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How to Paraphrase a Sentence Effectively: Techniques and Examples

Putting ideas into your own words while keeping their original meaning is what paraphrasing is all about. This article will help you understand paraphrasing, from its basic ideas to useful methods. We'll look at what is a paraphrase, explore different paraphrasing meaning and examples, and give you practical tips on how to paraphrase a sentence or even how to paraphrase a paragraph.

What is a Paraphrased Sentence?

A paraphrased sentence is when you take someone else's idea and say it in your own words, but keep the same meaning.

What Is an Example of Effective Paraphrasing?

Good paraphrasing is more than just changing a few words. You need to really understand the original text and be able to say that idea in a new way. Let's look at another example of paraphrasing meaning and examples:

Original: "Climate change poses a significant threat to global biodiversity, with many species at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and changing environmental conditions."

Paraphrase: "The Earth's plants and animals are in danger because of changing weather patterns. Many types of living things might disappear as the places they live are destroyed and their surroundings change."

This paraphrase keeps the main idea but uses different words and sentence structure. It shows what is an example of effective paraphrasing.

How to Paraphrase a Sentence

Now that we know what a paraphrase is, let's learn how to make one. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to paraphrase a sentence:

Understanding the Original Sentence

First, you need to fully understand the original sentence. Read it carefully, maybe more than once, to make sure you get its meaning. If there are words you don't know, look them up. Only when you really understand the sentence can you write it in your own words.

Using Paraphrasing Techniques

There are several ways you can paraphrase:

• Use similar words: Replace words with others that mean almost the same thing. For example, "big" could become "large" or "huge".
• Change word types: Turn nouns into verbs, adjectives into adverbs, and so on. For instance, "The dog's bark was loud" could become "The dog barked loudly".
• Change sentence order: Rearrange the ideas in the sentence. You might start with a different part or change a passive sentence to an active one.
• Join or split sentences: If you're working with longer text, you might join short sentences or split longer ones.

Remember, the goal is to rewrite the sentence in a way that sounds natural and keeps the original meaning.

Checking for Meaning Retention

After paraphrasing, it's important to make sure you've kept the original meaning. Compare your paraphrase to the original sentence. Have you included all the main points? Is the overall message the same? If not, change your paraphrase until it correctly shows the original idea.

Adding Proper Citations

Even when you paraphrase, you must say where the original idea came from. This gives credit to the original writer and lets readers check the information. How you cite depends on the style you're using (like APA, MLA, Chicago), but usually, you need to include the writer's name and when it was published.

How to Paraphrase a Paragraph

Paraphrasing a paragraph is similar to paraphrasing a sentence, but on a larger scale:

• Read the paragraph several times to fully understand its main ideas and supporting details. Then, try the "read-cover-recall" method: look away from the original text and write down the key points in your own words. This helps prevent accidentally copying.
• Try 'double paraphrasing'. First paraphrase the paragraph once, then paraphrase your paraphrase. This can help you move even further from the original wording while still keeping the main ideas.
• Try changing the focus of the text. For example, if the original paragraph talks about climate change from an environmental view, try rewriting it from an economic or social view while keeping the main information. This not only makes sure it's original but also shows a deeper understanding of the topic.

After you finish your paraphrase, compare it with the original to make sure you've included all key points and haven't accidentally copied any phrases. Improve your version as needed to make it clear and original.

Common Mistakes When Paraphrasing a Sentence

When learning how to paraphrase, it's important to know about common mistakes. Here are some to avoid:

• Not changing the sentence enough: Just changing a few words isn't enough. Your paraphrase should be very different from the original in both words and structure to avoid copying.
• Changing the meaning: While changing the words, be careful not to accidentally change the meaning of the sentence.
• Forgetting to cite: Remember, even when you paraphrase, you must say where the original idea came from to avoid paraphrasing plagiarism.
• Using too similar sentence structure: Even if you change all the words, keeping the exact same sentence structure can still be too close to the original.

To show these points, let's look at some paraphrasing plagiarism examples:

Original: "The Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the late 18th century, was a period of great technological innovation."

Bad paraphrase: "The Industrial Revolution, which started in Britain in the late 1700s, was a time of big technological change."

This paraphrase is too close to the original, with only a few words changed. It could be seen as copying.

Better paraphrase: "In the last part of the 1700s, Britain saw the start of a new time when many new technologies were created, called the Industrial Revolution."

This version keeps the meaning but presents it in a noticeably different way.

Paraphrasing isn't just about changing words — it's a skill that helps you express ideas in new ways. Now that you understand what paraphrasing means and how to do it well, you're on your way to becoming a better writer. Remember, practice helps you improve, so keep trying!

Sometimes, we all need a little help. Imagine having a tool that can help you paraphrase sentences or even whole paragraphs quickly. Aithor doesn't just change a few words here and there; it understands the context and helps you rewrite content in a way that's uniquely yours.

Head over to aithor.com , and you might be surprised at how much time and effort you can save!

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• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Use Paraphrase

I. What is a Paraphrase?

A paraphrase (pronounced par – uh -freyz) is a restatement or rewording of a paragraph  or text,  in order to borrow, clarify, or expand on information without plagiarizing. Paraphrasing is an important tool to use when writing research papers, essays , and pieces of journalism.

II. Examples of Paraphrasing

For examples of paraphrasing, consider these possible re-wordings of the same statement:

She angered me with her inappropriate comments, rumor-spreading, and disrespectfulness at the formal dinner table.

She made me angry when she was rude at dinner.

This paraphrase is an example of a rewording which shortens and simplifies while maintaining the same meaning.

Her impoliteness, gossiping, and general lack of respect at dinner infuriated me.

This rephrasing maintains the same meaning but is rearranged in a creative way.

I was mad when she started spreading rumors, making inappropriate comments, and disrespecting other guests at our dinner.

Another paraphrase, this rewording properly and interestingly rearranges the information provided in the original sentence.

III. Types of Paraphrasing

A. change of parts of speech.

Parts of speech ranging from verbs and nouns to adjectives and adverbs are replaced with new parts of speech in this type of paraphrasing. Here is an example:

Original Sentence:

The boy quickly ran across the finish line, seizing yet another victory.

Paraphrase:

The quick boy seized yet another victory when he ran across the finish line.

In this example, many parts of speech are changed: the adverb quickly becomes the adjective quick, and the verb phrase with the gerund seizing becomes the verb seized.

B.  Change of Structure

This type of paraphrasing involves changing the sentence’s structure, sometimes creating a passive voice from an active voice and vice versa. The change in structure can be used to reflect the writer’s interpretation of the original quote. Here is an example of change of structure paraphrasing:

Puppies were adopted by numerous kind souls at the puppy drive.

Many kind souls adopted puppies during the puppy drive.

In this example, the object of the sentence (kind souls) becomes the subject with an active voice (adopted) rather than a passive voice (were adopted).

C. Reduction of Clauses

Reduction of clauses paraphrases reduce the number of clauses in a sentence, which can be interruptive or confusing, by incorporating the phrases into the sentence. Here is an example of reduction of clauses paraphrasing:

While I understand where you’re coming from, and truly respect your opinion, I wish you would express yourself more clearly, like Clara does.

I understand where you’re coming from and respect your opinion, but I wish you would be more like Clara and express yourself more clearly.

D. Synonym Replacement

Synonym replacement paraphrasing is one of the simplest forms of paraphrasing: replacing words with similar words, or synonyms. Here is an example:

The older citizens were honored with a parade for those once in the military.

Senior citizens were honored with a march for veterans.

In this example, many synonyms are used: older citizens are senior citizens, a parade becomes a march, and those once in the military refers to veterans.

IV. The Importance of Using Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is a way of referencing a source without directly quoting it or of further explaining a selected quote. Correct paraphrasing is important in that poor paraphrasing can result in accusations of plagiarism, or copying from a source without correctly citing it. Paraphrasing allows writers to examine the meaning of others’ work, creatively rephrase their statements, and craft information to suit an essay or composition’s goal or focus.

V. Paraphrase in Literature

Paraphrasing can be found in a variety of journalistic sources from newspapers to film documentaries to literary journals. Here are a few examples of paraphrasing in literature:

Someone once wrote that musicians are touched on the shoulder by God, and I think it’s true. You can make other people happy with music, but you can make yourself happy too.

In John Berendt’s nonfiction novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil , a character references what someone has once written by paraphrasing their message.

I’m going to paraphrase Thoreau here… rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness… give me truth.

In this example from the nonfiction novel Into the Wild , Jon Krakauer paraphrases Thoreau’s larger message of transcendence.

So far, Laurance’s critiques of new road-building schemes have been well received, but he expects that to change.

In Michelle Nijhuis’ article “What Roads Have Wrought,” William Laurance is paraphrased rather than quoted to express his general viewpoint.

VI. Paraphrase in Pop Culture

Paraphrasing is often found in pop culture when attempting to translate the language of older plays, poems, and stories, such as Shakespeare’s works. Here are a few examples of paraphrasing in pop culture:

10 Things I Hate About You (1999):

Just a minor encounter with the shrew… the mewling, rampalian wretch herself.

In the modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew , many characters ’ lines paraphrase Shakespeare’s originals. Here is Shakespeare’s version:

A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.

A Different World: Romeo, Oh Romeo

First, the student reads Shakespeare’s original words:

Oh gentle Romeo. If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. Or if thou thinkest I’m too quickly won, I’ll frown and be perverse and say thee nay, so thou wilt woo.

Then, she paraphrases to translate its meaning for modern ears:

It’s all about translation. Oh, sweet thang Romeo. If you think I’m all that, then step to me correctly. But if you think I’m a skeeze, I’ll be dissin’ and dismissin’, then you’ll be workin’ overtime getting’ me back.

VII. Related Terms

Like paraphrases, summaries are rewordings of original statements. Whereas paraphrases are precise and specific, summaries are brief and selective. Summaries report main points in a shortened version of the original, whereas paraphrases simply restate the original statement in a new way. Here is an example of summary versus paraphrase:

Original Statement:

At the party we had delicious red punch, a bunch of different appetizers, and a cookout. Since it was at the park, we played volleyball, went swimming, and sunbathed for fun.

At the party we enjoyed food and drink and various outdoor activities.

Here, the summary purposefully shortens the original statement while covering its major points.

At the party we drank some punch, ate a handful of appetizers, and had a cookout. The park allowed us to enjoy a number of enjoyable activities from volleyball to swimming to sunbathing.

As this example shows, the paraphrase rephrases the original statement and keeps more of its original content than the summary.

Translation

Although paraphrase sometimes translates difficult phrasing into more understandable phrasing, it is not literally considered translation. For something to be a translation, it must change writing in one language to another language. Here is an example of translation versus paraphrasing:

Original Phrase:

That’s life.

Translation into French:

C’est la vie.

That’s just how life goes sometimes.

Although we loosely may refer to paraphrase as translating ideas, technically it is not a tool of translation.

VIII. In Closing

Paraphrasing is an important tool for nonfiction writers, journalists, and essayists alike. It is a common proponent of news and reporting. Correct paraphrasing protects writers from plagiarism and allows them to creatively rephrase original works, incorporating them into their own compositions.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

What are the 4 types of paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the act of restating information or text using your own words while maintaining the original meaning. There are generally four types of paraphrasing;

• Synonymic Paraphrasing: In this type, you replace certain words or phrases with their synonyms to convey the same idea. This method helps to maintain the context while presenting the information in a different way.
• General Paraphrasing: This involves restructuring the original text or sentence without changing the meaning. You might alter the sentence structure, change the order of words, or adjust the grammar to create a different sentence that conveys the same information.
• Paraphrasing with Simple Structure: Here, you simplify complex sentences or phrases by breaking them down into simpler and more easily understandable language. This type of paraphrasing is particularly useful when dealing with intricate or technical content.
• Paraphrasing with Extended Structure: This method involves expanding or elaborating on the original text to provide more context or depth. It allows you to delve deeper into the subject matter, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the information presented in the original text.

