feedback — the two work best together.
Who writes these exercises?
Every exercise is written by the CoderSlingo team, drawing on real workplace English used in IT roles, then reviewed for accuracy and clarity.