Howtoparaphrase

ClaireConroy
WritingSpecialist
WritingLab
SLSC

WhatisParaphrasing?
Paraphrasing
Use own words
More or less
same length as
original
All ideas
included

Summarizing

Quoting

Useownwords

Samewords

Muchshorterthan
original

Samelengthasoriginal

Onlymainideaincluded

Usequotation marks

Whatisthepurposeofparaphrasing?
1.Tosimplify
2.Toclarify

PoorParaphrasing=Patchworking

Patchwork
Cushion

Scrapsoffabricsewn
together

WhatisPatchworking?
1.Thereaderisunfamiliarwiththetext
2.Thereadertakessomeoftheoriginalwordsand
patchesthemtogetherwithhis/herownwords
3.Thereaderonly exchangesvocabularyitemswith
dictionarysynonyms(commoninstudentwriting)
4.Theparaphrasereadslikeanotetakingdevice

HowtoParaphraseSuccessfully
Inordertoparaphrasesuccessfully,onehastohavea
deep,solidunderstandingoftheoriginaltext,so..

Step1
Read,readandrereadthetext/passage.Itisvital

thatyouunderstandwhattheauthorissaying.

Step2

Takenotes(inyourownwords)ofthemainideas

Method1
Replacesynonyms(useadictionary/Thesaurus)if

needed)
Example:Movies canbedividedintothreecategories.

Films canbedividedintothreetypes.

Method2
Changepluralnounstosingularones
(Remembersubject/verbagreement)
Example:Overweightpeopleusuallydo littleexercise.

Anoverweightpersonusuallydoes little
exercise.

Method3
Restructuresentence(s)grammatically
Suggestions:ChangeActiveVoicetoPassiveVoiceor

viceversa
Example:Thepeopleofthiscountryspeak variouslanguages.
Variouslanguagesarespokeninthiscountry.

Method4
UseNegativeorOppositeExpressions
Hamed wasdisappointed,becausethemoviewasnt

verygood.
Hamed wasntsatisfied,becausethemoviewasntvery

good.

Method5
ChangingWordorder
IfyouregoingtoRussiainDecember,besuretotake

warmclothes.
BesuretotakewarmclothesifyouaregoingtoRussia

inDecember.

Method6
ChangingPartsofSpeech
Forexample,changinganoun toaverb.
Example:Thecompanyneedstofindasolutiontothis

problem.
Thecompanywantstosolvethisproblem.

Method7
Shortsentencescanbecombinedtomakeone

longersentence
Example: Irelandisawonderfulcountry.Ithas

beautifulscenery,friendlypeopleandaninteresting
history.
Ireland,whichisawonderfulcountry,hasbeautiful

scenery,friendlypeopleandaninterestinghistory,

Torecap,youcan..
Restructuresentence(s)grammatically
Suggestions:ChangeActivevoicetopassive

Changepluralsubjecttosingular
Changeanountoaverboradjective,etc.
Replacefractionswithpercentages(e.g.half 50%)

Finally.
Whenyouhavefinishedyourparaphraseddraft,

rereadtheoriginaltext andcompareittoyour
paraphrase.
Youcanthencheckthatyouhaveretainedthe
meaningandattitude(tone)oftheoriginaltext.

ParaphrasingSentences
Tip: Paraphrasingsentenceshelpsstudentspractise paraphrasingblocksof
text

1..Original:GiraffeslikeAcacialeavesandhayandtheycanconsume75poundsof
foodaday.
Paraphrase: Agiraffecaneatupto75poundsofAcacialeavesandhayeveryday.
2..Original: AnytriptoItalyshouldincludeavisittoTuscanytosampletheir
exquisitefood.
Paraphrase:BesuretoincludeaTuscanfoodtastingexperiencewhenvisitingItaly.

StartwithParaphrasingSentences
1. Original:GiraffeslikeAcacialeavesandhayandtheycanconsume75
poundsoffoodaday.

Paraphrase: Agiraffecaneatupto75poundsofAcacialeavesandhay
everyday.
2.Original: AnytriptoItalyshouldincludeavisittoTuscany tosampleits
exquisitefood.
Paraphrase:BesuretoincludeaTuscan foodtastingexperiencewhenvisiting
KMPK3
Italy.

Slide 20
KMPK3

Adjective

Klaire Mary Philomena Konroy, 23-Oct-13

Moreparaphrasing
3.Original:JohnsetouttovisithisfriendonSaturday

morning.Hehadamap,GPSandhisfriendsmobile
number,buthestillcouldnotfindhisfriendshouse.
Bylateafternoon,hegaveupandreturnedhome.
Paraphrase/Summary?:AlthoughJohnhadlotsof

informationtohelphimfindhisfriendshome,hestill
couldnotdiscoverwherehisfriendlived.