What are the 4 steps to paraphrasing using the 4R rules

The 4R rules for effective paraphrasing provide a structured approach to accurately rephrasing text. These steps include:

• Read: Understand the original text thoroughly before attempting to paraphrase. Identify the main points, key ideas, and supporting details to grasp the essence of the content.
• Reflect: Take a moment to contemplate the message and think about how you can restate it in your own words. Consider the context, purpose, and target audience to ensure your paraphrase aligns with the intended message.
• Restate: Rewrite the original text in your own words while maintaining the core meaning. Focus on expressing the concepts clearly and accurately without changing the intended message. Avoid using the same sentence structure and word choice as the original text.
• Review: After paraphrasing, compare your version with the original text to ensure that you have captured the main ideas accurately. Check for any unintentional similarities and make necessary adjustments to create a distinct paraphrased version.

What are the 5 steps of paraphrasing

The process of paraphrasing involves several key steps to effectively rephrase a piece of text while maintaining its original meaning. These steps include:

• Understand the Original Text: Read and comprehend the original content to grasp its main ideas and underlying message.
• Identify Key Points: Recognize the essential concepts, arguments, and points that form the foundation of the text.
• Create a New Structure: Rewrite the text using different sentence structures and word choices while retaining the core message.
• Use Synonyms and Different Phrasing: Replace words and phrases with suitable synonyms and alternate expressions to convey the same idea in a unique manner.
• Review and Compare: Compare your paraphrased version with the original text to ensure that it accurately represents the main points while providing a fresh perspective. Make necessary adjustments to maintain the original context and meaning.

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What is a good paraphrasing technique

A good paraphrasing technique involves more than simply replacing words with their synonyms. It requires a comprehensive understanding of the original text, the ability to restructure sentences, and the skill to convey the original meaning in a fresh, unique way. Here are some effective techniques to ensure successful paraphrasing;

• Understand the Context: Comprehend the context and purpose of the original text to accurately capture its essence.
• Use Different Sentence Structures: Vary the sentence structures while maintaining the original information and the logical flow of ideas.
• Change Word Choices: Replace certain words and phrases with synonyms or alternate expressions that convey the same message.
• Maintain the Tone and Style: Ensure that the paraphrased text reflects the appropriate tone and style suitable for the intended audience.
• Focus on Main Ideas: Identify the main ideas and key concepts and rephrase them in a way that retains their significance.
• Attribute Ideas: Properly attribute any unique ideas or concepts to the original author to avoid plagiarism.
• Verify Accuracy: Double-check the paraphrased content against the original text to confirm that the main ideas are accurately conveyed and that the context remains intact.

The 4R rules, also known as the four steps to paraphrasing, offer a structured approach to effectively rewording content. These steps ensure that you maintain the original meaning while using your own words. Let’s dive into each step in detail:

• Read:  Begin by thoroughly reading and understanding the original text. Pay close attention to the main ideas, key concepts, and any specific details that are crucial to the overall message. Take note of the author’s tone, style, and the context in which the information is presented.
• Reflect:  Once you have comprehended the content, take a moment to reflect on the main points and ideas. Think about how you can explain the same concepts using different words, sentence structures, or examples. Reflecting allows you to consider various ways to present the information while ensuring that the essence remains unchanged.
• Write (paraphrase):  With a clear understanding and reflection on the original text, proceed to rewrite the content using your own words and style. Focus on conveying the same meaning but in a distinct manner. Ensure that you maintain the original intent and context while expressing the ideas in a way that is clear and concise.
• Review:  Once you have completed your paraphrased version, review it carefully against the original text. Make sure that you have retained the main ideas and key points without distorting the original message. Check for any unintentional similarities in sentence structure, word choice, or overall structure that might closely resemble the original text. Ensure that the paraphrased content is entirely in your own words and reflects your understanding of the source material.

Following these 4R rules not only helps you maintain the integrity of the original content but also allows you to develop your own unique writing style and voice. By combining these steps with a keen focus on accuracy and clarity, you can effectively paraphrase content while upholding the original author’s ideas and perspectives.

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Using Sources

Paraphrasing.

So why paraphrase?  Paraphrasing offers a way to maintain your own writing style and voice throughout the writing.  It helps cut down on the number of different styles from different sources, creating a sleeker, easier reading experience for your reader.  Most of all, though, paraphrasing is a means of helping you understand what your sources are saying, in order to incorporate that information into your own writing.  You have to understand the source’s ideas fully in order to rewrite them clearly.

When you paraphrase, make sure not to simply substitute one word for another, retaining the same sentence structure.  Paraphrasing requires you to use your own sentence structures as well as words, so that you are not inadvertently plagiarizing the source.

• There is no good reason to use a quote to refer to your evidence. If the author’s exact words are not especially important to the point you are trying to make, you are usually better off paraphrasing the evidence.
• You are trying to explain technical information or complicated language to a more general reading audience.
• You are trying to explain a particular a piece of evidence in order to explain or interpret it in more detail. This might be particularly true in writing projects like critiques.
• You need to balance a direct quote in your writing. You need to be careful about directly quoting your research too much because it can sometimes make for awkward and difficult to read prose. So, one of the reasons to use a paraphrase instead of a quote is to create balance within your writing.

Writing a Paraphrase

Make sure that you understand the original text that you intend to paraphrase.  Rewrite that text at least twice, in your own words.  After the first rewriting, set the paraphrase aside for a short time.  When you go back to it, you’ll most likely see that you’ve tended to retain some of the original text’s wording and sentence structure.  On a second (or third, or fourth) rewriting, try to make the language and sentence structure your own, while retaining the meaning of the original text. If you find that the original text uses a key word or phrase that you don’t want to rewrite, know that you can always include it in quotation marks within your paraphrase.  Finally, make sure to attribute the paraphrase at the start (e.g., “According to…”) and include a citation at the end.  Your readers should be able to distinguish your own information from paraphrased information, and the attribution and citation signal the beginning and end of the paraphrase.

Paraphrasing Example

Mr. President, I confess that I do not entirely approve of this Constitution at present; but, Sir, I am not sure I shall never approve it; for, having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged, by better information or fuller consideration, to change my opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.

Benjamin Franklin tells the president of the Constitutional Convention that he does  not entirely  approve of the Constitution at the  present  time, but that he is not sure  he will never approve it . He points out that he has lived a long time, and in his experience there have been  many instances  when  better information of fuller consideration  of a topic have made him change his opinions  on important subjects  that he had originally thought to be correct. He points out that he finds himself more likely to doubt his own judgment the older he gets, and contrasts his knowledge of his own fallibility with other people’s conviction of their infallibility.

Benjamin Franklin tells the president of the Constitutional Convention that although he is currently uncertain about the Constitution they have created, he may eventually acknowledge its effectiveness. This is due, he explains, to new information or a different understanding of similarly important topics that have caused him to change his mind in the past.

Paraphrase Checklist

• Have you used your own words and sentence structures?
• Even though the wording is your own, have you carefully retained the meaning of the original text
• Did you attribute the paraphrase at the start, using language in some way that explains that you’re paraphrasing another’s text? (e.g., “Smith states that…”)
• Did you cite the paraphrase correctly at the end, using a standard citation format for in-text citations?
• Did you cite the paraphrased source in the Works Cited list at the end of the essay?

Paraphrasing Practice #1

Paraphrasing is a skill that takes time to develop. One way of becoming familiar with paraphrasing is by examining successful and unsuccessful attempts at paraphrasing. Read the quote below from page 179 of Howard Gardner’s book titled Multiple Intelligences and then examine the two attempts at paraphrasing that follow [1] .

Paraphrasing Attempt 1: America has now gone too far toward formal testing, without realizing the costs and limitations of exclusively emphasizing that approach (Gardner 179).

Paraphrasing Attempt 2: In the United States, the education system places too much emphasis on formal testing, overlooking the limitations and expenses imposed when that assessment strategy is employed exclusively (Gardner 179).

Paraphrasing practice #2

The original passage:

“Scientists and policymakers generally agree that the likelihood of flooding in the UK will increase as a result of climate change. It is also accepted that sensible land use and development planning plays a role in the management of flood risk, while allowing necessary development to continue” (Dept…Government, 2006, Evans et al., 2004; Thorne et al., 2007).

The paraphrase:

Scientists and policymakers agree that climate change means that the likelihood of UK flooding will increase. It is also agreed that the role of sensible land use and development planning are important in the management of flood risk, also allowing necessary development to continue (Dept…Government, 2006; Evans et al., 2004; Thorne et al., 2007).

Answer these questions about the paraphrase example from above to decide if it is a good or bad paraphrase.

1. Has the student changed a lot of the words from the original passage?

2. Has the student changed the word order and structure compared to the original passage?

3. Has the student included a citation for the information?

4. Overall, do you think this is a good paraphrase?

View  Writing with Sources: Paraphrasing & Quotation , an interactive resource for a review and self-test on paraphrasing and quoting sources. (Please click on the text link.)

• Gardner, Howard. Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice. BasicBooks, 2006. ↵
• Paraphrasing. Revision and adaptation of the page Using Sources in Your Writing at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-using-sources-in-your-writing/, the page Paraphrasing at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-paraphrasing/, and the page Using Sources in Your Writing at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introtocollegecomp/chapter/text-using-sources-in-your-writing/ which are revisions and adptations of the sources listed below. Authored by : Susan Oaks. Provided by : Empire State College, SUNY OER Services. Project : College Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Using Sources in Your Writing. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-using-sources-in-your-writing/ . Project : English Composition I. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Paraphrasing. Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-englishcomposition1/chapter/text-paraphrasing/ . Project : English Composition I. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Using Sources in Your Writing . Provided by : Lumen Learning. Located at : https://courses.lumenlearning.com/introtocollegecomp/chapter/text-using-sources-in-your-writing/ . Project : Introduction to College Composition. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Information on Quoting and Paraphrasing from the Academic Integrity Tutorial. Authored by : DiMenna-Nyselius Library. Provided by : Fairfield University. Located at : http://librarybestbets.fairfield.edu/c.php?g=476878&p=3335282 . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Paraphrasing. Provided by : Texas A&M University Writing Center. Located at : http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/Students/Handouts-Guides/Handouts-(Get-It-Written)/Citing/Paraphrasing . Project : Grounds for Argument. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Using Information Ethically, Avoiding Plagiarism Paraphrasing Example. Provided by : Loyola Marymount University, William H. Hannon Library. Located at : http://electra.lmu.edu/LGRL/UIE2014/ . Project : Lion's Guide to Research and the Library. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Quoting Examples from Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism. Authored by : Steven D. Krause. Located at : http://www.stevendkrause.com/tprw/chapter3.html . Project : The Process of Research Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Benjamin Franklin example from Chapter 5: Using Materials from Sources. Authored by : Denise Snee, Kristin Houlton, Nancy Heckel. Edited by Kimberly Jacobs. Located at : http://lgdata.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/docs/679/734444/Snee_2012_Research_Analysis_and_Writing.pdf . Project : Research, Analysis, and Writing. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• image of man writing on notepad, with open laptop on desk. Authored by : StartupStock Photos. Provided by : Pixabay. Located at : https://pixabay.com/en/write-plan-desk-notes-pen-writing-593333/ . License : CC0: No Rights Reserved
• interactive video Writing with Sources: Paraphrasing & Quotations. Authored by : Kelsey Foote, Brett Sherman, Dan McCrea. Provided by : SUNY Empire State College. Located at : https://escoer.sunyempirefaculty.net/iitg_2017/iitg_paraphrasing/story_html5.html . License : CC BY-NC: Attribution-NonCommercial

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• What is Paraphrasing? An Overview With Examples
• Learn English
• James Prior
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• Updated February 23, 2024

What is paraphrasing? Or should I say what is the definition of paraphrasing? If you want to restate something using different words whilst retaining the same meaning, this is paraphrasing.

