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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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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.

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

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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.

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

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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

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

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Written by  Scribendi

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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FAQs on Paraphrasing and Plagiarism Detection

Paraphrasing is a skill that students will need to learn during their studies. It is an acquired skill and until they master the ability to rewrite sentences correctly, using a paraphrase generator can assist them with the process.

Q: What is paraphrasing?

A: Paraphrasing is the rewriting of someone else’s text and putting it into your own words without losing or changing the original meaning. A good paraphrase will use different words and syntax while retaining the original idea and meaning. Paraphrasing is generally preferred to direct quotations. It is acceptable to rewrite sentences, paragraphs and entire passages of text as long as it is done correctly.

Q: What is an example of sentence rephrasing?

A: The following is an example of a sentence paraphrase:

• Original sentence: One of the best known horror writers in the world is Stephen King.
• Paraphrased sentence: Stephen King has achieved international fame as a horror novelist.

Both the wording and syntax of the sentence have been changed but the original idea is still retained.

Q: When should you rewrite paragraph and sentence text?

A: There are a number of different situations when paraphrasing text is preferable to summarizing or using direct quotes. These include:

• To explain and simplify the original text. If the original text presents a complicated idea, you may choose to reword it in a manner that is easier for the reader to understand. Some text may contain technical terms or jargon the average reader won’t understand. By paraphrasing text the original meaning is still conveyed but is more easily understood.
• To emphasize specific points. Altering the structure of text to present the organization of ideas differently can be done to emphasize specific ideas in a passage that bolster the point you want to make in your paper. However, care must be taken not to alter the original meaning
• Maintain a consistent voice. Everybody has their own voice when writing. When you want to present another person’s ideas to bolster your own argument, paraphrasing allows you to present those ideas in your own voice and keeps it consistent throughout your paper
• To demonstrate knowledge of the material. Paraphrasing text correctly shows that you understand the original material. In order to rewrite original text without changing the meaning demonstrates that you fully understand the source material.

When you do include paraphrased material in your writing it is essential that the meaning of the original text is not altered.

Q: Why is it better to reword than to quote?

A: Quotes definitely have their place when you are writing but in general it is considered better to paraphrase for a number of different reasons.

• Easier to read. Excessive use of quotes can make your paper difficult to read. Quotes can interrupt the flow of your paper
• Paraphrasing helps you understand the material. Having to rewrite text using different words and sentence structure requires that you think more about the original meaning of the source. You have to have a firm grasp of the material in order to paraphrase it properly
• Displays your knowledge. Those who read your paper will see that you thoroughly understand the paraphrased material and aren’t just parroting another writer’s words without comprehending their ideas.
• Provides clarity. An original quote may present a great concept or idea but it might not be very easy to understand. Rewording the original quote can better clarify what the original author meant.

Q: Does paraphrasing need to be cited?

A: When you paraphrase text you may have completely changed the wording and structure of the text but it is still the original author’s idea. Paraphrased writing still needs to be cited in order not to be considered plagiarism even if an automatic paraphraser is used. Generally citations will be in-text or included on a reference page depending on the style guide you are following.

Q: Is there an app that rewrites sentences?

A: There are many people that find the task of paraphrasing text for their papers somewhat daunting. If you are one of those asking “How can I reword my sentence?” you will be pleased to know there is a paraphrase tool online that can assist you with the process. Using a paraphrasing tool isn’t plagiarism as long as you make sure to cite the original source correctly. A good tool is also secure and doesn’t provide your paper to other databases or make it available online.

Q: How do you rewrite content?

A: There are 5 basic steps to rewriting content:

• Read the original text until you completely understand it
• Take note of the main ideas the source material contains
• Rewrite the text in your own words without looking at the original
• Compare your text to the original and make any necessary adjustments to avoid text that is too similar
• Include a citation

Here are a few tips on how to reword a sentence to avoid plagiarism:

• When you paraphrase change sentence structure
• Use synonyms of the original words
• Change the form of the original words

If you are still asking how do you rewrite a sentence to not be copy and paste, you may want to try using free software to paraphrase sentences online.

About Our Automatic Paraphrase Tool

Anybody who has asked “How do I reword my sentence?” can benefit from our free online plagiarism checker. The tool works as both a duplicate sentence finder that identifies similar phrases as well as a sentence changer that rewrites phrases for you. Our duplicate sentences checker first scans your paper and compares it to billions of online web pages and documents looking for similarities in texts. Any text that is too similar is identified and the original sentence maker tool will provide suggestions on how the text can be paraphrased to make it unique and avoid plagiarism issues.

