paraphrasing and sentence structure

How to Paraphrase: Dos, Don'ts, and Strategies for Success

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Is It Considered Plagiarism If You Paraphrase?

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How to Paraphrase and Tips for Paraphrasing Correctly

Write Down Paraphrases of a Source on Notecards

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As if the research process isn't hard enough already—finding relevant and reliable sources, reading and interpreting material, and selecting key quotations/information to support your findings/arguments are all essential when writing a research essay.

Academic writers and students face the additional stress of ensuring that they have properly documented their sources. Failure to do so, whether intentionally or unintentionally, could result in plagiarism, which is a serious academic offense.

That's why we've written this article: to provide tips for proper paraphrasing. We'll start with an overview of the difference between paraphrasing and quoting, and then we'll provide a list of paraphrasing dos and don'ts, followed by strategies for proper paraphrasing. 

We will include paraphrasing examples throughout to illustrate best practices for paraphrasing and citing paraphrased material .

As mentioned in our previous article on plagiarism , "simply taking another writer's ideas and rephrasing them as one's own can be considered plagiarism as well." 

Paraphrasing words is acceptable if you interpret and synthesize the information from your sources, rephrase the ideas in your own words, and add citations at the sentence level. It is NOT acceptable if you simply copy and paste large chunks of an original source and modify them slightly, hoping that your teacher, editor, or reviewer won't notice. 

Passing off another's work as one's own is a form of intellectual theft, so researchers and students must learn how to paraphrase quotes and be scrupulous when reporting others' work.

You might be familiar with all this. Still, you might be concerned and find yourself asking, "How do I paraphrase a source correctly without running the risk of unintentional plagiarism?" 

For many writers, especially those who are unfamiliar with the concepts of a particular field, learning how to paraphrase a source or sentence is daunting.

To avoid charges of plagiarism, you must not only document your sources correctly using an appropriate style guide (e.g., APA, Harvard, or Vancouver) for your reference list or bibliography but also handle direct quotations and paraphrasing correctly.

Quoting uses the exact words and punctuation from your source, whereas paraphrasing involves synthesizing material from the source and putting things in your own words. Citing paraphrases is just as necessary as citing quotations.

Even if you understand quoting versus paraphrasing, you might still need some additional paraphrasing help or guidance on how to paraphrase a quote. 

Summarizing is when you're discussing the main point or overview of a piece, while paraphrasing is when you're translating a direct quote into language that will be easy for your readers to understand .

It's easy to see how the two are similar, given that the steps to paraphrasing and summarizing both include putting ideas into your own words. 

But summarizing and paraphrasing are distinctly different. Paraphrasing highlights a certain perspective from a source, and summarizing offers more of an overview of an entire subject, theme, or book.

You can usually tell the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing by the length of what you're writing abore writing about. If you’re writing about a quote, that would be a smaller theme inside a larger work, so you'd paraphrase. 

If you're writing about the themes or plot of an entire book, you'd summarize. Summaries are usually shorter than the original work.

Learn How to Format Quotation Marks here.

When learning how to paraphrase a quote, you first need to consider whether you should be paraphrasing a text or quoting it directly.

If you find the perfect quote from a reliable source that fits your main topic, supports your argument, and lends authority to your paper but is too long (40+ words) or complex, it should be paraphrased. Long/complex quotes can also be shortened with omissions and editorial changes (as discussed below).

Introduce the quote with a signal phrase (e.g., "According to Ahmad [2017] . . .") and insert the entire quotation, indicating the text with quotation marks or indentation (i.e., a block quote).

If you only need to use parts of a long quotation, you can insert an ellipsis (. . .) to indicate omissions. You can also make editorial changes in square brackets [like this]. 

Keep in mind that you need to reflect the author's intent accurately when using this strategy. Don't change important words in a quotation so that it better fits your argument, as this is a form of intellectual fraud.

Changes in square brackets should only be used to clarify the text without altering meaning in the context of the paper (e.g., clarifying antecedents and matching verb tense). They signal to the reader that these changes were made by the author of the essay and not by the author of the original text.

Paraphrasing

Demonstrate that you clearly understand the text by expressing the main ideas in your own unique style and language. Now, you might be asking yourself, "Do paraphrases need to be cited like quotes?" The answer is a resounding "yes."

When deciding whether to paraphrase or use a direct quote, it is essential to ask what is more important: the exact words of the source or the ideas.

If the former is important, consider quoting directly. If the latter is important, consider paraphrasing or summarizing.

Direct quotation is best for well-worded material that you cannot express any more clearly or succinctly in your own style. It's actually the preferred way of reporting sources in the arts, particularly in literary studies.