In this article, we cover what paraphrasing is, why it’s important, and when you should do it. Plus, some benefits and examples.

Table of Contents

Paraphrase Definition: What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is when you restate the information from a source using your own words while maintaining the original meaning. It involves expressing the ideas in a different way, often to clarify or simplify the content, without directly quoting the source.

When you paraphrase, you are not only borrowing, clarifying, or expanding on the information but also ensuring that you do all of these actions without plagiarizing the original content. It’s therefore definitely worth learning how to paraphrase if you want to improve your writing skills.

Why is Paraphrasing Important?

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill that allows you to convey information in your unique writing style while still giving credit to someone else’s ideas. It’s important for several reasons, and it serves various functions in both academic and professional writing.

Here are some key reasons why you should paraphrase:

• Paraphrasing allows you to present information from sources in your own words, reducing the risk of plagiarism. Proper in-text citation is still necessary, but paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding and interpretation of the material.
• When you paraphrase, you are required to comprehend the original content fully. You actively engage with the information, helping you better understand complex concepts and ideas. This process of restating the information in your own words showcases your understanding of the subject matter.
• By paraphrasing, you can clarify complex ideas or technical language and convey information in a clearer, shorter, and simpler form. This makes it more accessible to your audience and ensures they grasp the key points. This is particularly important when communicating with readers who may not be familiar with specialized terminology.
• Paraphrasing is valuable when synthesizing information from various sources. It enables you to blend ideas cohesively while maintaining a consistent writing style throughout your work.
• Paraphrasing allows you to inject your unique writing style and voice into the content. It helps you present information in a way that is more aligned with your personal expression and perspective.
• In certain situations where you need to meet specific length requirements for assignments or publications, paraphrasing allows you to convey information more concisely while still preserving the essential meaning.
• Paraphrasing helps maintain a smooth flow and cohesiveness in your writing. It allows you to integrate information seamlessly, avoiding abrupt shifts between your own ideas and those from external sources.
• Depending on your audience, you may need to adapt the language and level of technicality of the information you present. Paraphrasing allows you to tailor the content to suit the needs of your specific readership.

Incorporating paraphrasing into your writing not only showcases your understanding of the material but also enhances the overall quality and originality of your work.

When Should You Paraphrase?

Knowing when to paraphrase is an important skill, especially in academic writing and professional communication. Here are some situations in which you should consider paraphrasing:

• To Avoid Plagiarism:  Whenever you want to incorporate information from source material into your own work, but don’t want to use a direct quotation, paraphrasing is necessary to present the ideas in your own words while still acknowledging the original source.
• To Express Understanding:  Paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding of a topic by rephrasing the information in a way that shows you have processed and comprehended the material.
• To Simplify Complex Information:  If you encounter complex or technical language that may be difficult for your audience to understand, paraphrasing can help you clarify and simplify the information to make it more accessible and digestible.
• To Integrate Multiple Sources:  When synthesizing information from multiple sources, paraphrasing allows you to blend the ideas cohesively while maintaining your own voice and perspective.
• To Maintain Consistency in Writing Style:  In academic writing or professional writing, paraphrasing can help you maintain a consistent writing style throughout your work. This helps to ensure that all sections flow smoothly and are coherent.
• To Meet Specific Requirements:  Some assignments or publications may have specific requirements. This could relate to the number of words or concern the use of direct quotations. In such cases, paraphrasing allows you to meet these requirements while still incorporating relevant information from your sources.

What Are the Benefits of Paraphrasing?

Rewriting information in a clearer, shorter, and simpler form is called paraphrasing, so one of the benefits of paraphrasing is already clear! However, it can also be a useful exercise for other reasons, which are outlined below:

Avoiding Plagiarism

One of the main benefits of paraphrasing is mastering the ability to present information from external sources in a way that is entirely your own. By restructuring the content and expressing it using your words, you create a distinct piece of writing that reflects your comprehension and interpretation of the original material. This not only showcases your academic or professional integrity but also safeguards against unintentional plagiarism.

Paraphrasing is a fundamental skill in academic and professional settings, where originality and proper attribution are highly valued. This is especially true when it comes to writing research papers, where you’ll often need to reference someone else’s ideas with appropriate citations.

When you paraphrase effectively, you communicate to your audience that you respect the intellectual property of others while contributing your unique insights. This ethical approach to information usage enhances your credibility as a writer or researcher and reinforces the integrity of your work.

Enhancing Understanding

When you engage in paraphrasing, you actively participate in the material you are working with. You are forced to consider the ideas presented in the source material. You need to discern the essential concepts, identify key phrases, and decide how best to convey the message in a way that resonates with you.

This active engagement not only aids in understanding the content but also encourages critical thinking as you evaluate and interpret the information from your own standpoint.

By expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words, you deepen your understanding of the content. This process requires you to dissect the original text, grasp its nuances, and then reconstruct it using your language and perspective. In this way, you go beyond mere memorization and truly internalize the information, fostering a more profound comprehension of the subject matter.

Tailoring Information for Your Audience

Paraphrasing empowers you to adapt the language and complexity of the information to suit the needs and understanding of your audience. As you rephrase the content, you have the flexibility to adjust the level of technicality, simplify complex terminology, or tailor the tone to make the information more accessible to your specific readership.

Consider your audience’s background, knowledge level, and interests. Paraphrasing allows you to bridge the gap between the original content and the understanding of your intended audience.

Whether you are communicating with experts in a particular field or a general audience, the ability to paraphrase ensures that the information is conveyed in a way that resonates with and is comprehensible to your readers. This skill not only facilitates effective communication but also demonstrates your awareness of the diverse needs of your audience.

Improves Writing Skills

Paraphrasing helps in the development and refinement of your writing skills. When you actively engage in the process of rephrasing someone else’s ideas, you hone your ability to express concepts in a clear, concise, and coherent manner.

This practice refines your language proficiency, encouraging you to explore different types of sentence structure, experiment with vocabulary, and ultimately develop a more sophisticated and nuanced writing style.

As you paraphrase, you gain a heightened awareness of grammar, syntax, and word choice. This translates into improved writing, helping you construct well-articulated sentences and paragraphs. Moreover, paraphrasing allows you to experiment with different writing tones and adapt your style to suit the context or purpose of your writing, fostering versatility and adaptability in your expression.

Saves Time and Energy

Paraphrasing can significantly reduce the time and energy spent on the writing process. Rather than grappling with the challenge of integrating lengthy direct quotations or struggling to find the perfect synonym, paraphrasing allows you to distill and convey information in a more streamlined way.

This becomes particularly advantageous when faced with strict deadlines. By mastering paraphrasing, you empower yourself to produce well-crafted, original content in a shorter timeframe, allowing you to meet deadlines without compromising the quality of your work.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Here are some examples of paraphrasing:

• Original:  “The advancements in technology have revolutionized the way we communicate with each other.”
• Paraphrased:  “Technological progress has transformed how we interact and communicate with one another.”
• Original:  “Deforestation poses a significant threat to global ecosystems and biodiversity.”
• Paraphrased:  “The impact of deforestation represents a substantial danger to ecosystems and the diversity of life on a global scale.”
• Original:  “Effective time management is essential for achieving productivity in both professional and personal spheres.”
• Paraphrased:  “Efficient management of time is crucial for attaining productivity in both professional and personal aspects of life.”
• Original:  “The restaurant offers a diverse selection of culinary choices, ranging from traditional dishes to modern fusion cuisine.”
• Paraphrased:  “The restaurant provides a variety of food options, including both traditional and modern fusion dishes.”
• Original:  “The novel explores the complexities of human relationships in a rapidly changing society.”
• Paraphrased:  “The book delves into the challenges of human connections in a fast-changing world.”
• Original:  “Regular exercise is crucial for maintaining optimal physical health and preventing various health issues.”
• Paraphrased:  “Exercising regularly is important for keeping your body healthy and avoiding health problems.”

In these examples, you can observe the use of different wording, sentence structure, and synonyms while preserving the core meaning of the original sentences. This is the essence of paraphrasing.

What Are the Differences Between Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Summarizing?

So, we’ve established that successful paraphrasing is a way of rewriting someone else’s words whilst retaining their meaning and still giving credit to the original author’s ideas. But how is this different from quoting and summarizing?

While paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing are all ways of incorporating information from source material into your own writing, there are key differences between them:

Paraphrasing

• Definition:  Paraphrasing involves rephrasing someone else’s ideas or information in your own words while retaining the original meaning.
• Usage:  You use paraphrasing when you want to present the information in a way that suits your writing style or when you need to clarify complex ideas.
• Example:  Original: “The study found a significant correlation between sleep deprivation and decreased cognitive performance.” Paraphrased: “The research indicated a notable link between lack of sleep and a decline in cognitive function.”
• Definition:  Quoting involves directly using the exact words from a source and enclosing them in quotation marks.
• Usage:  You use quoting when the original wording is essential, either because of its precision or uniqueness, or when you want to highlight a specific phrase or concept.
• Example:  Original: “The author argues, ‘In the absence of clear guidelines, individual judgment becomes paramount in decision-making.'”

The use of quotation marks is vital when quoting.

Summarizing

• Definition:  Summarizing involves condensing the main ideas of a source or original passage in your own words, focusing on the most crucial points.
• Usage:  You use summarizing when you need to provide a concise overview of a longer piece of text or when you want to capture the key points without including all the details.
• Example:  Original: A lengthy article discussing various factors influencing climate change. Summary: “The article outlines key factors contributing to climate change, including human activities and natural processes.”

In summary, paraphrasing is about expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words, quoting involves directly using the original words, and summarizing is about condensing the main points of a source.

Each technique serves different purposes in writing and should be used based on your specific goals and the nature of the information you are incorporating. If you want to level up your writing skills you need to be able to do all three of these.

Conclusion (In Our Own Words)

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill with numerous benefits. It helps you understand complex ideas, refine your writing style, and demonstrate ethical information use. It also allows you to tailor information for different audiences and can save time in academic and professional writing.

So, if you want to incorporate information from external sources into your writing in a way that is clear, concise, and respectful of the original author’s work, it’s worth mastering the art of paraphrasing.

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Encyclopedia

Writing with artificial intelligence, chapter: paraphrasing.

January 18, 2020

Paraphrasing – How to Paraphrase with Clarity & Concision

What Is a Paraphrase? Paraphrase refers to the act of rephrasing a specific part of someone’s spoken or written words, especially in a way that might be shorter or simpler, while ensuring the original meaning remains intact. Paraphrase involves more than just changing individual words with synonyms, altering sentence structure, or reordering sentences. It requires ...

June 25, 2012

When to Paraphrase

Academic writing requires authors to connect information from outside sources to their own ideas in order to establish credibility and produce an effective argument.

Sometimes, the rules surrounding source integration and plagiarism may seem confusing, so many new writers err on the side of caution by using the simplest form of integration: direct quotation. However, using direct quotes is not always the best way to use a source. Paraphrasing or summarizing a text is sometimes a more effective means of supporting a writer’s argument than directly quoting. Taking into consideration the purpose of their own writing and the purpose of utilizing the outside source, authors should seek to vary the ways in which they work sources into their own writing.

March 20, 2010

Double-Entry Response Format

The double-entry format is a useful technique to help you extend your thinking about a source or to critique an rhetor’s text. One very effective technique for avoiding note-bound prose is to respond to powerful quotations in what  Ann Berthoff calls the double-entry notebook form. The double-entry form shows the direct quotation on the left ...

