How do you paraphrase?
Seven steps to paraphrasing
- Read the text carefully.
- Underline any important words or main ideas.
- Look up any difficult words. Try to find synonyms for the difficult words. A synonym is another word that has the same meaning, e.g. the sea/the ocean; frog/amphibian.
- Try to find different ways of expressing phrases (word groups) indicating time or place, e.g. in the morning/early; in the late afternoon/evening.
- Rewrite each sentence. Change the sentence structure and the vocabulary without changing the meaning.
- Revise what you have written, comparing it to the original. Your paraphrasing should clarify the original.
- Cite your source. Do not forget to include appropriate reference information at the end of your paraphrase. This is so that the reader can go back to the original version.
(adapted from UNE, n.d.)
To paraphrase:
- rewrite the original language
- change the original sentence structure
- cite the source
If you retain a short phrase or a distinctive word, use quotation marks.