Shortening a long quote is a great way to retain the original phrasing while ensuring that the quote reads well in your paper. However, direct quotations are often discouraged in the sciences and social sciences, so keep that in mind when deciding whether to paraphrase or quote.

Paraphrasing is best used for long portions of text that you can synthesize into your own words. Think of paraphrasing as a form of translation; you are translating an idea in another "language" into your own language. The idea should be the same, but the words and sentence structure should be totally different.

The purpose of paraphrasing is to draw together ideas from multiple sources to convey information to your reader clearly and succinctly. 

As a student or researcher, your job is to demonstrate that you understand the material you've read by expressing ideas from other sources in your own style, adding citations to the paraphrased material as appropriate. 

If you think the purpose of paraphrasing is to help you avoid thinking for yourself, you are mistaken.

When you paraphrase, be sure that you understand the text clearly . The purpose of paraphrasing is to interpret the information you researched for your reader, explaining it as though you were speaking to a colleague or teacher. In short, paraphrasing is a skill that demonstrates one's comprehension of a text.

Yes, paraphrases always need to be cited. Citing paraphrased material helps you avoid plagiarism by giving explicit credit to the authors of the material you are discussing. 

Citing your paraphrases ensures academic integrity. When you sit down to write your paper, however, you might find yourself asking these questions: "Do paraphrases need to be cited? How do I paraphrase?"

Here is a quick paraphrase example that demonstrates how to cite paraphrased ideas. The opening lines to one of Juliet's most famous speeches are "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? / Deny thy father and refuse thy name; / Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, / And I'll no longer be a Capulet" (Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.880–884). 

If you needed to paraphrase these lines in an essay, you could do so as follows:

Juliet muses about why Romeo's family name is Montague and concludes that if either gave up their name (and thereby their family affiliations) for the other, they could be together (Romeo and Juliet, 2.2.880–884).

Generally speaking, you must include an in-text citation at the end of a paraphrased sentence. 

However, if your paraphrased material is several sentences long, then you should check with your preferred style guide. Some style guides (such as APA) call for a paraphrase citation after the first paraphrased sentence. Other style guides (such as MLA) call for a paraphrase citation after the last paraphrased sentence. 

Remember, no matter what style guide you use, it is not necessary to cite every single sentence of paraphrased material in a multi-sentence paraphrase.

Don't Start Paraphrasing by Picking Up a Thesaurus

This might shock you, but a thesaurus is NOT the answer to the problem of paraphrasing. Why? Using a thesaurus to swap out a few words here and there from an original source is a form of patchwriting, which is a type of plagiarism.

You shouldn't have to resort to a thesaurus unless you are completely unsure about what a word means—although, in that case, a dictionary might be a better tool. Ideally, you should be able to use clear, simple language that is familiar to you when reporting findings (or other information) from a study.

The problem with using a thesaurus is that you aren't really using your own words to paraphrase a text; you're using words from a book. Plus, if you're unfamiliar with a concept or if you have difficulty with English, you might choose the wrong synonym and end up with a paraphrase like this: "You may perhaps usage an erroneous word."

This is a common mistake among writers who are writing about a field with which they are unfamiliar or who do not have a thorough grasp of the English language or the purpose of paraphrasing.

If you choose to keep a few phrases from the original source but paraphrase the rest (i.e., combining quoting and paraphrasing), that's okay, but keep in mind that phrasing from the source text must be reproduced in an exact manner within quotation marks.

Direct quotations are more than three consecutive words copied from another source, and they should always be enclosed in quotation marks or offset as a block quotation.

A sentence that combines a direct quote with paraphrased material would look like this: 

In "The Laugh of the Medusa," Cixous highlights women's writing as a specific feat and speaks "about what it will do" when it has the same formal recognition as men's writing (Cixous 875).

The paraphrased paragraph of Cixous' essay includes a direct quote and a paraphrase citation.

Did you know that copying portions of a quote without quotation marks (i.e., patchwriting) is a form of plagiarism—even if you provide an in-text citation? If you've reworded sections of a quote in your own style, simply enclose any direct quotations (three or more words) in quotation marks to indicate that the writing is not your own.

When learning how to paraphrase, you need to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate forms of paraphrasing. The Office of Research and Integrity , a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, puts it this way:

Taking portions of text from one or more sources, crediting the author/s, but only making 'cosmetic' changes to the borrowed material, such as changing one or two words, simply rearranging the order, voice (i.e., active vs. passive) and/or tense of the sentences is NOT paraphrasing.

What does paraphrasing too closely look like? Here is an overly close paraphrase example of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' description of plagiarizing:

Using sections of a source, citing it, but only making surface-level changes to the language (such as changing a few words, the verb tense, the voice, or word order) fails as a paraphrase. True paraphrasing involves changing the words and syntactical structure of the original source. Keep reading for strategies for paraphrasing properly.