Additional Functions and Benefits of Our Sentence Changer for Plagiarism

Our sentence rephraser online tool is more than just a way how to paraphrase a sentence online. It performs numerous other proofreading and editing functions as well including:

• Spelling checker. Identifies and corrects any misspelled words in your text.
• Active/passive voice checker. Identifies whether you are using active or passive voice in your text and suggests adjustments to your writing to ensure the proper voice is being used
• Tone checker. Identifies the tone in your writing and recommends changes to set the tone you want to establish in your paper.
• Grammar checker. Finds and corrects numerous grammatical errors including sentence fragments, run-on sentences, verb tense errors and many other grammar mistakes
• Punctuation checker. Identifies and corrects errors in punctuation including improper use of commas, semi-colons, quotation marks and others.

There are plenty of additional benefits to be had when you use our rephrasing tool:

• Saves time. It can take hours to proofread and edit a paper properly depending on its length. Our writing tool can identify and recommend corrections to your paper in a minute or less.
• Budget-friendly. There is no cost to use our paraphrasing tool. You can find and correct errors, identify duplicate text and rewrite a sentence online for free using our tool.
• Multiple types of papers. Our writing tool works on any type of paper and text including essays, research papers and other types of academic writing. It can also be used for blog posts, articles, letters and any other type of text
• Secure. We keep your text secure and don’t ever make it available online or to other databases
• Compares your text to multiple sources. The effectiveness of a similar text finder and rephraser depends partially on the amount of documents a paper is compared to. Our tool checks your text against billions of online web pages and documents stored in databases to reduce the risk of plagiarism occurring.
• Full reports. A detailed report identifying any duplicate content and errors in your text is provided along with recommended corrections and adjustments to be made.

The multiple functions and features our writing tool offers make it ideal for editing virtually any type of text.

How to Use Our Similar Phrases Finder

One of the best things about our rephrasing tool is how easy it is to use. No special skills are required. Just follow these simple steps:

• Enter text. Copy and paste your text into the provided field
• Initiate text analysis. Click the button to begin the analyzing process
• Receive text analysis. A report identifying duplicate content and mistakes in your text is provided along with suggested corrections and adjustments
• Make the recommended corrections and changes

To correctly rewrite paragraphs or any other text use our paraphrase generator to produce properly rephrased material and avoid plagiarism issues!

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Strategy 5: revise the structure of the source’s sentences.

Paraphrase strategies like replacing jargon and changing terminology rely primarily on substituting your own language for your source’s. But a paraphrase that substitutes synonymous phrases in the same order is still plagiarism. In order to claim the language as your own, you also need to revise the syntactical structure of a passage you are paraphrasing. The longer the section you’re paraphrasing, the more thoroughly you need to revise the syntax.

One strategy for revising the syntax of a passage is to simply cut information that isn’t relevant to your argument, which will likely shift the order in which the material is presented. However, if you need to retain all of the details of your source, you’ll need to adopt a different strategy for presenting them in a different order. Consider the following too-close paraphrase, which has been flagged by Turnitin:

Though both contain an additional clause, each of the highlighted sentences is built around a simple declarative structure:

“Seed retention time in fishes is long” “Fishes can disperse seeds”

Understanding the structure of a sentence is essential for revising its syntax. Consider the following fair paraphrase, which retains all of the information from the source but presents that material in a different order.

The writer of the paraphrase adopts three strategies for restructuring her source’s sentences without cutting any information. And in each case, her strategy doesn’t simply reproduce the source’s ideas in her own language; it conveys theat information more clearly than the source did.

1. The paraphrase writer revises the first sentence so that the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb. In the source, the subject of the sentence is time . In composing her paraphrase, the writer makes fish —the actors who carry out seed retention—the subject of the sentence. This initial shift produces a corresponding change in other parts of the sentence, dramatically altering the structure of source’s sentence and making its language her own. ( For another example of this kind of revision, see how the paraphrase writer changes “The morphological change is” to “A longer intestine enables” in Strategy 3 .)

2. The paraphrase writer eliminates redundancies in her source. In successive sentences, the source uses the phrases “other vertebrate dispensers” and “monkeys, rodents, and birds” to refer to the same thing. The paraphrase writer replaces this phrase with “birds and mammals” and uses it only in the first sentence—beginning the second sentence with the pronoun this to carry that idea into the next step of her analysis.