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Paraphrasing - an overview

Paraphrasing is ..., what are the differences between quoting, paraphrasing & summarising .

• Why Paraphrase?
• Paraphrasing versus Plagiarism
• The Do's and Don'ts of Paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing - examples
• Further Information

Paraphrasing is 'a restating of someone else’s thoughts or ideas in your own words. You must always cite your source when paraphrasing’ (Pears & Shields, 2019 p. 245).  

(Solas English, 2017)

• Quoting means using someone else’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks.. 
• Paraphrasing means expressing someone else’s ideas in your own voice, while keeping the same essential meaning.
• Summarising means taking a long passage of text from someone else and condensing the main ideas in your own words.

Watch the video below for more information.  

(UNC Writing Center, 2019)

• Next: Why Paraphrase? >>
• Last Updated: Apr 10, 2024 3:42 PM
• URL: https://lit.libguides.com/paraphrasing

The Library, Technological University of the Shannon: Midwest

What Is Paraphrase? Definition & Examples

Ever imagined having the power to reshape sentences while preserving their original essence? Welcome to the captivating world of paraphrasing! This invaluable tool in our communication arsenal allows us to reinterpret and rearticulate thoughts, amplifying clarity and enriching dialogue.

Whether you’re a writer seeking variety, a student mastering a language, or a professional communicating complex ideas, understanding and employing paraphrasing can revolutionize your expression.

Dive into this insightful journey of ‘saying it differently’ and explore the transformative power of paraphrase!

Table of Contents

Understanding Paraphrasing

Definition of paraphrase.

Paraphrasing is the process in which one takes a pre-existing piece of content, whether written or verbal, and restates it using distinct phrases, words, and structure, while ensuring the original meaning stays intact. It is a method of creatively reproducing a text, thought, or concept in a reformed way, yet maintaining the identical core essence.

The intent behind paraphrasing is not to change the message, but rather to rephrase it in a unique manner while preserving its inherent meaning.

Purpose of Paraphrasing

Imagine you’re at a party and there’s a guy explaining something about rocket science. He’s using all kinds of complex terms and formulas that are flying over everyone’s head. Now, you have a friend who’s good at this stuff. He understands what the rocket guy is saying.

After rocket guy finishes, your friend steps in. He explains the same thing but in a way that’s easy for everyone to understand. He uses simple words, and everyday examples — like explaining thrust using the example of a balloon releasing air.

That’s what paraphrasing is like. It’s about taking something complex and making it simple and understandable for others. It’s like being a translator, but instead of converting from one language to another, you’re converting from ‘complex’ to ‘simple’.

Paraphrasing in Different Contexts

Paraphrasing in research.

Paraphrasing is a crucial skill that researchers need to master in order to accurately represent the ideas of others in their work. In research, paraphrasing is used to avoid plagiarism and to ensure that the information presented is accurate and relevant. Researchers often paraphrase information from primary and secondary sources to support their arguments.

When paraphrasing in research, it is important to maintain the original meaning of the text while using different words and sentence structures. Researchers should also cite their sources properly to avoid any accusations of plagiarism.

Paraphrasing in Essays

Paraphrasing is also an important skill for essay writing. In essays, paraphrasing is used to introduce and explain the ideas of others without copying their exact words. Paraphrasing can help to strengthen the argument of an essay by providing evidence that supports the writer’s viewpoint.

When paraphrasing in essays, it is important to use language that is appropriate for the intended audience. It is also important to ensure that the paraphrased information is relevant to the essay topic.

Paraphrasing in Literature

Paraphrasing is a common practice in literary analysis. In literature, paraphrasing is used to explain complex ideas and to provide evidence to support a particular interpretation of a text. Paraphrasing can also be used to clarify difficult language or to provide context for a particular passage.

When paraphrasing in literature, it is important to use language that is appropriate for the intended audience. It is also important to ensure that the paraphrased information is relevant to the literary analysis being presented.

Paraphrasing Vs Summarizing

Let’s say you just read an interesting book and you want to tell your friend about it. There are two ways you could go about this:

Paraphrasing is like retelling the story in your own words. You still cover all the important parts, but you use different words and phrases, maybe even different sentence structures. You keep the same meaning as the book, but you’re not quoting it word for word. You’re putting your spin on it.

This is especially useful when you want to delve into a particular part of the story in more detail, or maybe explain a complicated part in simpler terms.

Summarizing , on the other hand, is like giving your friend the “highlight reel” of the book. You’re not going into every single detail, but instead, you’re giving them a shorter version that captures the main points or the essence of the story. This is great if your friend is in a hurry and just wants the key takeaways from the book.

So, paraphrasing is like retelling the story in your own words, while summarizing is more like giving the cliff-notes version. They’re both handy tools to have when you’re trying to share information from a text, and they each serve different purposes.

Etymology and History

The term paraphrase comes from the Greek word “paraphrasis,” which means “additional manner of expression.” The Greek word itself is composed of the prefix “para,” meaning “beside,” and the verb “phrazein,” which means “to tell” or “to express.”

The concept of paraphrasing has been around for centuries, with ancient Greek and Roman writers often using it to explain complex ideas in simpler terms. In the Middle Ages, paraphrasing was used to translate religious texts from Latin into various vernacular languages.

During the Renaissance, the art of paraphrasing became more refined, with scholars using it to interpret and explain classical texts. In the 17th and 18th centuries, paraphrasing was used extensively in literary criticism, with writers paraphrasing passages from other works to illustrate their points.

Today, paraphrasing is a common practice in many fields, including academia, journalism, and business. It is often used to explain complex ideas in simpler terms, to summarize long passages of text, or to rephrase information in a way that is easier to understand.

The Importance of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is an essential skill for academic writing. It involves restating someone else’s ideas in your own words, without changing the meaning. Paraphrasing is important for several reasons, including avoiding plagiarism, enhancing understanding, and improving writing skills.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work as your own without acknowledging them. It’s akin to intellectual theft and is considered a serious violation in academia. For instance, copying a paragraph from a source into your report without citation is plagiarism.

Paraphrasing can help avoid this. It involves understanding someone else’s ideas and expressing them in your own words. Rather than just changing a few words, you fully understand the content and articulate it from your perspective. This demonstrates your grasp of the material and your original work.

However, even while paraphrasing, crediting the original source is essential. This involves citing the source, acknowledging where the ideas originated.

Enhancing Understanding

When you’re paraphrasing, you are doing a lot more than just reading. You’re actively engaging with the text, thinking about what the author is trying to say, breaking it down, and then rebuilding it using your own language. This is like doing a jigsaw puzzle; you have to understand how all the pieces fit together to see the whole picture.

This process forces you to really grasp the key ideas and concepts in the text. Sometimes, you may even discover that you didn’t fully understand the material until you tried to paraphrase it. The act of putting something complex into your own words can shine a light on areas that you didn’t understand as well as you thought.

So, paraphrasing not only helps you avoid plagiarism, but it can also be a powerful tool for understanding and learning. It encourages you to delve deeper into the material, and to be an active rather than passive learner.

Improving Writing Skills

Paraphrasing is like restating something in your own language. It’s an essential writing skill, allowing you to express ideas clearly and succinctly. Just like exercising to get stronger, practicing paraphrasing improves your writing.

This practice also helps you develop your unique writing style or “voice” , making your work more interesting to read. Think of this voice as your writing fingerprint, something that sets you apart.

So, just like learning a new sport or cooking technique, mastering paraphrasing is about consistent practice. As you improve, your writing will become clearer, more concise, and uniquely yours.

Examples and Applications of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the process of rewording, restructuring, or rephrasing a piece of text without changing its original meaning. It is a critical skill in many professions and fields of study. Here are some examples and applications of paraphrasing:

Paraphrasing in Academic Writing

Paraphrasing is crucial in academic writing, enabling authors to rephrase others’ ideas in their own style, retaining the original meaning.

Original passage:

“Businesses must evolve or disappear in the face of digital disruption by creating new strategies and adopting flexible models .”

Paraphrased passage:

“The digital age calls for a radical shift in business practices for survival, necessitating innovative strategies and adaptable operational models.”

Look at the given example above. The academic writer retains the core ideas from the original passage but rephrases them in a more nuanced way. In both cases, the basic message is the same, but the language and structure have been tailored to the author’s own style.

The result is a paraphrase that integrates seamlessly into the academic writer’s paper on digital transformation, providing evidence to support their arguments without directly quoting the original source. This allows for a cohesive flow of ideas and demonstrates the writer’s understanding of the subject matter.

Conveying Essence Without Direct Quotations

When in the process of conducting literature reviews, paraphrasing plays a crucial role in accurately conveying the essence of the source material, without resorting to direct quotations. This technique involves expressing the same idea in a different way to avoid plagiarism while still maintaining the core message of the original statement.

“Uncontrolled greenhouse gases release is the main cause of global warming.”

“Unchecked emission of greenhouse gases is the primary global warming contributor.”

Consider the example above. Here, the process of paraphrasing not only reiterates the key concept—that unrestricted release of greenhouse gases is largely responsible for global warming—but also utilizes a different set of words and a slightly altered sentence structure.

This kind of adaptation is essential in the context of literature reviews because it enables a fair and comprehensive assessment of the existing body of knowledge while promoting originality and academic integrity.

Moreover, it aids in the effective integration of diverse sources and views into a cohesive analysis or argument, thereby contributing to a richer understanding of the subject matter under scrutiny.

Aids in Simplifying Complex Ideas in Academic Discussions

Paraphrasing is an incredibly useful tool when it comes to breaking down intricate concepts, particularly in academic dialogues.

“The anomalous acceleration of Pioneer 10 and 11 results from onboard thermal sources’ radiation pressure.”

“The unusual speed increase of Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecrafts is due to heat radiation pressure from onboard sources.”

Take for instance, a highly technical statement such as the one above on the left columnn is filled with technical terms and it may be difficult for some to understand at a glance. Paraphrasing helped to make it more accessible.

By replacing complex terms with simpler words, the paraphrase retains the essence of the original statement but presents it in a simpler, more understandable manner.

In other words, the original concept is maintained, but the choice of words and sentence structure are altered to make the information more digestible. This is a crucial element of academic conversations, particularly when it comes to presenting complex data or theories to a broader audience, whether that be students in a classroom setting or the general public in a lecture or article.

Useful for Condensing Long Explanations

Paraphrasing is a beneficial tool in compacting extensive and often complex explanations into concise, digestible content. This can be especially helpful in academic, professional, or casual communication where understanding is paramount but time may be limited.

“Quantum computing refers to the area of computing where the principles of quantum mechanics are utilized to create advanced systems that can process and store information more efficiently than traditional computing models, especially when it comes to solving complex computational problems.”

“Quantum computing is a field that uses quantum mechanics principles to develop superior systems, offering better efficiency in processing and storing information, particularly for complex computational tasks.”

Let’s consider another sentence as an example. The sentence on the left column, while thorough, can be somewhat overwhelming due to its complexity and length. Paraphrasing can help in such a case.

The paraphrase maintains the key elements of the original statement — the concept of quantum computing, the usage of quantum mechanics principles, and the advantages of these systems over traditional models, especially in solving intricate computational problems.

However, it does so in a more streamlined and easily understandable manner. It manages to condense the information without losing its essential meaning, making it more accessible to a wide array of readers or listeners.

Paraphrasing in Journalism

Paraphrasing is a critical skill for journalists because it allows them to distill lengthy, complicated information into more accessible, concise reports for their readers or viewers. In doing so, they are still maintaining the original intent and meaning. Here are a few examples of how journalists might use paraphrasing:

Paraphrasing in journalism involves restating speeches, interviews, or other forms of spoken communication using different words, while still maintaining the original speaker’s intent, context, and key points. It is used to make information clearer or more suitable for a particular audience, or to avoid excessive direct quotations in an article.