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In an article on how to paraphrase , the Purdue University Online Writing Lab suggests that you read the source text carefully and write paraphrases on notecards. You can then compare your version with the original, ensuring that you've covered all the key information and noting any words or phrases that are too closely paraphrased.

Your notecards should be labeled with the author(s) and citation information of the source text so that you don't lose track of which source you used. You should also note how you plan to use the paraphrase in your essay.

If you are a visual learner, the benefit of this strategy is that you can visualize the content you intend to paraphrase. 

Because a notecard is a tangible object, you can physically arrange it in an essay outline, moving the right information to the appropriate paragraph so that your essay flows well. (If you're not sure how to write an outline , check out our article.)

Plus, having a physical copy of paraphrased information makes it harder for you to accidentally plagiarize by copying and pasting text from an original source and forgetting to paraphrase or quote it properly. Writing out your paraphrase allows you to distance yourself from the source text and express the idea in your own unique style.

For more paraphrasing help, Jerry Plotnick from the University College Writing Centre at the University of Toronto provides a similar strategy for paraphrasing.

Plotnick advises that you take point-form notes of text that you want to use in your paper. Don't use full sentences, but instead "capture the original idea" in a few words and record the name of the source.

This strategy is similar to the notecard idea, but it adds another step. Instead of just reading the source carefully and writing your complete paraphrase on a notecard, Plotnick recommends using point-form notes while researching your sources. These notes can then be used to paraphrase the source text when you are writing your paper.

Like handwriting your paraphrases on notecards, taking notes and coming back to them later will help you distance yourself from the source, allowing you to forget the original wording and use your own style.

The Plotnick method above describes how to use point-form notes while researching a paper to keep your paraphrasing original. To paraphrase in your paper using Plotnick's method above, look at your sources and try the following:

Write down the basic point(s) you want to discuss on a notecard (in your own words).

Take your notecard points and turn them into sentences when you write your essay.

Add the reference for the source.

Compare your paraphrase to the original source to make sure your words are your own.

Practice Two-Step Paraphrasing: Sentence Structure and Word Choice

In an article on how to paraphrase by the Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the first two strategies are acknowledged—taking notes and looking away from the source before you write your paraphrase. 

The authors then suggest another two-step strategy for paraphrasing: change the structure first and then change the words. Let's break down this process a bit further.

Sentences in English have two main components: a subject and a predicate . The subject is who or what is performing an action (i.e., a noun or pronoun), and the predicate is what the subject is doing (i.e., a verb). Sentences can be simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. 

Here are some paraphrase examples using different sentence structures:

Simple: It was difficult.

Compound: It was difficult, but she knew there was no going back.

Complex: Although it was difficult, she knew there was no going back.

Compound-complex: Although it was difficult, she knew there was no going back, so she kept calm and carried on.

Once you have identified the structure of the original sentence, you can reconstruct it using one of the different types of sentences illustrated above.

You can also change passive voice to active voice, or vice versa.

The active voice is structured like this: Subject + Verb + Object (e.g., She learned how to paraphrase.)

The passive voice is structured like this: Object + "To Be" Verb + Past Participle (e.g., How to paraphrase was learned by the girl.)

See how awkward the passive sentence example is? It's best not to force a sentence into an unnatural sentence structure. 

Otherwise, you'll end up with Yoda-speak: "Forced to learn how to paraphrase a sentence, the girl was." (Did you like the unintentional "force" pun?)

Another way to distinguish your paraphrase from the original source is to use different sentence lengths. Often, scholarly articles are written using long, compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences. Use short sentences instead. 

Break down complex ideas into easy-to-understand material. Alternatively, you can combine several ideas from the source text into one long sentence, synthesizing the material. Try to stick with your own style of writing so that the paraphrased text matches that of the rest of your document.

Once the paraphrased sentence structure is sufficiently different from the original sentence structure, you can replace the wording of the original text with words you understand and are comfortable with.

Paraphrasing isn't meant to hide the fact that you are copying someone else's idea using clever word-swapping techniques. Rather, it is meant to demonstrate that you are capable of explaining the text in your own language.

One handy article on word choice by the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill lists some strategies for successful word choice, such as eliminating jargon and simplifying unnecessary wordiness. While this applies to academic writing in general, the "questions to ask yourself" are also useful as great paraphrasing help.

Once you have completed a sentence-long paraphrase, you include an in-text citation at the end of that sentence. However, if your paraphrased material is several sentences long, then you should check with your preferred style guide. 

Some style guides (such as APA) call for a paraphrase citation after the first paraphrased sentence. Other style guides (such as MLA) call for a paraphrase citation after the last paraphrased sentence. 

