Paraphrasing
Original:
Niagara Falls is viewed by thousands of tourists every year.
Paraphrase:
Each year, thousands of people visit Niagara Falls.
Original:
The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo.
Paraphrase:
Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling.
The paraphrases above have the same meaning as their original sentences.
What is paraphrasing?
Paraphrasing is the rewriting or restating of information in a different way. A paraphrase contains all
the information that was in the original version, but you use new words that mean the same thing and
change the sentence structure. When you paraphrase, you must not change the meaning of the
original sentence.
Paraphrasing is not copying. Good paraphrasing shows you understand other people’s ideas and can
write them in a way that makes sense to you.
Why do we paraphrase?
1. To clarify or simplify what the author said.
2. To create a sentence with a structure that flows better in your writing.
3. To avoid using too many quotations in your writing.
Which sentences are closest in meaning to the five sentences below?
Martha thinks that the issue of adolescent problems is important to write about.
a. Martha thinks that adolescents like to write about their problems.
b. Martha feels that writing about adolescent problems is worthwhile.
c. Martha believes that the dream of most adolescents is to write something important.
d. Martha thinks that adolescents can write about their problems.
Watch “Eight Steps to Paraphrasing” Powerpoint (by lakeview47)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVrGMShuABI
Things to Consider:
When you paraphrase:
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include all the important, main ideas.
keep the same meaning as the text.
You can:
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begin the sentence differently.
change nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.
change the sentence structure (i.e., use different types of clauses or phrases).
Some Paraphrasing Skills (use more than one in your paraphrases)
I. Use Synonyms. Use synonyms and phrases with a similar meaning to rewrite sentences.
Here is an example.
More than half of the women who attended the one-day meeting were in business with
their spouses.
Some of the words are underlined. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find synonyms for
these words and phrases. Now rewrite this sentence with these new words and phrases.
Here is one possible answer.
The majority of the women who went to the one-day conference were in business with
their husbands.
With your partner, try to paraphrase this sentence using synonyms:
1. Although the coach’s strategy was a little dangerous, the team was successful.
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II. Change Voice. Change the sentence from active voice to passive form.
Most sentences are written in active form. So, if you can rewrite sentences in a passive form
you will learn a good paraphrasing skill.
Look at these two sentences.
1. The cat ate the fish.
2. The fish was eaten by the cat.
The first sentence is active. The second sentence is passive.
Here are five grammar rules for writing passive sentences.
1. The result of an action is most important in a passive sentence. So, the action is at the
beginning of the sentence. Here is an example. “Thousands of people were killed by the
tsunami.”
2. The main verb is in the participle form. Look at this sentence. “The car was stolen by a
teenager.”
3. Add the verb “be” to the sentence. Change the “be” verb so that it matches the new subject
(the result). Put the verb in the right tense. Here is an example of a past tense sentence. “The
cake was eaten by the boys.”
4. Some verbs cannot be used in passive form. For example: arrive, come, cry, die, go, sleep
and walk.
5. Passive sentence usually have “by” when describing who did the action. Here is an
example. “The glass vase was made by the woman from Japan.”
With your partner, try to paraphrase this sentence using synonyms:
1. My mother washes the floor every Saturday.
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2. That tall man in the corner mailed our package.
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3. Millions of tourists have visited the Eiffel Tower
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III. Changing Nouns to Verbs
There are many reasons to write like this. Generally, it is a report style that makes the writing
seem more objective.
To paraphrase well, you have to know this writing style. And, you have to be able to change
the verbs back into nouns. This skill is useful for paraphrasing.
Here are two examples.
1. Long and wordy:
2. Better:
You have to give us your decision by tomorrow.
You have to decide by tomorrow.
1. Long and wordy:
2. Better:
Researchers conducted an investigation into the problem.
Researchers investigated the problem.
The first sentences are long. We can paraphrase the sentences by making them shorter. You
can see that in the second sentences; here I changed the noun to a verb.