When journalists cover speeches, for example, they rarely quote the entire speech verbatim. Instead, they typically paraphrase the key points, capturing the essence of the speech while adding their own style or emphasis. This allows readers who weren’t present at the speech to understand the main themes, points, and tone, without reading the entire transcript.

Here’s an example:

Original speech:

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Paraphrased version:

“Martin Luther King Jr. stressed the imperative of fostering unity and coexistence, warning that the alternative could lead to mutual destruction.”

In this paraphrase, the central message of unity and the dire consequence of its absence are maintained, while the original wording is rephrased for variety and clarity. This allows a journalist to integrate the key points from the speech into their article without resorting to a direct quote.

Paraphrasing in journalism, particularly in interviews, is when journalists take the words of the person they’re interviewing and rewrite them in a simpler, clearer or more succinct way. This is often done to make complex ideas more accessible to the general public, or to emphasize the key points of a conversation.

It’s important to note that while paraphrasing, the journalist must ensure that the original meaning of the person’s words is not altered.

Let’s consider an example. Suppose a scientist is being interviewed about a complex environmental issue.

Original statement:

“The data from our latest study shows a disturbing acceleration of species extinction in the last fifty years, which can be primarily attributed to anthropogenic activities. The proliferation of industries, deforestation, pollution, and climate change are significantly affecting biodiversity.”

Paraphrased statement:

“Our recent research shows a worrying increase in the number of species going extinct over the past half-century, largely because of human activities. The growth of industries, cutting down of forests, pollution, and changes in the climate are having a big impact on wildlife.”

In this example, the journalist has retained the essence of the scientist’s words but has simplified the language and removed scientific jargon ( “anthropogenic activities,” “proliferation” ) to make the message more understandable to the average reader.

However, it’s essential for journalists to be cautious when paraphrasing. They must strive for accuracy and avoid misrepresenting the interviewee’s views or intentions. If the paraphrasing significantly changes the meaning of the original statement, it can lead to misinformation or misunderstandings.

Paraphrasing in journalism also applies to the review and reporting of documents. Journalists often need to cover reports, studies, legal documents, or other types of written material that can be complex or filled with jargon.

In these cases, paraphrasing is used to summarize and simplify the content so it’s more accessible to a general audience. It’s crucial, however, that the paraphrasing accurately represents the original content.

For instance, let’s say a journalist is covering a recently published government report on the economy.

“The nation has witnessed a consistent positive trajectory in its gross domestic product (GDP) over the previous fiscal year. The primary catalysts for this growth are increased consumer spending and a resurgence in the manufacturing sector.”

“The country’s economy has been steadily improving over the last year, according to a new government report. The report suggests that people are spending more and factories are producing more, which are the main reasons for the growth.”

In this example, the journalist has translated the complex economic language into simpler terms that everyday readers can understand. They’ve also summarized a longer sentence into more digestible information.

However, as with paraphrasing in interviews, it’s crucial that journalists accurately represent the original document’s meaning. Misinterpretation or oversimplification can lead to misinformation or a lack of nuance in the reporting.

Journalists should strive to balance clarity and simplicity with accurate, thorough reporting.

Paraphrasing in Translation

When you’re translating from one language to another, you have to take a message or text in one language (the source language) and put it into another language (the target language).

This process is more than just swapping one word for another, because languages have different structures, sounds, and ways of conveying meaning. That’s where paraphrasing comes in.

Let’s say you’re translating a classic Spanish saying to English:

Original phrase:

“A quien madruga, Dios le ayuda.”

Literal translation:

“To who wakes up early, God helps him.”

As you can see, that translation is grammatically incorrect and awkward in English. But more importantly, it doesn’t quite capture the spirit of the saying, which is all about the virtues of rising early and working hard.

A skilled translator would know to paraphrase this saying. They might translate it as “The early bird catches the worm”. This English proverb carries the same essential meaning as the Spanish saying — that those who wake up and start working early will have success or be rewarded.

Paraphrasing in translation helps with cultural differences. Some phrases or concepts in one language might not exist in another, or they might be seen differently. A good translator will understand these cultural nuances and adjust the translation accordingly.

Paraphrasing in Everyday Language

Paraphrasing in everyday language is a very common yet often overlooked part of our communication. It refers to the process of taking someone else’s words (spoken or written) and rewording them to convey the same meaning in a different way. It’s a skill we use often in conversation, when we want to express something we heard or read, but in our own words.

In a casual setting, say you’re catching up with a friend who’s telling you about their recent vacation. They might say,

If you were to share this with another friend later, you might say,

The example above demonstrates how paraphrasing works in everyday language. We take in information, process it, and then rephrase it in a way that fits our personal style of expression and is appropriate to our audience. It’s an essential skill for effective communication, helping us to understand, remember, and relay information more effectively.

Citing Paraphrased Sources

When using paraphrased sources in an article, it is important to cite them properly to avoid plagiarism. Citing sources also gives credit to the original author and helps readers locate the source for further reading.

Importance of Citation

Citation is an essential part of academic writing. It allows readers to verify the information presented in the article and gives credit to the original author. Citing sources also helps writers avoid plagiarism, which is the act of presenting someone else’s work as one’s own.

Citation Styles

There are several citation styles available, the most common are: MLA, APA, and Chicago. Each style has its own set of rules and guidelines for citing sources.

It is important to follow the specific guidelines of the citation style being used to ensure accurate and consistent citations throughout the article.

How to Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is the process of restating a text in your own words while retaining the original meaning. It is an essential skill for academic writing, as it allows you to incorporate information from sources in a way that is both accurate and original. Here are some steps to follow when paraphrasing:

Read and Understand

This might sound like a simple step, but it’s a crucial one. You must thoroughly comprehend the original content to be able to paraphrase it effectively. It may require reading the text multiple times, especially if the subject matter is complex. If you come across any words or phrases you’re unfamiliar with, look them up.

Identify Key Points

When you’re given a piece of text to paraphrase, your first task is to thoroughly read and understand it. The text could be a simple sentence, a complex paragraph, or a whole document, but the aim remains the same: to grasp the essence of the information presented. This step could involve reading the text multiple times, looking up unfamiliar terms or concepts, or even researching more about the topic if necessary.

In this way, identifying key points acts as a kind of roadmap to your paraphrase. By having a clear understanding of what needs to be included, you can focus your efforts and ensure that your paraphrase is both accurate and comprehensive. It enables you to maintain the integrity of the original text’s meaning while expressing it in a fresh and unique way.

It’s important to note that good paraphrasing also takes into account the tone and intent of the original text. It’s not just about what is being said, but also how it’s being said.

Put the Text Aside

Putting the original text aside as you begin to paraphrase is a crucial technique to prevent plagiarism. It compels you to recall what you’ve read and understood from the original content, rather than simply copying or closely mimicking the original wording.

This approach encourages the use of your own words and syntax to express the same ideas, which fosters a deeper understanding of the subject matter and promotes your own cognitive processing of the information.

When you remove the original text from your immediate view, you are less likely to fall into the trap of over-reliance on the original phrasing and structure.

By only referring back to the original to verify the accuracy of your paraphrase, you can ensure that your interpretation is your own unique reconstruction of the information, rather than an imitation of the original text.

Rewrite in Your Own Words

The act of writing your paraphrase is a significant part of the process and is where the rubber meets the road. Having distilled the original content down to its essential points, you now need to express these ideas in a fresh and distinct manner. This step is about more than just avoiding plagiarism; it’s an opportunity to engage your creative faculties and apply your linguistic skills.

Using your own style and vocabulary is fundamental in this phase. Everyone has a unique way of expressing thoughts and ideas, influenced by their individual experiences, culture, education, and personality.

Harnessing this unique voice is crucial in paraphrasing. The aim is not merely to change the wording of the original content but to reconstruct the ideas in a way that mirrors your distinct style of communication.

Your style might be formal or informal, succinct or descriptive, straightforward or complex, depending on the context and your personal preference. The key is to stay true to your voice while ensuring the meaning of the original text is preserved.

This authenticity of voice in paraphrasing not only enhances the originality of the work but can also make the content more engaging and relatable for your intended audience.

Switch the Structure

Adjusting sentence structure plays a critical role in the paraphrasing process. Not only does it help distinguish your paraphrase from the original text, but it also provides an opportunity to enhance readability, clarity, and emphasis. The sentence structure—how phrases and clauses are organized—greatly impacts how information is received by the reader.

Rearranging the order of points within a sentence or a paragraph can be an effective way to add variety and interest to your paraphrase, while preserving the essential information.

This might involve changing the order of ideas presented, shifting the focus of the sentence, or rearranging the sequence of events. Doing this requires a comprehensive understanding of the content, as changing the order of points must not distort the original meaning.

Use Synonyms

Using synonyms is key in paraphrasing, letting you craft a new text conveying the same ideas with different vocabulary, enhancing its uniqueness. Synonyms, words with similar meanings, help avoid repetition and enrich writing. Instead of repeating “important,” you might use “significant,” “crucial,” or “vital” for variety and engagement.

Yet, using synonyms in paraphrasing needs careful handling. Language is complex and nuanced, and synonyms, though similar, often carry subtle differences in connotation and usage, influenced by context, formality, and regional variations.

Consider “happy” and “ecstatic.” Both indicate positive emotion, but “ecstatic” implies a much stronger joy. Replacing “happy” with “ecstatic” could alter the meaning and intensity of the original text.

So, in selecting synonyms for paraphrasing, it’s vital they match the original text’s meaning and tone. Misusing synonyms can cause misunderstandings or distort the original message. You must often consider the broader context to determine the most suitable synonym.

Check Your Work

Post-paraphrasing, it’s vital to review the original text to ensure the central idea is preserved. Misinterpretation can occur when restructuring or rewording unfamiliar or complex content.

Comparing both texts is a quality check, ensuring key points are retained and critical details aren’t overlooked. This may need meticulous comparison of each aspect in your paraphrase and original text.

During this review, it’s important to ensure your paraphrase is a fresh interpretation, not a minor alteration of the original, preventing ‘patchwriting’, a form of plagiarism that involves slightly modifying the original sentences, a trap easy to fall into when paraphrasing difficult content.

By thoroughly comparing both texts, you can identify and rectify instances of excessive retention of original phrasing or structure. An effective paraphrase should embody your unique voice and style, not closely mirror the original author’s words.

Cite the Source

Paraphrasing doesn’t remove the need to cite the original author, as the core ideas remain theirs, irrespective of the context—academic, blog posts, or articles. Citations uphold academic honesty and intellectual property rights, as using paraphrased material without attribution can lead to plagiarism, with serious academic and professional implications.

Citation acknowledges the original author’s role in your work, offering a clear reference to the source and enhancing credibility by demonstrating that your ideas are anchored in recognized research or data.

Citation methods can differ based on the chosen style guide. For example, MLA style is preferred in humanities, APA in social sciences, and CMS in business, history, and fine arts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a specific length for paraphrasing.

Not really. The length of a paraphrase will depend on the original content and your purpose for paraphrasing.

While paraphrasing, the goal is to convey the same message as the original text, but with different wording and potentially different sentence structure.

As a result, a paraphrase could end up being shorter, longer, or about the same length as the original text.

How can I tell if I’ve paraphrased correctly?

A successful paraphrase will convey the same information as the original text but in a new form. You can check the effectiveness of your paraphrase by asking yourself a few questions:

– Have you used your own words and sentence structures? – Does your version maintain the original meaning? – Is the source information fully and accurately represented?

If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you have likely paraphrased effectively.

What is the difference between paraphrasing and rewording?

While they may seem similar, paraphrasing and rewording have different connotations.

Paraphrasing is a more in-depth process, requiring a deep understanding of the text to convey the same idea with new words and sentence structure.

