Paraphrasing Technique – Two Methods to Paraphrase a Sentence

Paraphrasing is the most important technique in IELTS. You can find paraphrasing in all skills in IELTS, which is discussed in detail in the next sections of this guide. Mastering Paraphrasing can help you understand the exam much better, hence improving your performance and your score(s).

In this section, we will discuss the Paraphrasing Technique that you can use in your IELTS Writing and Speaking. Knowing how to paraphrase can also help you understand sentences that are already paraphrased in IELTS Listening and IELTS Reading.

There are many different ways to paraphrase a sentence. You should keep in mind that each person has a different writing style and foundation of the English language. As a result, there is no good or bad in terms of the paraphrased sentence as a whole. There is, however, correct or incorrect in paraphrasing based on the meaning. vocabulary, and grammar.

In this series, we will discuss 2 methods that can help you with the initial steps to get used to Paraphrasing. After that, if you want to develop your own ways, feel free to do so.

Let’s dive in!

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is to “repeat something written or spoken using different words, often in a humorous form or in a simpler and shorter form that makes the original meaning clearer.” (Cambridge Dictionary, “Paraphrase“)

There are 3 important factors in Paraphrasing:

1. Repeat something using different words: This indicates that you should make use of the synonyms of the keywords in the original sentence. You can either change the words and/or change the grammatical structures.
2. Keep the same meaning: The paraphrased sentence must be with the same meaning as the original sentence.
3. Make the original sentence clearer: The paraphrased sentence must be clearer than the original sentence.

So, in other words, Paraphrasing a sentence is rewriting/restating it with different words, and different grammar and making sure the new sentence delivers the same but clearer message than the original sentence.

It is a misconception that the more complicated a paraphrased sentence is, the better. This cannot be further from the truth. You should make sure your sentence is clear whether or not you are using advanced words and grammar.

Method 1: Change words

As explained above, Paraphrasing includes changing words, in particular, keywords of the sentence. Changing one word in the sentence is considered paraphrasing, however, it will not bring a very good result as you may not be able to make the sentence clearer in terms of meaning.

Step 1: Highlight all keywords in the original sentence.

The keywords include

• the subject(s),
• the verb(s),
• any other words that give the sentence its original meaning.

A word is considered the keyword of a sentence if the sentence is unclear in terms of meaning when you remove the word.

For example, in the sentence “I prefer apples to bananas”, the word “apples” is a keyword because when you remove it from the sentence, the meaning becomes unclear.

Step 2: Make a list of synonyms of each keyword and explain them if needed.

Keep in mind that some words don’t have any synonyms as they are names or unique in their kind. Don’t stress yourself out too much if you can’t come up with a synonym for one or two words.

Synonyms can be words or phrases that carry the same meaning in the same context. Some words may mean the same thing in other contexts but they are not synonymous in the context of the original sentence.

Step 2: Replace the keywords with their synonyms if possible.

In this step, you can just simply replace the keywords in the original sentence with the synonyms you prepared in Step 2.

Example 1

Original sentence: People tend to spend more time talking on the Internet than meeting face-to-face.

Paraphrased sentence: Individuals tend to invest a greater amount of time conversing online as opposed to engaging in in-person interactions.

Method 2: Comprehensive Paraphrasing

To start, let’s look at the basic structure of a sentence in English.

Sentence Structure – Basic

A basic sentence in English includes three parts: Subject, Verb, and Object. It forms the basic structure – SVO.

In complex sentences, there is more than one subject and/or verb and/or object.

In general, the sentence is “controlled” by the subject(s). When the subject changes, the verb(s) may also need changing, hence the object that may be dependent on the verb also needs changing.

In sentences where the subjects are not specific, it is necessary for you to either define the subjects or change them to make the sentence clearer. Subjects such as “people”, “some people”, “someone” are vague (not clear), hence to paraphrase the sentences, it is recommended that you make the subjects easier for readers to understand.

There are two options for you: Define the subject and Change the subject.

Define the subject that is not clear

To understand this approach, let’s look at the example 2 below.

Example 2: People should pay for their medical treatments.

In this sentence, the subject “people” is vague (unclear). There are 8 billion people on Earth. Who is it talking about? Who should pay for their medical treatments? Does “people” in this sentence mean “everyone”?

Given the context of the original sentence, it is clear that people who receive medical treatments should pay for those treatments. What do you call people who receive medical treatments? “Patients”, right?

So, in this context, “people” can be defined as “patients”.

When it is possible to define the subject, you should go back to Method 1.

Paraphrased sentence 1: Patients should cover the costs of their healthcare expenses.

Paraphrased sentence 2: Patients ought to bear the expenses for their healthcare procedures.

If the subject cannot be defined, the next approach is more appropriate.

Change the subject

As explained above, when the subject changes, it is likely that everything else in the sentence will change accordingly.

With this approach, you are asked to change the structure of the original before changing the keywords. This approach requires you to understand different grammatical structures.

Step 1: Change the grammar structure

Step 2: Replace keywords with their synonyms if possible.

There are 3 ways you can change the grammar structure of the original sentence.

1. Use the object of the sentence to replace the subject

When you put the object or another part of the original sentence as the subject of the paraphrased sentence, you inadvertently change the grammar structure of the sentence. Oftentimes, you will need to change the sentence grammar from the active voice to the passive voice.

Let’s look at example 2 above.

Example 2: People (S) should pay (V) for their medical treatments (O). (Active voice)

Step 1: Change the structure

Medical treatments should be paid for by patients. (Passive voice)

Step 2: Replace keywords with synonyms

The cost of medical treatments should be borne by patients. (Passive voice + synonyms)

2. Use the noun form of the main verbs

There are situations in which the context is too broad, you can’t define it. And there are no clear objects (noun form) for you to use as the subject of the paraphrased sentence. In this case, follow these steps.

Step 1: Highlight all the main verbs of the sentence.

Step 2: Pick one main verb and turn it into a noun

Step 3: Use this noun as the subject and paraphrase the sentence.

Step 4: Replace keywords with their synonyms if possible.

Let’s look at the example below.

Example 3: People are moving to other places to live and work.

Step 1: Highlight all the main verbs of the sentence.

Main verbs: move

Step 2: Pick one main verb and turn it into a noun

Noun form: moving

Step 3: Use this noun as the subject and paraphrase the sentence.

Moving to other places to live and work is becoming a trend.

Step 4: Replace keywords with their synonyms if possible.

Relocating to new areas for both residence and employment is becoming a common trend.

3. Use dummy subjects

When the original sentence includes a belief or opinion, using dummy subjects is the fastest and easiest way to approach it.

Dummy subjects are words that do not carry any specific meaning in the sentence. They are in the sentences just to make them follow the SVO structure. In IELTS, we mainly use “it” and “there” as dummy subjects.

Step 1: Start your sentence with “It” or “There”.

Step 2: Complete the paraphrased sentence.

Step 3: Replace keywords with their synonyms if possible.

Let’s look at the example below.

Example 4: People believe that they are happier if they get to do what they love.

Step 1: Start your sentence with “It” or “There”.

It…

Step 2: Complete the paraphrased sentence.

It is believed that people are happier if they get to do what they love.

Step 3: Replace keywords with their synonyms if possible.

It is argued that individuals experience greater happiness when pursuing their passions.