Skip to Main Content

Grammar and Punctuation Guide For Writing: Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the process of restating someone else's ideas or words in your own words. At the same time, the same meaning is conveyed to the reader. Paraphrasing is an important skill in communication and wring, as it allows you to express someone else's ideas in a way that is clearer or more relevant to your audience, or to avoid plagiarism. 

Reasons why you might want to paraphrase:

Clarification: Paraphrasing can help you understand the complex or technical language by breaking it down into simpler terms.

Adaptation: Paraphrasing allows you to adapt someone else's ideas to suit your audience or purpose. For example, you might need to simplify technical jargon for a non-technical audience. 

Avoiding plagiarism: Paraphrasing is also a useful way to avoid plagiarism, which is the act of using someone else's work without giving them proper credit. By paraphrasing a source, you can use their ideas while still making it clear that the original work is not your own.

 

Tips and Tricks for Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing examples

When paraphrasing, it's important to ensure that you are not simply copying or rearranging the original text. Instead, try to understand the meaning behind the words and then express that meaning in your own words. You should also be careful not to change the original meaning of the text or distort the author's intent. Finally, it's important to cite your sources when paraphrasing to give credit to the original author. 

Examples:

Original Sentence: "She is a talented athlete."

Paraphrased Sentence: "She possesses great athletic skill."

The weather today is very hot.

Today's weather is extremely warm.

The movie was directed by the famous director Francis Ford Coppola.

Francis Ford Coppola, a renowned director,  directed The Godfather. 

He completed the project on time and within the budget. 

He finished the project within the specified timeframe and without exceeding the budget.