To paraphrase properly, you need to explain a text in your own words without using a direct quote . Keep in mind, however, that different styles require different formats when it comes to documenting paraphrased sources. Some styles require a citation after the first paraphrased sentence, while others require a citation after the last.

For this reason, we've outlined examples of how to paraphrase in the APA, MLA, and Chicago styles below. Be sure to check with your professor to see which style your essay requires.

APA guidelines for paraphrasing include citing your source on the first mention in either the narrative or parenthetical format. Here's a refresher of both formats:

Narrative format: Koehler (2016) noted the dangers of false news.

Parenthetical format: The news can distort our perception of an issue (Koehler, 2016).

Here's an example of how to paraphrase from a primary source in APA:

Dudley (1999) states that "direct quote" or paraphrase (Page #).

Note: It's not always necessary to include the page number, but it's recommended if it'll help readers quickly find a passage in a book.

Below are a couple of examples of how to paraphrase in APA. Keep in mind that for longer paraphrases, you don't have to add the citation again if it's clear that the same work is being paraphrased.

Short paraphrase:

Stephenson (1992) outlined a case study of a young man who showed increasing signs of insecurity without his father (pp. 23–27).

Long paraphrase:

Johnson et al. (2013) discovered that for small-breed dogs of a certain age, possession aggression was associated with unstable living environments in earlier years, including fenced-in yards with multiple dogs all together for long periods of time. However, these effects were mediated over time. Additionally, with careful training, the dogs showed less possession aggression over time. These findings illustrate the importance of positive reinforcement over the length of a dog's life.

When paraphrasing in MLA, include an in-text citation at the end of the last paraphrased sentence. 

Your in-text citation can be done either parenthetically or in prose, and it requires the last name of the cited author and the page number of the source you're paraphrasing from. Here are MLA citation examples :

Parenthetical:

Paraphrase (Author's Last Name Page #)

Author's Last Name states that paraphrase (Page #)

In addition to adding a short in-text citation to the end of your last paraphrased sentence, MLA requires that this source be included in your Works Cited page, so don't forget to add it there as well.

Here are two examples of how to paraphrase in MLA:

In an attempt to communicate his love for Elizabeth, all Mr. Darcy did was communicate the ways in which he fought to hide his true feelings (Austen 390).

Rowling explains how happy Harry was after being reunited with his friends when he thought all was lost (17).

Paraphrasing correctly in Chicago style depends on whether you're using the notes and bibliography system or the author-date system.

The notes and bibliography system includes footnotes or endnotes, whereas the author-date system includes in-text citations.

Below, you'll find the correct way to format citations when paraphrasing in both the notes and bibliography and author-date systems.

Notes and Bibliography

For the notes and bibliography system, add a superscript at the end of your paraphrase that corresponds to your footnote or endnote.

Johnson explains that there was no proof in the pudding. 1

Author-Date

For the author-date style, include the page number of the text you're referencing at the end of your paraphrase. If you mention the author, include the year the source was published.

Johnson (1995) explains that there was no proof in the pudding (21).

In summary, the purpose of paraphrasing is not to simply swap a few words; rather, it is to take ideas and explain them using an entirely different sentence structure and choice of words. It has a greater objective; it shows that you've understood the literature on your subject and are able to express it clearly to your reader.

In other words, proper paraphrasing shows that you are familiar with the ideas in your field, and it enables you to support your own research with in-text citations. 

Knowing when to paraphrase or quote strengthens your research presentation and arguments. Asking for paraphrasing help before you accidentally plagiarize shows that you understand the value of academic integrity.

If you need help, you might consider an editing and proofreading service, such as Scribendi. While our editors cannot paraphrase your sources for you, they can check whether you've cited your sources correctly according to your target style guide via our Academic Editing service.

Even if you need more than just paraphrase citation checks, our editors can help you decide whether a direct quote is stronger as a paraphrase, and vice versa. Editors cannot paraphrase quotes for you, but they can help you learn how to paraphrase a quote correctly.

What Is the Meaning of "Paraphrase"?

Paraphrasing is when you write text from another source in your own words. It's a way of conveying to your reader or professor that you understand a specific source material well enough to describe it in your own style or language without quoting it directly. 

Paraphrasing (and citing your paraphrases) allows you to explain and share ideas you've learned from other sources without plagiarizing them.

You can write things in your own words by taking original notes on the sources you're reading and using those notes to write your paraphrase while keeping the source material out of sight. 

You can also practice putting things in your own words by changing sentences from passive to active, or vice versa, or by varying word choice and sentence length. You can also try Jeremy Plotnick's idea of paraphrasing from your own point-form notes.