Rewording , on the other hand, often implies just changing words, often with the help of synonyms, and may not necessarily involve a complete restructuring of the sentence or paragraph.

Is it possible to paraphrase any kind of text?

Yes, in theory, it is possible to paraphrase any kind of text – from scientific articles to poems. However, the ease and accuracy of paraphrasing can depend greatly on the type of text.

Straightforward, factual texts like news articles or research papers might be easier to paraphrase accurately, while more abstract or creative texts like poems or philosophical treatises could prove more challenging due to their heavy reliance on specific word choices and stylistic elements.

Paraphrasing, when mastered, is a crucial skill in today’s information-dense world. It allows us to extract the essence of complex ideas and render them in digestible, unique language. It not only fosters our comprehension, but also allows us to articulate ideas credibly, while respecting intellectual property.

Ultimately, paraphrasing transcends mere rewording—it is the art of understanding, retaining, and retelling, one that aids in personal and professional growth.

It is a bridge between the vast realm of knowledge and our unique perspectives, making information sharing more democratic, accessible, and impactful.

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Paraphrasing Explained: Definition, Techniques, and Examples for Effective Writing

Table of contents

While researching for your article or essay, you might have encountered a sentence or a paragraph that's so intriguing that you thought you must include it in your content! But you can't use those exact words, right?

Well, paraphrasing is the way to do that. However, the idea is not to steal someone's content but to capitalize on it by drafting a much better version while adding your input and research.

You can always have your own piece written and make it more intuitive to your audience while using the original one as a reference.

'It's easier said than done'

'Although the idea sounds like a good one in theory, it will still be difficult to actually execute it.'

Both the above sentences have similar meanings, but they appear different. That's a classic example of paraphrasing.

But how do you paraphrase while keeping the essence of the original sentence intact and still not plagiarising?

That calls for some tips and tricks! And here, we have got you covered.

In this blog, we will explain what is paraphrasing, why you might need to paraphrase, how to paraphrase, and the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing.

Let's dive in.

Table Of Contents

What is paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing is the process of restructuring or tweaking a paragraph so that it represents the same meaning or idea from the original statement but with different sentence construction, choice of words, formats, or, possibly, tone or voice.

It means making the meaning clearer, especially in a shorter and simpler form, along with your thoughts/comments. In addition to borrowing, clarifying, or expanding on information and your comments, paraphrasing is doing all the above-stated actions without plagiarizing the information.

Why do people paraphrase?

There are several reasons why people paraphrase. Following are some of the reasons for paraphrasing.

• Paraphrasing helps avoid plagiarism.
• It also provides support for claims or adds credibility to the writing.
• It demonstrates your understanding and provides an alternative method to using indirect and direct quotes in your own words (referenced) infrequently.
• Paraphrasing in academic research helps utilize source material for writing essays, providing evidence that the essay is appropriately referenced.
• Paraphrasing in writing helps you ensure that you use sources to communicate something important to your readers.

What is paraphrasing plagiarism?

Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s ideas without acknowledgment. Plagiarism can come in several forms: global, verbatim, patchwork, paraphrase, and self-plagiarism. However, apart from global plagiarism, other types of plagiarism are often accidental.

Although paraphrasing is accepted , rephrasing sentences or paraphrasing someone else’s idea without citing or acknowledging is considered paraphrasing plagiarism. Even when translating someone else’s words, if the translated text from another language is not cited, this is also a type of paraphrasing plagiarism.

How to paraphrase?

When it comes to paraphrasing, you can either do it manually or use an AI-powered tool like Writesonic to rephrase your content. While we will guide you through both processes, here is how to paraphrase with Writesonic Content Rephraser.

Check out the steps below:

• Log in to Writesonic or sign up (if you haven't already done so!).
• Search for Content Rephrase and select the tool from the results.

• On the Content Rephrase v2 window, put the text in the Content box.
• Select the Words Length from the drop-down for the rephrased content.
• Select your Brand Voice / Tone of Voice from the list.
• Finally, hit the Generate button.

If you are not satisfied with the output received, simply click on the Regenerate button.

If you want, you can also paraphrase manually without using any tool.  Here is a guide on different techniques to paraphrase effectively,

What is the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing?

Summarizing is a concise statement that briefs the contents of the passage. On the other hand, paraphrasing is just rewriting sentences using your own words. In fact, there is more than one difference between summarizing and paraphrasing.

Check out the comparison chart to learn the differences between summarizing and paraphrasing, besides their definition.

Top 5 tips and tricks to follow while paraphrasing

Following are 5 digestible paraphrasing tips you can incorporate when paraphrasing your sentences.

Identify the important parts

You can't paraphrase until you understand the meaning! In fact, paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding of the original material. Thus, read the original content until you get enough ideas to explain it in your own words.

Once you have the original concept, reduce it to the key points, and don't focus on the sentence structures at the start. Another way to rewrite or reword the source without losing your key points is to use a paraphrasing tool .

Change up the words

Change the words using synonyms while noting down the concepts or key points. However, if you face writer's block and can’t find the right words, which can make your content incompetent, use rewording tools .

AI rewording tools can come up with synonyms, organize your phrases, and enhance your sentence structure. Moreover, an AI wording tool ensures the content is unique, original, and plagiarism-free.

Make sure meaning is preserved

Although paraphrasing requires rewording and changing the words, ensure that the same meaning must be maintained along with the ideas. In addition to that, keep your word choices lucid and simple to convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original source.

One way to keep your writing consistent when paraphrasing is by using paraphrasing tools. The AI tool can alter the sentence structure while maintaining the original meaning.

Double-check for grammar and punctuation

When paraphrasing, double-check and compare the paraphrased copy with the original passage. Make adjustments to ensure it’s completely rewritten. Also, make sure that the grammar and punctuation are correct.

Double-checking your work for grammar and punctuation by reviewing it more than once improves its quality. Paragraph rewriters use AI for paraphrasing, which can tweak the tonality and narrative, ensure a grammar check, and make the content concise and conceivable.

Use an online paraphrasing tool like Writesonic

As stated previously in the article, using a paraphrasing tool is the fastest way to paraphrase your sources without plagiarizing them. One such creative AI writing tool that assists you with paraphrasing is Writesonic .

Writesonic is trained on billions of parameters. It refines the grammar, spelling, and style to generate original, paraphrased content. In addition to that, Writesonic generates unique and plagiarism-free content that resonates with the target audience with just one click.

With AI chatbots like ChatGPT by Open AI and ChatSonic by Writesonic taking away all the limelight, they can also be used effectively for paraphrasing text.

Different strategies for paraphrasing

Even though there are AI paraphrasing tools to make the work easier, the following are different strategies you can use to paraphrase your sentence.

Understanding the main ideas

One of the strategies for successful paraphrasing is understanding the source's main idea and writing style. When you understand the idea behind the sentence, it becomes easier to explain in your own words.

After taking note of the important nouns and verbs, see which synonyms might be appropriate to replace. You can use a synonym that expresses the same meaning for the key concepts or points in the original sentence.

Making connections

When you use synonyms, it is given that the structure may also need a little changing. So, instead of just swapping a single word, make appropriate changes around the words to make sense of the sentence. Here, your paraphrasing skills come into play.

Here is an example of paraphrasing: “ According to scientists, there is another method to achieve a pollution-free environment.”

The paraphrased content would say something like - “Scientists found an alternate way to attain a pollution-free environment.”

In the above sentence, the adjective ‘according to’ is swapped with the verb ‘found’ along with other necessary changes. These changes are made to maintain a harmonious connection between the words and to make the sentence sensible while retaining its meaning and avoiding plagiarism.

Focusing on syntax

The syntax is the arrangement of words in a specific order written in well-formed phrases or sentences. While paraphrasing is about restating or rewording, ensure to focus on the well-structured and grammatically correct sentences by making appropriate connections or paraphrases.

Benefits of paraphrasing

Paraphrasing has some benefits that you can reap in aspects of your writing skills and learning abilities.

Improves writing skills

Paraphrasing requires you to change the passages in your own words, which may help refurbish your writing skills. Rewriting or paraphrasing is essential in writing essays or research papers.

Paraphrasing allows you to express ideas or information with a fresh set of words to make the same thing sound more interesting or even simpler. You can see paraphrasing as an opportunity to enhance your writing skills without plagiarizing someone else’s work. This includes rewriting and expressing the ideas in your own voice.

Increases comprehension

Comprehension is understanding the written material and explaining what is read. At the same time, paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding of the complex details from the source and your ability to explain the connections between main points. Therefore, it's obvious that you can comprehend a text better when you paraphrase it.

Moreover, it was found that paraphrasing for comprehension is an excellent tool for reinforcing reading skills. It can assist by identifying the main ideas, finding supporting details, and identifying the original author's voice.

So when you rewrite the sentence in your own words, you can double-check your comprehension. This helps improve your awareness and allows you to gain a better understanding of the content, and allows you to write better.

Enhances understanding

To paraphrase words or phrases, you must extract their meaning by reading the material again and again and fully understanding the context. This allows the reader to understand the original statement more clearly by adding more clarity to it. So, when you paraphrase the original phrase, you articulate your thoughts and ideas more clearly and come up with new insights and perspectives on the topic.

Saves time & energy

Creating content from scratch is difficult and requires much time and energy. It requires you to do proper research, which is both time and energy-consuming.

An easy solution to the painstaking process is paraphrasing your sentence with appropriate citations. This will allow you to create the content without spending much time on research and ideation, saving much of your time and energy.

Helps avoid plagiarism

Among all the benefits, the most favorable benefit of paraphrasing is that it helps you avoid the accusation of plagiarism. You are simply committing plagiarism (an offense as stated by the federal government) when you use the same idea and speech from the original text, word by word.

However, by rewording the original source, you can present the ideas in your own words and easily avoid plagiarism. What’s more, paraphrasing can save you in both accidental and deliberate cases of plagiarism.

Paraphrasing examples

Now that we have known all about paraphrasing, its reasons for use, and its benefits, let’s look at some examples of paraphrasing and how exactly you can paraphrase.

#1 Example of Paraphrasing

#2 Example of Paraphrasing

Final Words

Once you grasp the concept of paraphrasing, it can be a powerful tool for writers. It provides several benefits in aspects of writing and learning skills. The correct way and right use of paraphrasing can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism.

However, note that successful and correct paraphrasing requires the use of multiple techniques each time. So, it is not sufficient to simply replace the keywords or the main concepts with synonyms.

One of the easiest ways to reword the original source is by using an AI writing tool. Writesonic is a well-known AI paraphrasing tool that can refine grammar, spelling, and style to generate original plagiarism-free AI content .

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Techniques for Paraphrasing

When you write a paraphrase, you restate other’s ideas in your own words. That is, you write the meaning of the author’s ideas. You use some of the author’s key terms, but you use many of your own words and sentence structures. You include in-text citation, including the author’s last name and (for APA style) the year of publication.

An effective paraphrase includes more than one of the following techniques. If you use only one of these techniques when paraphrasing, you have not paraphrased effectively.  

• Change a word from one part of speech to another

Original:  Medical professor John Swanson says that global changes are influencing the spread of disease.

Paraphrase:  According to John Swanson, a professor of medicine, changes across the globe are causing diseases to spread (James, 2004).

• Use synonyms

Original:  The U.S. government declared that the AIDS crisis poses a national security threat.  The announcement followed an intelligence report that found high rates of HIV infection could lead to widespread political destabilization.

Paraphrase: The government of the United States announced that AIDS could harm the nation's security.  The government warned the population after an important governmental study concluded that political problems could result from large numbers of people infected with HIV (Snell, 2005).

