Mastering the Passive Voice in Proposal Writing

When you write a proposal, every sentence is doing a job. It is either drawing attention to a person, a result, a process, or a decision. The passive voice is one of the most useful tools for controlling that attention, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood pieces of grammar in formal writing. Many students are told to avoid it completely, while professional proposals are full of it. The truth sits somewhere in between. Learning when and how to use the passive form deliberately can make your proposals sound more objective, more polished, and more persuasive.

What the passive voice actually is 🔗

In an active sentence, the subject performs the action. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action. The structure of the passive is built from a form of the verb “to be” plus the past participle (the third form of the verb, such as written, approved, or completed). The distinction Purdue OWL draws is simple: in the active voice the subject does something, while in the passive voice something is done to the subject.

Compare these two sentences:

Active: The committee approved the proposal.
Passive: The proposal was approved by the committee.

Both sentences carry the same information. What changes is the focus. The active version puts the committee first. The passive version puts the proposal first. In proposal writing, where the document and its outcomes usually matter more than who handled them, that shift is often exactly what you want.

Why use the passive voice? 🔗

The main reason to use the passive form is to emphasise the action or the result rather than the person doing it. According to EnglishClub’s guide to the passive voice, the structure is useful precisely because it lets the writer keep the most important idea at the front of the sentence. In a proposal, the important idea is usually the work, the deliverable, or the benefit, not the team behind it.

There are a few clear situations where the passive earns its place.

When the doer is unknown or unimportant 🔗

Sometimes you simply do not know who performed an action, or it does not matter. The Purdue OWL explains that the passive voice makes sense when the agent is obvious, unknown, or unimportant, because it highlights what was done rather than who did it. “The data was collected over six months” keeps attention on the data, which is what your reader cares about.

When you want to sound objective 🔗

Formal documents often aim for an impersonal, neutral tone. Writing “It has been decided that the timeline will be extended” sounds more official and less personal than “We decided to extend the timeline.” This is why scientific and technical reports lean on the passive so heavily. The structure removes the writer from view and lets the facts stand on their own.

When you want to soften responsibility 🔗

The passive voice can quietly remove blame. “The deadline was missed” reports a problem without pointing a finger, whereas “Your team missed the deadline” sounds accusatory. In client-facing proposals and reports, this diplomatic quality is valuable. It lets you acknowledge an issue while keeping the tone professional and cooperative.

Passive forms in different tenses 🔗

The passive is not a tense by itself. Instead, it can be formed in almost every tense by adjusting the verb “to be” and keeping the past participle the same. As Test-English notes, you take the object of the active sentence, make it the subject, then use “be” in the tense you need followed by the past participle. The general formula is always the same: be + past participle. Only the form of “be” changes.

Present passive 🔗

The simple present passive uses is, am, or are plus the past participle. It is used for routines, general facts, and standard procedures, which appear often in the methodology or scope section of a proposal.

Active: We review every application carefully.
Passive: Every application is reviewed carefully.

The present continuous passive (is/are being + past participle) describes something happening now: “The report is being prepared by the research team.”

Past passive 🔗

The simple past passive uses was or were plus the past participle. It describes completed actions, which is useful when you summarise previous work or background context.

Active: The agency conducted a survey last year.
Passive: A survey was conducted last year.

The present perfect passive (has/have been + past participle) is common in status updates: “The budget has been approved.” It links a past action to the present moment, which is why it appears so often in formal announcements.

Future passive 🔗

The future passive uses will be plus the past participle. It is one of the most useful forms in proposal writing because proposals are largely about what will happen.

Active: We will deliver the final report in March.
Passive: The final report will be delivered in March.

Notice how the passive version reads as a commitment about the deliverable rather than a statement about your team. This is the neutral, outcome-focused tone proposals aim for.

Modal passive 🔗

Modal verbs such as can, must, should, and may also form a passive: modal + be + past participle. This structure is everywhere in rules, conditions, and terms. The EF grammar resource points out that the passive infinitive is used after modal verbs, giving us sentences like “The form must be submitted before the deadline” or “Payments may be made in instalments.” A quick note for learners: the perfect continuous tenses, such as the present perfect continuous, are almost never used in the passive because they sound clumsy, so you can safely set them aside.

Common uses in business and formal writing 🔗

In professional documents, the passive voice does specific work that the active voice cannot do as smoothly. Writing guides aimed at professionals, such as this practical guide from Instructional Solutions, point out that proposals naturally focus on the reader and the work rather than on the company making the offer, which makes the passive a sensible default in many sentences.

Describing processes and methods 🔗

When you explain how something will be done, the steps matter more than the people. “The samples are tested, the results are recorded, and a summary is produced” keeps the reader focused on the workflow. This is the standard style for methodology sections, executive summaries, and technical specifications.

Outlining terms and conditions 🔗

Agreements often need a neutral tone that does not attribute every clause to one party. “The timeline and deliverables will be agreed upon by both parties” sounds more balanced than “We will decide the timeline.” The passive helps create the impartial, cooperative feel that negotiation and contracts require.

Maintaining formality and diplomacy 🔗

Formal announcements and sensitive messages benefit from the distance the passive creates. “An error has been identified and corrected” is more professional than naming whoever made the mistake. This diplomatic use is one reason the passive is so common in official correspondence and policy documents.

A word of caution: do not overuse it 🔗

The passive voice is a tool, not a habit. Used too often, it makes writing wordy, vague, and tiring to read. The Purdue Global Writing Center summarises research showing that passive sentences take longer to read and are harder to remember than active ones, which is why skilled writers reach for the active voice far more often. A proposal stuffed with phrases like “it was felt that” and “it has been determined” sounds evasive and dull.

The safest approach is to use the active voice as your default and switch to the passive only when you have a clear reason: when the action matters more than the doer, when you want an objective tone, or when you need to be diplomatic. If you can add “by zombies” after the verb and the sentence still makes sense, you are looking at a passive construction, and you should ask yourself whether the active version would be clearer.

Exercises for practice 🔗

The fastest way to master the passive is to convert active sentences yourself. For each sentence below, identify the object, move it to the front, choose the correct form of “be” for the tense, and add the past participle. Try these before checking your structure.

1. The manager reviews the proposal every week. (present)
2. The committee rejected the first draft. (past)
3. Our team will submit the budget tomorrow. (future)
4. Applicants must complete all sections. (modal)
5. The consultant has prepared the final report. (present perfect)

Suggested answers: (1) The proposal is reviewed every week. (2) The first draft was rejected. (3) The budget will be submitted tomorrow. (4) All sections must be completed. (5) The final report has been prepared.

Once these feel natural, take a paragraph from one of your own assignments and rewrite it twice, once entirely in the active voice and once in the passive. Reading both versions aloud is the best test. The one that sounds clearer and keeps attention on the right idea is usually the better choice for that sentence.

What do you think? Look back at the last formal email or assignment you wrote. Were the passive sentences there on purpose, or did they slip in by habit? And in your own proposals, when does shifting the focus away from the doer actually make your message stronger rather than weaker?

References

1. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/active_and_passive_voice/active_versus_passive_voice.html
2. https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/passive-voice.php
3. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/active_and_passive_voice/choosing_passive_voice.html
4. https://test-english.com/explanation/b1-2/passive-voice-tenses/
5. https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/passive-voice/
6. https://www.instructionalsolutions.com/blog/when-should-passive-voice-be-used-in-business-writing
7. https://purdueglobalwriting.center/2025/08/29/wake-up-your-writing-the-case-for-active-vs-passive-voice/