This is one of the benefits of learning this paraphrasing skill. Your sentences will be shorter
but they will say the same thing as the original sentence.
With your partner, make the sentences shorter by changing a noun into a verb.
1. The Korean President did not give an explanation for the pardon of his business friend.
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2. Our class debate concerned the issue of nuclear weapons.
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3. We performed a review of the company’s annual reports.
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IV. Combining Sentences
In this section, you will learn how to combine two sentences into one long sentence. Before
starting, there are two grammar phrases you need to know for this lesson:
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coordinating conjunctions

subordinate conjunctions
There are many ways to combine sentences. In this lesson you will learn and practice two
ways. (In the next lesson, you will learn how to combine sentences with clauses.) After
reading thus lesson, download the worksheet and try the writing exercises.
Is sentence combining good for you?
Oh yeah. There are three benefits.
1. Get a deeper understanding of how to write different kinds of sentences.
2. Learn how to write complex sentences.
3. Upgrade your knowledge of words and expressions.
Sentence Combining 1: Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions are small words that join two sentences without changing the
sentences very much. These conjunctions go in between two sentences; they usually don’t
go at the beginning or end of a sentence.
There are seven conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. This group of conjunctions is
sometimes called FANBOYS. Each FANBOYS word has a different purpose.
For tells us the reason.
They love music, for it is exhilarating.
And means in addition.
My father likes to drink coffee and read the newspaper.
Nor is negative.
John doesn’t do his homework nor does he want to study.
But and yet show contrast.
Sally is good at diving but she prefers soccer.
Or gives another reason or
choice.
So tells us the result.
I need a break or I will go nuts.
My student’s family doesn’t have much money so he dropped out of
school.
Here is an example.
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The students went to school. They did not want to go to school.
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The students went to school but they did not want to.
Sentence Combining 2: Subordinate Conjunctions
Subordinate conjunctions words join two clauses. They are similar to the coordinating
conjunctions but there are two differences.
1. Subordinate conjunctions can go at the front of the sentence or in the middle.
2. You have to change some words in one of the sentences.
There are lots of words which can be used to join sentences with subordination. Here are
some of these words.
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after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though
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for, if, if only, rather than, since, that, though, unless, until,

when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, while
Here is an example of how two sentences can be combined with a subordination word.
The computer was making a loud noise. The computer was broken.
1. The computer was making a loud noise because it was broken.
2. Because the computer was broken, it was making a loud noise.
V. Join two sentence with relative clauses and appositives.
Relative clauses provide extra information about something. In this lesson, we use relative
clauses to talk about nouns. So in this lesson, a relative clauses acts like an adjective.
These relative clauses begin with three relative pronouns: “which, that or who.” Here are
three examples.
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Motorcycle racing is a dangerous sport. It is enjoyed by many young people.
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Motorcycle racing is a dangerous sport which is enjoyed by many young people.
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The cat loved a mouse. The mouse was beautiful.
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The cat loved a mouse that was beautiful.
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Alfred Einstein was a famous scientist. He won a Noble prize for his work in theoretical
physics.
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Alfred Einstein was a famous scientist who won a Noble prize for his work in
theoretical physics.
Appositives? Huh? Sounds hard, but it isn’t.
An appositive is a noun that describes another noun. Appositives can be a single word or
many words (a phrase). An appositive looks like a relative clause but there are no words like
‘which, who or that’ at the beginning of the clause.
Here are three examples; the appositives are in grey.
The appositive can go at the front of the sentence. Like this:
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A skilled but wild hockey player, Jack skated to the referee and punched him in the
nose.
An appositive can go in the middle of the sentence, usually with lots of commas. Like this:
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Jack, a skilled but wild hockey player, skated to the referee and punched him in the
nose.
Or an appositive can go at the end of the sentence. Like this:
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The fans cheered Jack, a skilled but wild hockey player who skated to the referee and
punched him in the nose.
Adaptations from http://www.eslwriting.org/lesson-5-paraphase-by-combining-sentences-2/