When you're paraphrasing something, it means you are putting someone else's writing in your own words. You're not copying or quoting content directly. Instead, you are reading someone else's work and explaining their ideas in your own way. 

Paraphrasing demonstrates that you understand the material you're writing about and gives your reader the opportunity to understand the material in a simplified way that is different from how the original author explained it.

About the Author

Scribendi's in-house editors work with writers from all over the globe to perfect their writing. They know that no piece of writing is complete without a professional edit, and they love to see a good piece of writing turn into a great one after the editing process. Scribendi's in-house editors are unrivaled in both experience and education, having collectively edited millions of words and obtained nearly 20 degrees collectively. They love consuming caffeinated beverages, reading books of various genres, and relaxing in quiet, dimly lit spaces.

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Frequently asked questions

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.

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 reference text paraphrased from another source, you’re plagiarising. 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 referencing sources  here.

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 referencing 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 referencing the source .

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Paraphrasing Tool: Free Sentence Rephraser

Rephrase by ProWritingAid is a free online paraphrasing tool. Find the perfect way to express your thoughts quickly without having to spend time wracking your brain for the right words.

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Why ProWritingAid Offers the Best Paraphrasing Tool Online

Rephrasing is where you take an idea and find fresh language to express it. Rephrase by ProWritingAid offers a variety of rewriting suggestions so you can choose the one that gets your idea across perfectly.

Multiple ways to rephrase

You can shorten or expand your sentence, make it more formal or informal, add sensory detail, or improve fluency.

Find the right words faster

You may not have all the right words, but the paraphrasing tool does, and it can find them in an instant. Just highlight, click, Rephrase.

Strengthen your sentence

The rewording tool suggests changes to the structure and vocabulary of your text without removing key information.

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How Does Our Paraphrasing Tool Work?

Rephrase by ProWritingAid uses an advanced algorithm to provide quality rephrasing. Instead of replacing words with synonyms, the tool uses a combination of reworked vocabulary, sentence structure, and syntax to create fresh, new content. For the best paraphrased text, follow these easy steps:

Step 1. Check your text for errors

Rephrase by ProWritingAid works best when your existing text is error-free. ProWritingAid’s Realtime report highlights grammar, style, and spelling issues, which you can review to see suggestions and explanations. Quickly correct your writing errors so your paraphrased text will be clear.

Step 2. Highlight any sentence

Highlight the sentence you want to rephrase in a stronger, clearer way. You can use our paraphrase generator ten times per day with a free plan or get unlimited rephrases with a paid plan.

Step 3. Select a rephrase style

The paraphrasing tool has seven ways to rephrase your writing. Our sentence changer allows you to expand your sentence or shorten it, make it more formal or informal, add vivid details to your writing, or increase the overall fluency of your text.

Step 4. Run Rephrase by ProWritingAid

You’ll receive multiple suggestions to choose from when you run Rephrase on your highlighted text. Browse through the options to find the perfect sentence. You can then accept one of the options or ignore the suggestions—or you can use them as inspiration for your own rewrites!

Why Should I Use the Paraphrasing Tool?

Inspiration.

Spark your imagination and find new ideas. Take one of our suggestions and make it your own to let your voice shine through.

Translation

Worried your English doesn't sound natural? Write in your native language and let Rephrase translate it quickly and clearly.

Specificity

Great writing is specific. Get your meaning across clearly and use the most straightforward words to convey your ideas.

ProWritingAid's Rephrase tool is used by every type of writer

ProWritingAid Grammar Checker & Writing Coach is more accurate than any other grammar/writing tool I have used. I run two grammar/writing tools on my desktop and ProWritingAid is consistently the tool that provides the best edits.

Atlas Charles

ProWritingAid has been a godsend for me. I am currently rewriting all of my eleven books using this program. I can't believe what I missed the first time around. This is the next best thing after a human editor. I love it!

Andrew Swindells

I’ve tried every free and paid writing/editing/grammar extension out there, and this by far is the best one my team and I have found. It’s fast, accurate, and really helps improve your writing beyond simple grammar suggestions.

Joel Widmer

Who Can Benefit From ProWritingAid’s Paraphrasing Tool?

Anyone who wants help expressing their writing in a stronger and clearer way

Our free paraphrase tool can help you write logical, eloquent, and plagiarism-free assignments. Use Rephrase when you’re struggling to write a strong thesis statement, make your original ideas sound formal, or craft a poignant conclusion.

Researchers

Combine information from multiple sources to add credibility to your work. Avoid slipping into informal language. Easily present complex ideas in a digestible manner, showing how much you understand your research—all while avoiding plagiarism.

Creative Writers

Trying to add more vivid descriptions to your prose? Do your characters keep doing the same actions over and over? Use Rephrase like a great critique partner or line editor to improve your fiction or nonfiction writing.