• Change numbers and percentages to different forms

Original: Minority groups in the United States have been hit hardest by the epidemic.  African Americans, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for 46 percent of the AIDS cases diagnosed in 1998.

Paraphrase: The AIDS epidemic has mostly affected minorities in the United States.  For example, in 1998, less than 15 percent of the total population was African, but almost half of the people diagnosed with AIDS in the United States that year were African America (Jenson, 2000).

• Change word order:  this might include changing from active to passive voice or moving modifiers to different positions.  

Original: Angier (2001) reported that malaria kills more than one million people annually, the overwhelming majority of them children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Paraphrase: Every year, more than a million people are killed by malaria, and most of the victims are children who live in sub-Saharan Africa (Angier, 2001).

    5. Use different definition structures

Original: Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease caused by a bacterium transmitted by ticks (small bloodsucking arachnids that attach themselves to larger animals). The disease is usually characterized by a rash followed by flu-like symptoms, including fever, joint pain, and headache.

Paraphrase: Lyme disease-a disease that causes swelling and redness-is caused by a bacterium carried by a small arachnid known as a tick. The ticks attach to and suck the blood of animals and humans, transferring some of the Lyme disease bacteria into their hosts and causing symptoms similar to the flu (Wald, 2005).

    6. Use different attribution signals

Original: “That’s because there are so many different ways the diseases could have arrived,” veterinarian Mark Walters declared in his recent book, Six Modern Plagues.

Paraphrase: According to Mark Walters, a veterinarian who wrote Six Modern Plagues, the disease could have arrived in numerous ways (Peterson, 2004).

   7. Change the sentence structure and use different connecting words

Original:  Although only about one-tenth of the world’s population lives there, sub-Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit region, accounting for 72 percent of the people infected with HIV during 2000.

Paraphrase: Approximately 10 percent of the world’s population resides in sub-Saharan Africa.  However, this area of the world has the highest percentage of AIDS-related illnesses.  In fact, in 2000, almost three-fourths of the population had the HIV virus (Bunting, 2004).

Caution:  When paraphrasing, do not change key terms or proper nouns.

Original: In the northeastern United States, people are building homes on the edge of woods, where ticks that carry Lyme disease hitch rides on deer.  In addition, in Africa, hunters bring back the meat of animals that scientists think may transmit Ebola, a usually fatal disease that causes massive hemorrhaging in its victims.

Paraphrase: In the United States, residential areas are being built near wooded areas in the northeast. These areas are also the homes of ticks carrying Lyme disease.  Also, according to scientists, hunters in Africa kill animals that may carry the Ebola virus (an often fatal virus that causes massive hemorrhaging) (Yaya, 2004).

Schuemann, C., Bryd, P., & Reid, J. (2006). College Writing 4 (1st ed.). USA: Heinle/ELT. Reproduced by permission .

Academic Integrity at MIT

A handbook for students, search form, avoiding plagiarism - paraphrasing.

In writing papers, you will paraphrase more than you will quote. For a report or research paper, you may need to gather background information that is important to the paper but not worthy of direct quotation. Indeed, in technical writing direct quotation is rarely used.

Exactly what does "paraphrase" mean?

It means taking the words of another source and restating them, using your own vocabulary. In this way, you keep the meaning of the original text, but do not copy its exact wording.

What strategies can I use to paraphrase?

Use synonyms for all words that are not generic. Words like world, food, or science are so basic to our vocabulary that is difficult to find a synonym.

Change the structure of the sentence.

Change the voice from active to passive and vice versa.    

Change clauses to phrases and vice versa.

Change parts of speech.

A good paraphrase combines a number of strategies: the goal is to rephrase the information so that it appears in your words, not those of the author.

Example 4: Using Multiple Strategies to Paraphrase

Example 5: Unacceptable Paraphrase

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between paraphrasing, rephrasing, and rewording.

The act of putting someone else’s ideas or words into your own words is called paraphrasing, rephrasing, or rewording. Even though they are often used interchangeably, the terms can mean slightly different things:

Paraphrasing is restating someone else’s ideas or words in your own words while retaining their meaning. Paraphrasing changes sentence structure, word choice, and sentence length to convey the same meaning.

Rephrasing may involve more substantial changes to the original text, including changing the order of sentences or the overall structure of the text.

Rewording is changing individual words in a text without changing its meaning or structure, often using synonyms.

Frequently asked questions: Paraphrasing Tool

It can. One of the two methods of paraphrasing is called “Fluency.” This will improve the language and fix grammatical errors in the text you’re paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing and using a paraphrasing tool aren’t cheating. It’s a great tool for saving time and coming up with new ways to express yourself in writing.  However, always be sure to credit your sources. Avoid plagiarism.  

If you don’t properly cite text paraphrased from another source, you’re plagiarizing. If you use someone else’s text and paraphrase it, you need to credit the original source. You can do that by using citations. There are different styles, like APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago. Find more information about citing sources here.

The Paraphrasing Tool on our page is powered by the QuillBot service, which uses advanced language processing technology.

Both Scribbr and QuillBot are Learneo, Inc. services, ensuring that your inputs are processed in accordance with Learneo’s Privacy Policy.

For more, please read the QuillBot section of the Learneo Privacy Policy . Your use of our Paraphraser is subject to QuilBot Terms .

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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Unpacking the right's "50-year plot" to wreck democracy — and why it might work

Author david daley on the far right's long-term "antidemocratic" strategy, and how we just might beat it, by andrew o'hehir.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have turned the 2024 presidential campaign upside down and galvanized the Democratic Party's base voters, who had become almost resigned to a second term for Donald Trump. Harris now appears to be leading in the polls heading into next week's Democratic National Convention, while Trump — who had orchestrated an entire campaign around attacking the aging President Biden — is visibly flailing and appears determined to sabotage his chances with every public appearance.

But David Daley is here to tell those of you already catering your election-night parties: Don't celebrate quite yet. Daley, the former editor-in-chief of Salon and author of the 2016 bestseller " Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn't Count " has returned with another chilling account of long-term right-wing dirty tricks, this time — as he told me in our recent Salon Talks conversation — with a title we can actually print. If the title of Daley's new book, " Antidemocratic: Inside the Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections ," suggests that it makes large claims, it definitely does. But it's not a tale of a secret, sinister conspiracy, and the chaotic events of Jan. 6, 2021, are only mentioned in passing.

Donald Trump was not the architect of the long-term antidemocratic strategy Daley outlines in this book, and was probably barely aware of it before he became its accidental beneficiary. The precarious and damaged condition of U.S. democracy — corrupted from top to bottom by corporate money, large-scale gerrymandering, aggressive voter suppression and the far-right conquest of the federal courts — did not happen by accident or result from a series of ad hoc political decisions. As Daley writes, it's "the product of a deliberate, long-term and extraordinarily patient strategy, some of it behind closed doors though much of it in plain sight."

Most of the major landmarks of this history are visible; engaged liberals and progressives largely understand the pernicious effects of the Supreme Court's decisions in the Citizens United and Shelby County cases, which opened the doors, respectively, to unlimited tides of dark money (now defined as free speech) and increasingly imaginative, if nominally colorblind, forms of racial disenfranchisement or vote suppression. But those court cases didn't emerge from nowhere, and it wasn't simply bad luck that they came before a court with an entrenched majority of Republican-appointed, Federalist Society-endorsed justices.

"Antidemocratic" is less the story of the damaging consequences of those decisions (among others) than the story of how and why they happened — and that story has never been told this thoroughly in a single volume. To boil the narrative down to its essentials, Daley demonstrates that leading conservatives of the 1970s, alienated and scandalized by the increasingly liberal tenure of political and legal reasoning in America, eventually realized they had to build an entire alternative system.

Arguing for their cherished culture-war positions on racial, sexual and religious issues piece by piece, before liberal judges or Democratic state legislatures, led only to defeat. What a few impressively farsighted right-wing thinkers conceived and then created — and it took liberals far too long to notice this — was a new intellectual and political apparatus that would produce well-trained, highly capable lawyers and judges devoted to reframing constitutional law around "originalism" and (as they saw it) redeeming the promise of a white-dominated, overtly Christian nation from the dangerous moral drift of cultural relativism and increasing diversity.

Founding fathers of that movement, like future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell and disgruntled ex-liberal lawyer Michael Horowitz, didn't have the word "woke" to rail against. But they were anti-woke before it was cool. Along with many of their ideological followers and fellow travelers, they created our current moment of American crisis, when getting the most votes on Election Day is only part of the story and the pathways to overturning or denying the people's verdict are legion. My former boss joined me recently to talk about some of the hair-raising possibilities raised by his new book.

This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

“Antidemocratic” is perfectly timed for this contentious election. I have a decent sense of where you fall on the ideological spectrum, and I would assume you agree with the premise that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have changed the dynamics of this election. But have they changed it enough to address the issues you talk about in this book?

I think that is the $100,000 question as we head into this election season. This is going to be a very tight and very close election. And as we know, the Electoral College is really what matters. In 2020, we're talking about essentially 45,000 votes in three very competitive states that made the difference. Even though Joe Biden won the popular vote by 7 million, it was those 45,000 votes that made the difference. And the kinds of litigation that we saw after 2020 was a clown show. It was Rudy Giuliani in front of Four Seasons Landscaping . It was Cleta Mitchell and a bit of a pile up. 

That's not going to be the case this time. I think they're better prepared. I think there's better lawyers working on this. Lara Trump at the RNC has already said that there's about 75 to 90 cases that the RNC is involved in, either as a litigant or filing amicus briefs in about 24 states.

These involve some of the big white-shoe conservative law firms, Consovoy McCarthy and others in D.C. Rudy Giuliani is not involved. So what I worry about is another replay of Bush v. Gore in 2000. If the margin is anywhere near as close as it was in 2000, where we're talking about maybe 550 votes in one state, we are going to see a six-week period, I would imagine, no matter what, between Election Day and the meeting of the Electoral College in mid-December, that is going to be like a second election period.

Except that 180 million of us will vote on Election Day. If this winds up before the Supreme Court the same way Bush v. Gore does — and there's a million different scenarios you could conjure up that get it there — you will have nine people making that decision. Six of whom have essentially been appointed or trained or are in the pocket of Leonard Leo  and the Federalist Society, and three of whom worked on Bush v. Gore as lawyers.

That's remarkable. Who are those three?

Those are John Roberts ,  Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Barrett , who essentially proved their conservative bona fides in that moment, and were fast-tracked to be trusted by the conservative legal movement for these incredibly important spots on the court. Bush v. Gore, in many ways, was the proof of concept for controlling the court and controlling American elections.

In the book you repeatedly explain that the “50-year plot" you write about is not a conspiracy theory. It's understandable that people are focused on the proximate threat of Donald Trump, but the Trump administration, as you just said, was a clown show. When you have Rudy Giuliani or Cleta Mitchell or Sidney Powell involved, it's all going to go south. Those people were not competent, not well-informed, not good with the law. But that's changed, right? Now there are many people who are competent, well-informed, intelligent and good with the law who have been involved for decades in building for a moment like this.

I think that's exactly right. A lot of people believe that this current antidemocratic moment began when Donald Trump descended the gilded escalator  at Trump Tower. Actually, you can trace the roots of this moment back decades earlier than that. The folks who have been plotting this truly antidemocratic moment of entrenched minority rule in so much of our politics have been planning for this for a long time. You can track it back many decades, as I try to do in this book, and there's a really good reason for it. They were and are still, to this day, trying to achieve political policy goals that majorities of Americans disagree with, and the only way to pull that off was by capturing the courts. They learned this time and time again over this entire period, which inspired them to go further into this idea. You don't need 218 members of the House and 51 members of the Senate or the White House, if you can put five people who you know and trust in lifelong unelected unaccountable positions on the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Bush v. Gore, in many ways, was the proof of concept for controlling the court and controlling American elections."

