5 exercises — when to use passive voice in API docs, incident reports, release notes, and specifications.
0 / 15 completed
1 / 15
Which sentence is most appropriate for API documentation?
Technical documentation typically uses passive voice when the actor is the system, is obvious, or is irrelevant to the reader. "All requests are authenticated" keeps the focus on what happens to the subject. Options A and D assign agency to a specific actor, which is less appropriate in formal API docs.
2 / 15
Rewrite in passive voice: "The server sends an email confirmation after registration." → "An email confirmation _____ after registration."
The present simple passive is is/are + past participle: is sent. This construction is extremely common in technical documentation, system descriptions, and API references: "Requests are rate-limited.""Errors are returned as JSON.""The token is refreshed automatically."
3 / 15
When is passive voice most appropriate in technical writing?
Use passive voice when: (1) the actor is obvious or irrelevant ("Data is encrypted at rest"); (2) you're describing what a system does ("Requests are rate-limited to 100/minute"); (3) you want to keep incident reports blameless ("The service was misconfigured" rather than "Alice misconfigured the service"). Avoid passive in conversational messages where active voice is clearer.
4 / 15
Choose the most appropriate passive sentence for an incident report:
Incident reports should be blameless — they focus on what happened and its impact, not on who caused it. Passive voice achieves this naturally. Option A assigns personal blame; option C is vague and informal; option D uses "got" which is informal. Good incident writing is factual, specific, and non-accusatory: "The configuration was changed. The service went down. The alert was triggered at 14:23."
5 / 15
Complete the release note: "All deprecated endpoints _____ (remove) in version 3.0. Affected clients _____ (encourage) to migrate before November 30."
Release notes use the future passive (will be + past participle) for announced changes: "will be removed", "will be deprecated", "will be required". For current-state recommendations, are + past participle: "are encouraged", "are advised". These passive constructions appear in migration guides, changelogs, and deprecation notices across all major platforms.
6 / 15
Code Review Comment: 'The API endpoint didn't return a 404 error when the resource was non-existent. It should have.'
Which of the following revisions best reflects the intended meaning using passive voice and aligns with common code review feedback?
Passive voice emphasizes the action that *should* be performed rather than who performs it. Option 1 correctly shifts the focus to what the endpoint *should* do, which is standard practice in code reviews – highlighting a required behavior and not assigning blame for an omission. Options A & D repeat the original statement; option 2 uses incorrect tense.
7 / 15
Slack Message (from DevOps): 'We've been experiencing intermittent performance degradation on the database server. The root cause is being investigated.'
Complete the sentence using passive voice to accurately describe the ongoing investigation:
Passive voice here focuses on *what is happening* during the investigation – the team's actions. It's more precise than stating who is doing the investigating. The other options use incorrect tense or imply a completed action when the investigation is ongoing. Using 'is investigating' correctly indicates an active process.
8 / 15
PR Description: 'The new feature integrates with the third-party authentication service.'
Which of the following revisions best utilizes passive voice to describe the integration's effect?
Passive voice is most effective when describing the *result* of an action. Option 0 correctly highlights that the service has been integrated, emphasizing its impact on the feature. Options A & D are active and less suitable for this context; option B repeats the original sentence.
9 / 15
Incident Report: 'The system experienced a critical outage. The cause was identified as a faulty network card.'
Rewrite the second sentence using passive voice to focus on the problem's origin:
Passive voice is preferred when the *subject* of the sentence is an action or event rather than the actor. Option 1 correctly frames the network card's failure as the root cause of the outage – this avoids assigning blame and focuses on the technical issue. Options A & D are active, while option 2 uses incorrect tense.
10 / 15
Standup Update (from Software Engineer): 'We've been monitoring the performance of the new microservice.'
Which revision best uses passive voice to accurately describe the ongoing process?
Passive voice shifts the emphasis to the action – monitoring itself – rather than who is performing it. 'The performance is being monitored' clearly states that the monitoring activity is in progress. Options A & D are active; option B repeats personal pronoun usage.
11 / 15
Code Review Comment: 'The API endpoint didn't return a 404 error when the resource was non-existent. It should have.'
Which of the following revisions best reflects the intended meaning using passive voice and aligns with common code review feedback?
Passive voice emphasizes the action that *should* be performed rather than who performs it. Option 1 correctly shifts the focus to what the endpoint *should* do, which is standard practice in code reviews – highlighting a required behavior and not assigning blame for an omission. Options A & D repeat the original statement; option 2 uses incorrect tense.
12 / 15
Slack Message (from DevOps): 'We've been experiencing intermittent performance degradation on the database server. The root cause is being investigated.'
Complete the sentence using passive voice to accurately describe the ongoing investigation:
Passive voice here focuses on *what is happening* during the investigation – the team's actions. It's more precise than stating who is doing the investigating. The other options use incorrect tense or imply a completed action when the investigation is ongoing. Using 'is investigating' correctly indicates an active process.
13 / 15
PR Description: 'The new feature integrates with the third-party authentication service.'
Which of the following revisions best utilizes passive voice to describe the integration's effect?
Passive voice is most effective when describing the *result* of an action. Option 0 correctly highlights that the service has been integrated, emphasizing its impact on the feature. Options A & D are active and less suitable for this context; option B repeats the original sentence.
14 / 15
Incident Report: 'The system experienced a critical outage. The cause was identified as a faulty network card.'
Rewrite the second sentence using passive voice to focus on the problem's origin:
Passive voice is preferred when the *subject* of the sentence is an action or event rather than the actor. Option 1 correctly frames the network card's failure as the root cause of the outage – this avoids assigning blame and focuses on the technical issue. Options A & D are active, while option 2 uses incorrect tense.
15 / 15
Standup Update (from Software Engineer): 'We've been monitoring the performance of the new microservice.'
Which revision best uses passive voice to accurately describe the ongoing process?
Passive voice shifts the emphasis to the action – monitoring itself – rather than who is performing it. 'The performance is being monitored' clearly states that the monitoring activity is in progress. Options A & D are active; option B repeats personal pronoun usage.
What will I practise in "Passive Voice in Technical Writing — Grammar Exercise"?
Practice passive voice in API documentation, incident reports, and release notes. 5 interactive exercises for IT professionals.
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This module has 15 multiple-choice exercises, each with instant feedback and a full explanation of the correct answer.
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