Business Writers

Communication is crucial for any successful business. Spend more time thinking about what to say and less time about how to say it. Rephrase by ProWritingAid can help you write emails, presentations, reports, training documents, and so much more.

Rephrase works where you do

Use our rewording tool to get writing suggestions across all the apps you use.

Paraphrasing Tool FAQs

1. is paraphrasing the same as rewording.

Paraphrasing is when you rewrite text in a different form while still retaining the meaning of the original text.

Rewording is switching out words with synonyms, whereas paraphrasing changes the structure. Rewording is not sufficient for academic purposes.

2. Is this a sentence rephraser or does it work on paragraphs too?

Rephrase by ProWritingAid works on individual sentences. When you run the tool, you will be presented with multiple rephrases to choose from so you can find the perfect words quickly and easily.

3. What does our tool offer that others, such as QuillBot's paraphrase, don’t?

Our rewording tool is built into an even more powerful editing tool that analyzes your writing and shows you how to improve it. With over 20 tailored reports, you'll get access to suggestions about grammar, sentence structure, readability, and much more.

4. Does ProWritingAid have a plagiarism checker?

Yes! ProWritingAid’s plagiarism checker will check your work against over a billion web-pages, published works, and academic papers, so you can be sure of its originality. Find out more about pricing for plagiarism checks here .

5. What's the difference between rephrase vs paraphrase?

Paraphrase and rephrase are often used interchangeably. They both involve rewriting a piece of text using different words. Our Rephrase tool takes your original text and suggests ways to reword and improve it.

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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

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Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is taking the ideas from a source and putting them in your own words. You won’t always be able or want to quote a source word-for-word, and paraphrasing is a way to relay the author’s ideas to your audience without relying on their actual language.

This skill is critical for your academic success. First, learning to paraphrase will help you better understand what you are reading. Moreover, some disciplines only use quotations rarely—and some not at all. In most academic writing, you’ll use paraphrasing more than quoting, and frankly, if you quote, you usually need to include a paraphrase anyway.

Using a Two-Part Process

First, you need to understand the passage. Of course, you need to understand the text as a whole, but to paraphrase well, you also have to make sure that you understand more precisely the ideas in the passage you want to reference. Careful reading will help you do this.

The second part is putting the passage in your own words, frequently the more difficult part. It is not enough to substitute a few synonyms—even really good ones—to paraphrase well. Instead, you have to both alter the vocabulary where possible and avoid using the same sentence structure.

Let’s unpack that a bit.

• Alter the vocabulary. To alter the vocabulary, you need to use different words to describe the author’s point except where the specific words are necessary. Specific words to hang onto would mostly be technical language: the word itself is the most appropriate word because it is the most accurate. (Usually, this applies to nouns, but it can also apply to verbs and less frequently to adjectives and adverbs.) If the technical terms are really long or uncommon phrases, sometimes it makes sense to quote those, just so your reader knows that the phrasing comes from the author. If the words aren’t technical, you should be looking for other language.
• Change the sentence structure. Ultimately, your sentence should not look like the original, even when you are using some of the technical language. If your reader were to read the two sentences side-by-side, they should be able to see the same idea, but not the same way of phrasing that idea.

How to do this?

To write a strong paraphrase, try the following steps:

• Make sure that you understand the passage.
• Close the book or put away the article.
• Do something else for five or ten minutes—perhaps work on the rest of the paragraph.
• Without looking back at the original text, write your paraphrase. Go ahead and add it directly to the paragraph you are working on. But DON’T look at the text again until you are ready to check your paraphrase.
• Check your paraphrase against the original both to make sure your paraphrase is accurate and to make sure that you haven’t written a paraphrase that is too close to the original.

Another trick I sometimes use is imagining that I am having to explain the idea in the passage to one of my sisters. Both of them are smart people, but neither of them has the kind of detailed knowledge of the topics I write about. So, I start writing my explanation to one of them. I have to put it in relatively plain language to start, but this also helps me confirm my understanding. And those explanations can produce some pretty solid paraphrases.

Here’s an example of a paraphrase that keeps the ideas in the original source, but not the language. Notice that the paraphrase also includes citation.

Original Text

“The average cost in 2017 to install solar systems ranged from a little over $2,000 per kilowatt (kilowatts are a measure of power capacity) for large-scale systems to almost $3,700 for residential systems. A new natural gas plant might have costs around $1,000/kW. Wind comes in around $1,200 to $1,700/kw.”

