EduBurma Paraphrase Guide
Academic Lesson: The Art and Science of Paraphrasing
1. What is Paraphrasing?
At its core, paraphrasing is the skill of restating someone else's ideas, information, or text in your own words and with your own sentence structure.
A common mistake is to think paraphrasing is just "changing a few words" or "using a thesaurus." This is incorrect and can lead to plagiarism. A true paraphrase involves processing the original idea and explaining it yourself, as if you were teaching it to someone else.
Key characteristics of a good paraphrase:- It retains the exact original meaning of the source.
- It is written in your own words and uses your own sentence structure.
- It is (usually) roughly the same length as the original passage.
- It must include a citation to the original source.
2. Why is Paraphrasing a Critical Academic Skill?
In academic writing, you are expected to build on the work of others. Paraphrasing is the primary way you do this.
- It Demonstrates Understanding: To paraphrase correctly, you must first fully understand the source material. It's a way of proving to your reader (and professor) that you have engaged with the text.
- It Avoids Over-Quoting: A paper filled with direct quotes is jarring to read and looks like a "patchwork" of other people's ideas. Paraphrasing allows you to integrate sources smoothly and keep your own "voice" dominant.
- It Helps Prevent Plagiarism: When done correctly and with proper citation, paraphrasing is the best way to use sources ethically and avoid academic misconduct.
3. Paraphrasing vs. Quoting vs. Summarizing
It's vital to know the difference between these three techniques.
| Technique | Purpose | Length | Your Words? | Citation? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quoting | To use the exact words of the source. Used for precise definitions, powerful statements, or when how something is said is as important as what is said. | Identical to source | No (uses "...") | Yes |
| Paraphrasing | To restate a specific idea from a source in your own words. Used to integrate evidence and support your argument. | Roughly the same | Yes | Yes |
| Summarizing | To give a brief overview of the main points of a source. Used to provide broad context or an overview of a whole article/book. | Much shorter | Yes | Yes |
In short: Always cite, no matter which technique you use.
4. Core Paraphrasing Techniques (The "How-To")
The best paraphrases don't just use one technique; they combine all of them. Here are the building blocks.
Technique 1: Change Vocabulary (Use Synonyms)
This is the most basic step. Replace key words and phrases with synonyms (words that have a similar meaning).
Warning
Do not just use a thesaurus to swap every word. This leads to "patchwriting" and awkward, unnatural sentences. Choose synonyms that fit the context of the sentence.
- Original: "The rapid expansion of cities led to numerous social problems."
- Paraphrase (w/ Synonyms): "The swift growth of urban areas caused many societal issues."
Technique 2: Change Sentence Structure
This is a more powerful and effective technique.
- Change Clause Order: Move phrases and clauses around.
- Original: "Because the experiment was successful, the team secured further funding."
- Paraphrase: "The team secured further funding because the experiment was successful."
- Change from Active to Passive (or vice-versa):
- Original (Active): "The researcher analyzed the data."
- Paraphrase (Passive): "The data was analyzed by the researcher."
- Combine or Split Sentences:
- Original: "The company faced financial difficulties. It had to lay off 50 employees."
- Paraphrase (Combined): "Facing financial difficulties, the company had to lay off 50 employees."
Technique 3: Change Word Form (Parts of Speech)
Change a word from a noun to a verb, an adjective to an adverb, etc.
- Original: "The analysis of the data was difficult." (Noun, Adjective)
- Paraphrase: "It was difficult to analyze the data." (Adjective, Verb)
5. A Step-by-Step Process for Effective Paraphrasing
This "Holistic Method" combines all techniques and is the safest way to avoid plagiarism.
- Read & Understand: Read the original passage several times until you are 100% confident you understand its meaning. Look up any words you don't know.
- Cover & Write: Put the original source away. Hide it. Now, on a separate document, write out the idea in your own words, as if you were explaining it to a classmate.
- Compare & Edit: Open the original source and compare it to your version.
- Ask: "Is the meaning exactly the same?" (It should be.)
- Ask: "Are the words and sentence structure different enough?" (They must be.)
- Check for "Borrowed Phrases": Make sure you haven't accidentally used a unique or specific 3-4 word phrase from the original. If you have, change it or put that specific phrase in quotation marks.
- CITE! Add your in-text citation (e.g., (Smith, 2020, p. 5)) immediately after your paraphrased sentence.
6. Examples: From Bad to Good Paraphrasing
Let's see the process in action.
Example 1
Original Passage
"The Industrial Revolution, which began in the late 18th century, was a period of profound technological advancement that fundamentally transformed agricultural societies into industrial ones." (Author: Jones, 2019)
BAD Paraphrase (Patchwriting/Too Close)
The Industrial Revolution started in the late 1700s and was a time of deep technological progress that totally changed farming societies into manufacturing ones (Jones, 2019).
