A Readability Statistics report for a Word document displays an inaccurate value for passive sentences

When you use the grammar checking tool on a document that contains sentences that are written in the passive voice, the document's Readability Statistics report displays an inaccurate or zero percentage (0%) value for passive sentences in the document.

Use one of the following methods to work around this problem.

Method 1: Press F7 to Recheck the Text (Recommended)

After you run the Spelling and Grammar check and view the Readability Statistics dialog box showing the incorrect statistics, immediately press F7 a second time to recheck the text. The Readability Statistics dialog box should now show the correct statistics for the document.

NOTE: If you wait too long to press F7, the Readability Statistics dialog box continues to display the incorrect statistics for the document, and you must recheck the document. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click OK to close the Readability Statistics dialog box.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
   
   In Word 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
3. On the Spelling & Grammar tab, click Recheck Document.
   
   In Word 2007, click Recheck Document on the Proofing tab.
4. Click Yes to the following message:
   This operation resets the spelling checker and the grammar checker so that Word will recheck words and grammar you previously checked and chose to ignore. Do you want to continue?
5. Click OK.
6. Press F7 to recheck your Word document.
7. In the Spelling and Grammar dialog box, when the text is flagged as Passive Voice, click Ignore Rule.

The Readability Statistics dialog box should now display the correct information for the document.

Method 2: Turn Off the Passive Sentences Option

By temporarily turning off the passive sentences option, you can obtain the correct Readability Statistics result for the document. Follow these steps to turn off the passive sentences option:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
   
   In Word 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click Word Options.
2. Click the Spelling & Grammar tab. Then, under Grammar, click Settings, and clear the Passive sentences check box.
   
   In Word 2007, click Settings on the Proofing tab, and then clear the Passive sentences check box.
3. Click OK two times.
4. Press F7 to run the proofing tools.

The Readability Statistics dialog box now indicates the correct percentage of passive sentences in the document. To again allow the grammar checker to interactively find passive sentences, follow steps 1 through 3, and select the Passive sentences check box in step 3.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.