Though ultimately making the case that long-term savings outweigh initial costs, the Union of Concerned Scientists points out that it costs between $2000 and $3700 per kilowatt to install different types of solar systems and between $1200 and $1700 to install wind systems. Solar and wind systems might be better environmentally, but big companies think about the money spent, especially when natural gas plants are only $1000 per kilowatt (Union).

Union of Concerned Scientists. “Barriers to Renewable Energy Technologies.” Union of Concerned Scientists , 6 June 2014, www.ucsusa.org/resources/barriers-renewable-energy-technologies .

When a writer paraphrases by relying too heavily on the existing sentence structure and vocabulary of the original, this is called “patchwriting.” Patchwriting can be considered a form of plagiarism because the writer takes the wording of someone else and claims it as their own.

Patchwriting most commonly occurs when writers keep their sources open in front of them as they write a paraphrase. It can also happen when writers memorize passages or try to write paraphrases too soon after they have put away the text. Readers are influenced not just by the ideas of writers, but also by the words that authors use to explain those ideas.

As you practice paraphrasing, you will get better at it, and it can become an excellent way to improve your understanding of difficult material. In the meantime, put your sources away, and if you find yourself patchwriting anyway, try paraphrasing your patchwriting. Every time you do it, you should find yourself a little further away from the original text.

• Good paraphrasing keeps the author’s idea, but changes both the words used by the author and the sentence structure.
• If you struggle with paraphrasing, you can get better by following a few steps: make sure you understand the passage, close the source and do something else for a little while, and then write your paraphrase without looking back at the source.
• Once you have written your paraphrase, check it against the original to make sure that you have captured the idea without relying too heavily on the language and sentence structure of the original.
• You can add short quotations to paraphrases, particularly of technical terms.
• Patchwriting, attempts at paraphrasing that stick too close to the original text, can be considered a form of plagiarism. Don’t look at the text when you write a paraphrase!

Text Attribution

This chapter was revised with the help of Lando Concepcion and Jude Ejiofor, students in my class during Spring 2022. Jude also provided the example of good paraphrasing.

An area of study, very similar to a major in college.

Reading and Writing Successfully in College: A Guide for Students Copyright © 2023 by Patricia Lynne is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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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 .

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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Paraphrasing tool

The paraphrasing tool (paraphraser) is a sentence changer generator that can rephrase sentences, paragraphs, articles, and essays.

This sentence rephraser helps students and writers to avoid plagiarism while writing blogs and research papers with state-of-the-art technology.

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is expressing ideas and information in your own words and mentioning their source. ( By University of New South Wales )

Why our paraphrasing tool?

Our paraphrasing tool helps to rewrite plagiarism-free content 😊. It can change sentence structure without changing the context of the topic.

Our rewording tool is 100% free and easy to use. Editpad AI reworder helps you reword assignments, sentences, paragraphs, and essays with one click.

How does Paraphrase Tool work?

The paraphraser provides a simple interface.

To use paraphrase tool, follow the below steps:

Features of Paraphrasing Tool Free

Some of the features of this rephrase tool are:

Files Uploading

You can upload a file directly from your computer in the following formats:

You can also upload a file directly from Google Drive with just a single click.

Plagiarism-Free Content

The final output from our rephrasing tool would be completely plagiarism-free.

If not sure about plagiarism in text, you can check it on the  plagiarism checker .

Download Report

Our free rephrasing tool provides an option to download the final report in Docx and Txt format.

Free and Secure

The paraphrase generator is completely free and 100% safe to use for all kinds of rewriting purposes.

Accurate and reliable rephrasing of text

Our tool rephrase text accurately and keep the same meaning and context as the original text. 

10 Different paraphrasing modes:

To provide the best results, we have developed four different modes 😏 Smooth : It paraphrases text that flows well, is grammatically correct, and is easy to read. This type of paraphrasing is often used in academic or professional writing.  Best for students to make assignments and presentations.

😉 Reworder : This mode works as a rewording tool that can help you reword your text or words with their best synonyms that are new, trendy, and engaging.

🤠  Formal : Formal paraphrasing is complex and time-consuming because it requires a deep understanding of the original text, so we have developed a separate mode for it.

😃 Fluency : It can be used to build a strong connection between sentences to improve the readability and clarity of the text.

🤩 Creative : Creative is another unique mode used to diversify the content structure to make it appear more creative.

😎 Smart : This mode is highly accurate and reliable. It allows users to fine-tune the output. It rewrites text using advanced algorithms and natural language processing techniques.

🧐 Improver : This mode will paraphrase and improve your content. Removes grammar mistakes, changes sentence structure and good word choice for better readability. Best for teachers to create study notes.

👨‍🎓 Academic : This mode is specially built for students to rephrase their assignments in an academic tone.

📝 Shorten : It is designed to provide a brief statement of the main points of your text concisely to convey the message in a short and summarized way.