Even better if you have six.

There are two headline-making legal cases at the center of your book, one of them being the Citizens United case that basically opened the door to unlimited corporate dark money in the political process, and the other being Shelby County v. Holder , which removed the teeth of the Voting Rights Act . But those two court decisions, as famous as they were, weren't just the result of conservative principles coming to the fore or a new interpretation of the Constitution or some sort of artful judicial compromise. Your argument is that this was literally the culmination of decades of strategy.

Yes. What the conservative legal movement has built in many ways is a hermetically sealed circle. When they bring these cases, they have the Federalist Society doing the research and creating the sort of legal hothouse theories that make up the amicus briefs that they also fund.

They fund the litigators and the expensive law firms. They fund the astroturfed nonprofits that go out and find the litigants that bring these cases. And they are serving as essentially the one-stop shopping transmission belt for installing the judges who will hear these cases.

And then the same funders oftentimes are behind things like ALEC , the American Legislative Exchange Council, that then take the cases, once they're allowed to gerrymander or pass voter ID bills, and bring them back down to the state legislatures and enact them in all these places. So what you begin to see is that the fix is in at just about every single level. And that's certainly the case in Citizens United and also in Shelby County.

You make a persuasive case that the right built a movement over a period of decades to achieve these results. From their point of view, who were the heroes or leaders or key figures in that movement? 

I think Salon readers will probably recognize the name of Lewis Powell.

Former Supreme Court justice, although this was before that.

Well, the amazing thing about Lewis Powell on the Supreme Court is that Powell is sort of a classic Southern lawyer, a genteel racist. And he is seen as "the courtly gentleman of the Marble Palace," as Time Magazine described him.

Folks in Richmond, Virginia, where his biographer says he never met a Black man as an equal, might beg to differ. Powell was chair of the school committee in Richmond during Brown v. Board , which he believed to be wrongly decided. He couldn't imagine why the court would reach that decision. He does not engage in the sort of maximal resistance that other places did.

Right, he didn't stand in the schoolhouse door. He would never have used blatantly racist language, in the most obvious sense. He had no affiliation with the Klan. That's what we're talking about, right?

He was not Bull Connor , but he simply didn't do anything to change. Five years after Brown, when Powell steps down as school board chair, you can count the number of Black students in white schools on one hand in Richmond, Virginia. All of which is just a buildup to say this is not a nice man. In the 1960s, he calls  Martin Luther King Jr.  a totalitarian. He talks about the civil rights movement in horrific ways, and he writes a memo for the Chamber of Commerce in the early 1970s that effectively says, "We on the right are besieged." I mean, the idea of this kind of white-right grievance is not new to us. 

It wasn't invented in 2016.

Precisely. Powell writes a memo for the Chamber of Commerce that says, "We are going to lose to the consumer movement and the environmental movement and the radicals in the media and on campuses if the right does not get involved in a big way. And the best opportunity for us would be to take advantage of our chances in the courts and to try and take over the courts." Well, he writes this memo and three months later, Richard Nixon appoints him to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is quite a career ladder.  

"What had to be done was that Republicans had to win hearts and minds in law schools. They had to build from the ground up, not the top down."

As a Supreme Court justice, his rulings in some of the key campaign finance cases of the 1970s helped pave the way for Citizens United. There's also a big voting rights case that very much influences a young John Roberts. So Powell's memo, I think there's some on the left who probably overstate its influence and I try not to do that here, but it's undeniable that it inspired the Koch brothers . The Koch brothers wrote about it and gave speeches about it in the early 1970s. It inspired the big conservative founders on the right, the folks at the foundations like Scaife, Olin and Coors, to do things like build the Heritage Foundation . They built an entire network of conservative public interest law firms that they tried to use in the same way that the left was using law firms to fight DDT and support  Ralph Nader's consumer movement and the like. But much of what the right built at first didn't really work or prove super effective. 

It took a second really smart conservative, a man named Michael Horowitz, a former liberal from New York City, who I don't think people really understand or know about. Horowitz comes in about almost a decade later and does a memo for the Scaife Foundation. That's Richard Mellon Scaife, the big conservative funder, probably gave a billion dollars to conservative causes over the course of his lifetime.

What Horowitz argues is that the structure and the framework that Powell has described doesn't make a lot of sense anymore, because Republicans don't have the bright young lawyers in order to staff it. They have mediocre legal minds, he thought. What had to be done was Republicans had to win hearts and minds in law schools. They had to build this from the ground up, not as Powell wanted to from the top down.

I have to say, I find this guy's vision impressive.

It's brilliant.

He understood that what they lacked was the intellectual bench, and the actual training, background and educational framework. That seems like such a central aspect of the whole story.

It's an absolutely huge part. Because he introduces a handful of young conservative law students in the early 1980s to the conservative funders, and they would together launch and fund something called the Federalist Society, which is probably the biggest ROI that any conservative investment has ever built. 

Horowitz, who was really an unknown lawyer in New York prior to writing this report, ends up as chief of staff at Reagan's  Office of Management and Budget, a really big job at the center of the Reagan administration where he brings in young Republicans and begins putting good, proper conservatives on the career track. The same thing happens at the Department of Justice where all of these young Federalist Society folks come in, along with a young John Roberts, who was not a member of the Federalist Society at the time but clerked with [Chief Justice] William Rehnquist, who essentially had an early version of the Federalist Society in his chambers, and you begin to see how the transmission belt works and functions.

I was interested in Horowitz's critique of the left-liberal legal establishment of the time. He describes them as something of an ideological insider's group that was in this self-congratulatory loop, of pushing policies and legal agendas and court decisions. Obviously he thought the right should emulate that, and they did. But I also wonder to what extent he was correct: Did the arrogance of the left-liberal establishment of that time undermine itself?

It's a great question. Horowitz goes to a conference at Yale that Charles Halperin, who was one of the geniuses of the liberal public interest law movement of the '60s and '70s, runs. Horowitz is horrified by what he sees, but he's also amazed by it because it's right out in the open. It's sort of everything he imagined. It's the folks who work at the government agencies under Jimmy Carter . It's the public interest law firms. It's the law professors. They're all just hanging out together. And he's saying, "Well, they're all friends. And they all had built an iron triangle that helped further all of their policy goals."

"Without serious structural fixes to American politics, there's going to be this entrenched minority rule, and it's only going to get worse if we don't do anything about it."

I think he might have imagined that this was the case, and then he got there and saw it and said, "This is what we need to do." He's like, "You can't have a regional system of public interest law firms out in the mountain states or the Pacific Northwest or wherever. You need to be in Washington. You need to be with the people who are making these decisions. You've got to be in the room with them." He thought that was the model that conservatives needed to build, rather than the one that Powell had suggested. And he was right.

This is a leading question, but are you frustrated to see the Democrats playing emergency politics once again in this election? They are always concerned with the immediate crisis — "How do we defeat this dangerous person?" — rather than addressing the underlying causes that made Trump possible and got us here. As long as we keep repeating that fire-alarm pattern, is anything fundamental going to change?

No. As long as we keep repeating that pattern, every election is going to be the most important election of all time and democracy will always be on the ballot. We will always have to rush $15 to Nancy Pelosi because she'll be alive forever through our ActBlue accounts. No, nothing will change. You begin to almost wonder if they like it that way.

Biden recently made various reform proposals about the Supreme Court, which are not going to go anywhere in the near term. But in the context of all the crazy and obvious headline news, I wonder if you think it was an important moment for the actual president of the United States to say those things.

Amen. Because we need to start this conversation. It needs to be mainstreamed and it needs to be a part of Democratic politics and platforms. 

Listen, a lot of us said this back in 2020. A lot of us have been saying things like this for a long time. Without serious structural fixes to American politics, there's going to be this entrenched minority rule for a period of time, and it's only going to get worse over time if we don't do anything about it. So Joe Biden commissioned a blue ribbon panel, and he stuffed the result in a drawer back when Democrats had a trifecta in Washington and might have been able to do something about this. It would have required blowing up the filibuster, it would have required Manchin and Sinema, but when they had the numbers, the report was stuffed in a drawer. And what happened? Well, the Supreme Court blew up Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs decision.

They continued tearing the Voting Rights Act in half, and half again and half again. They gave Trump immunity for crimes that he committed in office and essentially turned him into a king and placed him above the law after slow-walking that case for so long that it pushed it off until after the 2024 election. 

There's a piece of me that says, I'm glad we've started this conversation, but it's a little too late for the moment that we're in. But it's an important conversation to start, because what we have is a runaway hijacked U.S. Supreme Court loaded with a conservative supermajority appointed by presidents who lost the popular vote, and confirmed by a U.S. Senate that has not actually represented a majority of Americans during those years. They are unelected, given lifetime powers and appointments. They are totally unaccountable to Americans. They have no ethics standards. They deliberate in private. 

Abraham Lincoln , in his first inaugural, said that if we give unfettered power over public policy decisions that affect all the people to the U.S. Supreme Court — I'm paraphrasing slightly, but I'm not paraphrasing this: "The people will cease to be their own rulers." I would suggest that that is the moment that we are in. That in many ways, the people have ceased to be their own rulers. 

So what Biden is talking about is a solid start. Term limits seem like a very wise idea. Americans back them, right? Anytime you start talking about a court reform, people get afraid. There's a Fox News poll that shows 78% of Americans back term limits for the U.S. Supreme Court. This is extraordinarily popular. 

I'm sure they'd find a way to game the system but, regardless, it's a pretty good start, and also an actual code of ethics with teeth. If we're going to have this unaccountable lifetime panel making these decisions for us, I would like to know who is funding their lavish luxury vacations. I would like to know who's buying their mother's house for them. I'd like to know who's paying their friend's tuition to fancy private schools, and I'd like to know what kind of business these people have before the U.S. Supreme Court. The idea that we can't have hearings into this — I mean, this court has been corrupted.

"John Roberts is not your friend. John Roberts is not a moderate. John Roberts is not a centrist. John Roberts is the most important conservative politician of the last 25 years."

You do your utmost in this book to demolish the reputation of Chief Justice John Roberts as this institutionalist, middle-road, compromise-seeking justice. But you and I know we will read a column in the Washington Post or the New York Times in the next five days that recycles those clichés, arguing that Roberts is a moderating influence on the hotheads like Alito and Thomas. Why does that keep happening?

I have no idea. This idea that John Roberts will save us, when John Roberts has shown again and again that not only is he not going to save us, he's not your friend, he's not on your side. Listen, John Roberts is the most successful Republican politician of the last 25 years. He is hardly an institutionalist centrist calling balls and strikes. He's calling balls and strikes like Leslie Nielsen did in “The Naked Gun.” The pitch is halfway down the plate and he's called a ball or a strike, based on which side wins. 

Here's what John Roberts has delivered for conservatives and Republicans over the course of the last 20 years: Citizens United and the unlimited ability of billionaires to flood dark money into our politics; the continued destruction of the Voting Rights Act, which has resounded to the benefit of the Republican Party nationally; in state after state, he has blessed their partisan gerrymanders; he has overseen the end of Roe v. Wade; he has overseen the end of the regulatory state, he has overseen the birth of the major questions doctrine. Look at what has happened on gun control.

And what is the truth about all of these cases? None of them, none of these results, could have been won by conservatives or Republicans through the political process. John Roberts delivered all these things for them. John Roberts is not a moderate. John Roberts is not a centrist. John Roberts is the most important conservative politician of the last 25 years.

"Salon Talks" with journalists

• "Our grandchildren will still be fighting for democracy": Why Ali Velshi says it's worth it
• "Willing to kill": CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Putin, Trump and the threat of world war
• "It was difficult to get your bearings": Jake Tapper on the media, the 1970s and the Trump era

Andrew O'Hehir is executive editor of Salon.

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