.andtwomore.
4.Original:NiagaraFallsisviewedbythousandsof

touristseveryyear.(PassiveVoice)
Paraphrase: Eachyear,thousandsofpeoplevisit
NiagaraFalls.(ActiveVoice)
5.Original:QatarUniversityshallbeamodel
nationaluniversityintheregion,recognizedforhigh
qualityeducation.
Paraphrase:Qatarsnationaluniversitywillserveasan
exampleintheGulf,anditwillbeknownfortopclass
education.

AvoidingPlagiarism

Thereisafinelinebetweenplagiarismandparaphrasing.
Ifthewordingoftheparaphraseistooclosetothewordingoftheoriginalcontent,
thenitisplagiarism.
Themainideasneedtocomethrough,butthewordinghastobeyourown.
Aquotewillneedtobetheexactwordingandtheauthorandsourcewillneedtobe
identified.

Paraphrasingusuallymakesthepassagealittleshorterthantheoriginal.

Original1Paraphrase1
JacquesCousteau,inhis

book,TheOceans,reports
thattheAntarcticisavast
sourceofcoldonourplanet.
Theveryicywateraroundthe
Antarcticflowsnorthtomix
withthewarmerwaterfrom
thetropics,whichhelpsto
coolboththesurfacewater
andtheatmosphere.
However,thiscoolingsystem
isnowbeingthreatenedby
humanactivity.

AccordingtoJacques

Cousteau,thenatural
meetingofthecoldwater
fromtheAntarcticandthe
warmerwaterfromthe
tropicsisnowindangerfrom
thelifestyleofhumanbeings
onplanetEarth.

Paraphrase
WhatchangesdidImake?

WhatchangesdidImake?
1

JacquesCousteau,inhis

book,TheOceans,reports
thattheAntarcticisavast
sourceofcold onourplanet.The
veryicywateraroundthe
Antarcticflowsnorthtomix
withthewarmerwaterfromthe
tropics,whichhelpstocoolboth
thesurfacewaterandthe
atmosphere.However,this
coolingsystemisnowbeing
threatenedbyhumanactivity.

Sentence
restructure

AccordingtoJacques

Cousteau,whenthe
synonyms
enormous amountofcold
waterfromtheAntarctic
andthetropicalwarmer
watersjointogether,this
helpscooltheairaround
us.Nowadays,the lifestyle
ofhumanbeingson
planetEarthis PassivetoActive
endangering thissystem.
synonyms

Original2Paraphrase2
.Ofmorethan1000bicycling 75%ofthe1000bikeaccidents
deathseachyear,three
quartersarecausedbyhead
injuries.Halfofthosekilled
areschoolagechildren.The
lateststudyshowsthat
wearingahelmetcanreduce
thedangerofheadinjuryby
85%.Inanaccident,abike
helmetabsorbstheshockand
protectsthehead(
ConsumerReports ,May

1998)

annuallyinUKthatresultin
deathareduetohead
injuries.Wearingahelmet,
whichprotectsthehead,can
decreasethedeathratebyas
muchas85%.

Original

Makebooksyour

companions;letyour
bookshelvesbeyour
gardens;baskintheir
beauty,gathertheirfruit,
plucktheirroses,take
theirspicesandmyrrh(
Ibn Khaldun,historian
andphilosopher)

Paraphrase3

Ibn Khaldun,thefamous

Arabhistorianand
philosopher,advisesusto
becomereaders,tocherish
ourbooksasfriends,to
gatherinformationfrom
themaboutourdailylife.

Original4
.Setsubun,atraditionalholidayin

Japanmarksthebeginningof
springandiscelebratedon
February3rd everyyear.Whilenota
nationalholiday,foodscommonly
growninthatseasonareused.
Theseincludethethrowingof
beans,whichmeansthrowing
roastedbeansoutfromthehouse
crying,Outwiththedevils,in
withgoodfortune.Eachperson
alsoconsumesanumberofbeans
accordingtohisorherage.

Paraphrase4
AlthoughSetsubun isnota

nationalJapaneseholiday,itis
celebratedeveryyearinFebruary
towelcometheseasonofspring.
Peoplethrowbeansoutoftheir
homestogetridofdevilsand
bringingoodluck.Everyoneeats
thenumberofbeansaccording
tohis/herage.

AnotherTip
1.Circle thespecializedwords,i.e.thewordsthat
cannot bechanged.
e.g.giraffe,Japan..
2.Underline thekeywordsthatcanbechangedgood
startingpoint.
3.Findotherwordsandphrasestoreplacethekeywords
(useaThesaurusinsteadofadictionary).

PresentationWorksheets
Student paraphrase Worksheet 2013.docx
Hard copies

WorksheetAnswerKey

StudentparaphrasingWorksheetAK2013.docx

Thank you for your attention

Happy Paraphrasing !
Any questions?