3. The paraphrase writer employs a which clause in the second sentence. The primary function of a which clause is to add information to the noun that precedes it. Organizing her sentence in this way, allows the writer to present the information in a different order than her source, which uses a different construction.

The three strategies above demonstrate only a few of the many approaches to reordering the information in a sentence. English is an especially flexible language, with a variety of ways to present ideas. When revising the syntax of a source, strive to imagine how a different structure—a new subject in the sentence, a which clause—might help you present the ideas not only differently, but more clearly than the source does.

As Joseph Williams notes in Style : (1) sentences tend to be clearest when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb; and (2) the ideas in a paper are easiest to follow when sentences begin with information that appeared in the previous sentence and then connect that old information to new information. When attempting the structure of a source’s sentence, you might start with these strategies first, before moving on to other approaches.

1 All fair paraphrases on these pages were written by Maya Juman YC ‘20.

2 Correa, S.B., et al. 2007. Evolutionary Perspectives on Seed Consumption and Dispersal by Fishes. BioScience , 57: 748–756.

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Five Effective Paraphrasing Techniques You Should Know

Table of Contents

Effective paraphrasing requires understanding the material and writing it in your own words . Students, content writers, and bloggers frequently need to incorporate ideas from several sources into their own work.

If you want to paraphrase, you have to change while retaining the original meaning. This article covers five effective paraphrasing techniques for writing better content for your website, blog, or academic paper.

What Does Paraphrasing Mean?

Paraphrasing is the process of restating someone else’s ideas or other information in your own words while preserving the meaning. A paraphrased text is sometimes shorter than the source. For effective paraphrasing, you must change the words and structure of a sentence.

However, a summary should not be confused with paraphrasing. A summary only includes key points of a text rewritten in your own words. The summarized version is usually much shorter than the source text.

Five Effective Paraphrasing Techniques

The key to effective paraphrasing is how you manage to phrase ideas creatively. You must make your sentences flow in a way that’s beneficial for the readers to grasp the concept easily.

Paraphrasing will demonstrate your ability to write sentences from a different angle after authentically experiencing the same idea from someone else.

Here are five effective paraphrasing techniques for you to consider for your next assignment.

1. Use Synonyms

One of the most common ways to make your writing sound less confusing is to take familiar words and replace them with synonyms.

If you need to change the meaning of a word, you can also replace it with a similar word. These substitutions will make your writing more interesting and fresh, not confusing.

Original Text: The students illustrated their presentation slides with stories.

Paraphrased: The students explained their presentation slides with stories.

2. Change the Word Class or Form

It is easy to spot the difference when you copy words or sentences directly from a book. We all have different writing styles, and yours will be distinct from those of the authors you’re reading.

Changing the word class or form of words is a good approach to make your text sound significantly different. You can replace the verb of a sentence with a noun from the same word family or change an adjective with a noun.

Original Text: The supervisor played a significant role in the success of the project.

Paraphrased: The supervisor played a significant role in the successful completion of this project.

3. Modify the Sentence Structure

One way to effectively paraphrase a text is to shift the sentence structure. This can help address the unclear wording of the original text and make it easier to understand.

Change the sentence structure using a verb from the second half of the sentence as your subject rather than the first half. Moving something up in the sentence or moving it towards the end of the sentence could change its meaning substantially.

Original Text: The wedding photography package price includes travel fees, taxes, and editing costs.

Paraphrased: The travel fees, taxes, and editing costs are included in the wedding photography package.

4. Change the Grammatical Structure

To paraphrase, you need to change the grammatical structure of the original sentence. One way to do this is by utilizing a different tense. When you use this technique, the statement will be in the past tense but in the active voice. This can create a lot of impacts when communicating.

Original Text: A cake is being baked by Laura

Paraphrased: Laura is baking a cake.

5. Use Different Techniques To Work Together

Improve your ability to paraphrase by using several complementary paraphrasing techniques. For example, you can use passive voice, synonyms, or different word forms to convey similar ideas.

These techniques work together to help you effectively paraphrase an original text without any risk of plagiarism. Your paraphrased text will sound like a completely new and unique idea.

Paraphrasing can be quite helpful when writing or speaking, and it is important to possess the skills required to do it effectively. With the proper technique and format, paraphrasing can help make your writing or speech more memorable and understandable .

Everyone needs a little help on occasion. But with just a few small changes, your audience’s perception of you will be enhanced, and so will your impact.

Pam is an expert grammarian with years of experience teaching English, writing and ESL Grammar courses at the university level. She is enamored with all things language and fascinated with how we use words to shape our world.

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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