🙃 Randomizer : In this mode, you can rephrase your text with different passages with the same meaning multiple times.

Easy-to-use interface

With our super easy-to-use interface, you can reword content within seconds. 

Uses of Online Paraphrasing Tool

Paraphrasing content manually is not an easy task. It takes both time and effort to do this. Therefore, using the paraphrase online tool can save a lot of time and effort.

Other uses are:

• It helps students to submit plagiarism-free assignments and academic work
• Quickly paraphrase the content
• It helps to learn new sentence structures
• It reduces the chances of plagiarism in the paraphrased content
• 100% free paraphrasing tool

Who uses Paraphrasing Tool?

This sentence rephraser is not the requirement of every writer but it is widely used by:

It is hard to come up with engaging content. This rewording tool helps to write articles on the same topic in unique ways. 

Editpad Online Paraphrase tool helps bloggers to rephrase text in a way that is more easily readable by a general audience.

Freelance Writers

Freelance writers have to write high-quality and original content now and then. It helps them complete content tasks.  Use sentence rephraser to save time in the writing process and spend more time on other important tasks such as research, editing and proofreading.

It allows students to paraphrase essays, assignments, and lengthy writing homework. Our tool helps students to avoid plagiarism and to improve their writing skills.

Using editpad paraphrasing tool students can express their ideas in a better writing style.

Pro tip: Do not forget to check assignments and papers for plagiarism . 

Researchers

Researchers need paraphrasers to prevent plagiarism in their research work and to improve readability. They can also use our tool to quickly summarize large content to identify key points. just want to summarize your text? Try our text summarizer . 

CopyWriters

Copywriters can use our rephrase tool to refresh old content and give it a new angle. Rephraser is super helpful when you have to write bulk content under tight deadlines. Present the same information in a new and unique way.

As a webmaster, you have to always keep content quality, SEO quality, and usability at best. And we are here for you to help.

• Quality content : With a paraphrasing tool, webmasters can ensure that the content on their website is unique and free of plagiarism.
• SEO : To optimize the website for different keywords, you can paraphrase online same text multiple times. 
• User-friendly content : Make your content more readable and easily understandable for website users by rephrasing it. Our tool not only improves the content quality but also removes basic grammar errors. You can use Editpad's grammar checker tool to correct all grammatical mistakes.  

Digital Marketers  

Create your next best-quality Social Media Posts using our paraphraser. Digital marketers can generate different ideas for Email Campaigns and advertisements. 

Which is the most effective paraphrasing tool?

Rephrasing tool by Editpad is the most effective paraphrasing tool. It provides four different modes as per your need. Advanced algorithms, lightning-fast speed, and state-of-art technology make our tool the best of all. 

Is using a paraphrasing tool illegal?

Using a paraphrasing tool is not illegal. The outputs are unique and they are not an exact replication of the original content.

Can I use paraphrasing tool for legal writing?

Yes, you can use a paraphrasing tool for legal writing. However, if you want to quote someone or use someone else’s words, you have to give the proper citation.   

Does paraphrasing tool count as plagiarism?

No, using a paraphrasing tool does not count as committing plagiarism. Plagiarism means copying content directly whereas using a paraphrasing tool involves changing the wording.  

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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

an Excelsior University site

Paraphrasing Structure

As noted on the previous page, when you paraphrase, you have to do more than change the words from the original passage.  You have to also change the sentence structure. Sometimes, students will struggle with paraphrasing because they have an urge to simply use the same basic sentence or sentences and replace the original words with synonyms. This is not a method that works for effective paraphrasing.

Let’s see what that looks like. Here’s an original quote from an article about a new video game based on Thoreau’s famous work, Walden .

“The digital Walden Pond will showcase a first-person point-of-view where you can wander through the lush New England foliage, stop to examine a bush and pick some fruit, cast a fishing rod, return to a spartan cabin modeled after Thoreau’s and just roam around the woods, grappling with life’s unknowable questions.”

Explanation

Here, you can see that the “paraphrase” follows the exact same structure as the original passage. Even though the wording has been changed, this would be considered a form of plagiarism by some because the sentence structure has been copied, taking this beyond just sharing the ideas of the passage. Let’s take a look at a better paraphrase of the passage.

In this paraphrase, the student has captured the main idea of the passage but changed the sentence structure and the wording. The student has added some context, which is often helpful in a paraphrase, by providing some background for the game.

You will now have the chance to practice your ability to recognize an effective paraphrase in the Paraphrasing Activity on the following page.

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Check out other great resources:

“Cheating Inadvertently” from The Chronicle of Higher Education offers some insight into issues related to effective paraphrasing and accidental plagiarism.

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• Paraphrasing Structure »

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