Why it's bad: This just swaps a few words (began -> started, profound -> deep, fundamentally transformed -> totally changed). The sentence structure is identical, and it's clearly not original writing. This is plagiarism.
GOOD Paraphrase (Holistic)
Societies underwent a complete shift from farming to manufacturing as a result of the major technological innovations that marked the Industrial Revolution, a period which commenced toward the end of the 1700s (Jones, 2019).
Why it's good: The sentence structure is completely different (starts with "Societies..." instead of "The Industrial Revolution..."). The vocabulary is original (complete shift, manufacturing, major technological innovations, commenced). The meaning is identical. It is correctly cited.
Example 2
Original Passage
"Students who procrastinate often underestimate the time required for a task and overestimate their ability to work under pressure." (Author: Lee, 2021)
BAD Paraphrase (Patchwriting/Too Close)
Students who delay their work frequently misjudge the time needed for an assignment and overvalue their capacity to work with stress (Lee, 2021).
Why it's bad: Again, this just swaps words using a thesaurus (procrastinate -> delay, underestimate -> misjudge, etc.). The structure is the same. This is plagiarism.
GOOD Paraphrase (Holistic)
A common error for students who delay their work is to miscalculate an assignment's time demands while simultaneously being overly confident in their performance when facing a tight deadline (Lee, 2021).
Why it's good: The structure is new ("A common error is..."). It combines ideas logically. The vocabulary ("miscalculate," "time demands," "overly confident," "tight deadline") is fresh and accurate. It is correctly cited.
7. The Final, Crucial Rule: CITE YOUR SOURCE!
You must always provide a citation for a paraphrased idea.
- Paraphrasing without a citation is plagiarism.
- It doesn't matter how well you have changed the words. If you do not credit the original author, you are presenting their idea as your own, which is the definition of intellectual theft.
8. Lesson Summary: Key Takeaways
- Paraphrasing is about restating meaning, not just changing words.
- A good paraphrase uses new vocabulary AND a new sentence structure.
- The safest method is to Read, Understand, Cover, Write, Check, and Cite.
- When in doubt, cite it! You can never "over-cite," but you can easily "under-cite" and commit plagiarism.
Academic English: Paraphrasing Exercises
What is Academic Paraphrasing?
Paraphrasing is rewriting a passage in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. In academic writing, this is a crucial skill. It allows you to:
- Integrate evidence and ideas from other scholars.
- Demonstrate your understanding of a topic.
- Avoid plagiarism by properly citing the original source.
Remember the 3 R's of Good Paraphrasing:
- Rewrite: Change the vocabulary.
- Restructure: Change the sentence structure.
- Retain: Keep the original meaning. (And don't forget to cite!)
Part 1: Easy Exercises (Sentence Level)
Exercise 1
"Regular exercise is beneficial for heart health."
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Exercise 2
"The internet has changed how people access information."
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Exercise 3
"It is important for students to review their notes regularly to improve their grades."
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Exercise 4
"Many companies are now using cloud computing to store their data."
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Exercise 5
"Effective marketing is essential for business growth."
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Part 2: Medium Exercises (Complex Sentences)
Exercise 6
"The global financial crisis of 2008 was caused by a combination of factors, including subprime mortgages and deregulation."
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Exercise 7
"Deforestation, primarily driven by agriculture, is a major contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss."
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Exercise 8
"Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a common treatment for anxiety, as it helps patients identify and change negative thought patterns."
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Exercise 9
"The new legislation aims to protect consumer privacy by imposing strict regulations on how companies collect and use personal data."
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Exercise 10
"Shakespeare's plays, written in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, are still performed today because they explore universal themes."
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Part 3: Hard Exercises (Paragraph Level & Dense Concepts)
Exercise 11
"Social stratification, the hierarchical arrangement of individuals into social classes, is a persistent feature of modern societies."
"This system influences not only life chances and access to resources but also fundamental political attitudes and social interactions."
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Exercise 12
"The structural integrity of a suspension bridge is critically dependent on the tensile strength of its main cables."
"These cables must be able to withstand dynamic loads from wind and traffic in addition to the static load of the deck itself."
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Exercise 13
"Foucault's concept of 'power/knowledge' posits that power is not merely repressive but also productive."
"He argued that power constitutes knowledge, discourses, and the very subjects who are controlled by creating the 'truth' within a given society."
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Exercise 14
"The principle of linguistic relativity, often associated with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, suggests that the structure of a language influences its speakers' worldview and cognitive processes."
"This means that people who speak different languages may perceive and understand the world in different ways."
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Exercise 15
"Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics which describes nature at the smallest scales of energy and matter."
"Unlike classical physics, it asserts that energy and matter have a dual wave-particle nature, and that there are fundamental limits to the precision with which certain pairs of physical properties can be known."