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• What is Paraphrasing? An Overview With Examples
• Learn English
• James Prior
• No Comments
• Updated February 23, 2024

What is paraphrasing? Or should I say what is the definition of paraphrasing? If you want to restate something using different words whilst retaining the same meaning, this is paraphrasing.

In this article, we cover what paraphrasing is, why it’s important, and when you should do it. Plus, some benefits and examples.

Table of Contents

Paraphrase Definition: What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is when you restate the information from a source using your own words while maintaining the original meaning. It involves expressing the ideas in a different way, often to clarify or simplify the content, without directly quoting the source.

When you paraphrase, you are not only borrowing, clarifying, or expanding on the information but also ensuring that you do all of these actions without plagiarizing the original content. It’s therefore definitely worth learning how to paraphrase if you want to improve your writing skills.

Why is Paraphrasing Important?

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill that allows you to convey information in your unique writing style while still giving credit to someone else’s ideas. It’s important for several reasons, and it serves various functions in both academic and professional writing.

Here are some key reasons why you should paraphrase:

• Paraphrasing allows you to present information from sources in your own words, reducing the risk of plagiarism. Proper in-text citation is still necessary, but paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding and interpretation of the material.
• When you paraphrase, you are required to comprehend the original content fully. You actively engage with the information, helping you better understand complex concepts and ideas. This process of restating the information in your own words showcases your understanding of the subject matter.
• By paraphrasing, you can clarify complex ideas or technical language and convey information in a clearer, shorter, and simpler form. This makes it more accessible to your audience and ensures they grasp the key points. This is particularly important when communicating with readers who may not be familiar with specialized terminology.
• Paraphrasing is valuable when synthesizing information from various sources. It enables you to blend ideas cohesively while maintaining a consistent writing style throughout your work.
• Paraphrasing allows you to inject your unique writing style and voice into the content. It helps you present information in a way that is more aligned with your personal expression and perspective.
• In certain situations where you need to meet specific length requirements for assignments or publications, paraphrasing allows you to convey information more concisely while still preserving the essential meaning.
• Paraphrasing helps maintain a smooth flow and cohesiveness in your writing. It allows you to integrate information seamlessly, avoiding abrupt shifts between your own ideas and those from external sources.
• Depending on your audience, you may need to adapt the language and level of technicality of the information you present. Paraphrasing allows you to tailor the content to suit the needs of your specific readership.

Incorporating paraphrasing into your writing not only showcases your understanding of the material but also enhances the overall quality and originality of your work.

When Should You Paraphrase?

Knowing when to paraphrase is an important skill, especially in academic writing and professional communication. Here are some situations in which you should consider paraphrasing:

• To Avoid Plagiarism:  Whenever you want to incorporate information from source material into your own work, but don’t want to use a direct quotation, paraphrasing is necessary to present the ideas in your own words while still acknowledging the original source.
• To Express Understanding:  Paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding of a topic by rephrasing the information in a way that shows you have processed and comprehended the material.
• To Simplify Complex Information:  If you encounter complex or technical language that may be difficult for your audience to understand, paraphrasing can help you clarify and simplify the information to make it more accessible and digestible.
• To Integrate Multiple Sources:  When synthesizing information from multiple sources, paraphrasing allows you to blend the ideas cohesively while maintaining your own voice and perspective.
• To Maintain Consistency in Writing Style:  In academic writing or professional writing, paraphrasing can help you maintain a consistent writing style throughout your work. This helps to ensure that all sections flow smoothly and are coherent.
• To Meet Specific Requirements:  Some assignments or publications may have specific requirements. This could relate to the number of words or concern the use of direct quotations. In such cases, paraphrasing allows you to meet these requirements while still incorporating relevant information from your sources.

What Are the Benefits of Paraphrasing?

Rewriting information in a clearer, shorter, and simpler form is called paraphrasing, so one of the benefits of paraphrasing is already clear! However, it can also be a useful exercise for other reasons, which are outlined below:

Avoiding Plagiarism

One of the main benefits of paraphrasing is mastering the ability to present information from external sources in a way that is entirely your own. By restructuring the content and expressing it using your words, you create a distinct piece of writing that reflects your comprehension and interpretation of the original material. This not only showcases your academic or professional integrity but also safeguards against unintentional plagiarism.

Paraphrasing is a fundamental skill in academic and professional settings, where originality and proper attribution are highly valued. This is especially true when it comes to writing research papers, where you’ll often need to reference someone else’s ideas with appropriate citations.

When you paraphrase effectively, you communicate to your audience that you respect the intellectual property of others while contributing your unique insights. This ethical approach to information usage enhances your credibility as a writer or researcher and reinforces the integrity of your work.

Enhancing Understanding

When you engage in paraphrasing, you actively participate in the material you are working with. You are forced to consider the ideas presented in the source material. You need to discern the essential concepts, identify key phrases, and decide how best to convey the message in a way that resonates with you.

This active engagement not only aids in understanding the content but also encourages critical thinking as you evaluate and interpret the information from your own standpoint.

By expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words, you deepen your understanding of the content. This process requires you to dissect the original text, grasp its nuances, and then reconstruct it using your language and perspective. In this way, you go beyond mere memorization and truly internalize the information, fostering a more profound comprehension of the subject matter.

Tailoring Information for Your Audience

Paraphrasing empowers you to adapt the language and complexity of the information to suit the needs and understanding of your audience. As you rephrase the content, you have the flexibility to adjust the level of technicality, simplify complex terminology, or tailor the tone to make the information more accessible to your specific readership.

Consider your audience’s background, knowledge level, and interests. Paraphrasing allows you to bridge the gap between the original content and the understanding of your intended audience.

Whether you are communicating with experts in a particular field or a general audience, the ability to paraphrase ensures that the information is conveyed in a way that resonates with and is comprehensible to your readers. This skill not only facilitates effective communication but also demonstrates your awareness of the diverse needs of your audience.

Improves Writing Skills

Paraphrasing helps in the development and refinement of your writing skills. When you actively engage in the process of rephrasing someone else’s ideas, you hone your ability to express concepts in a clear, concise, and coherent manner.

This practice refines your language proficiency, encouraging you to explore different types of sentence structure, experiment with vocabulary, and ultimately develop a more sophisticated and nuanced writing style.

As you paraphrase, you gain a heightened awareness of grammar, syntax, and word choice. This translates into improved writing, helping you construct well-articulated sentences and paragraphs. Moreover, paraphrasing allows you to experiment with different writing tones and adapt your style to suit the context or purpose of your writing, fostering versatility and adaptability in your expression.

Saves Time and Energy

Paraphrasing can significantly reduce the time and energy spent on the writing process. Rather than grappling with the challenge of integrating lengthy direct quotations or struggling to find the perfect synonym, paraphrasing allows you to distill and convey information in a more streamlined way.

This becomes particularly advantageous when faced with strict deadlines. By mastering paraphrasing, you empower yourself to produce well-crafted, original content in a shorter timeframe, allowing you to meet deadlines without compromising the quality of your work.

Examples of Paraphrasing

Here are some examples of paraphrasing:

• Original:  “The advancements in technology have revolutionized the way we communicate with each other.”
• Paraphrased:  “Technological progress has transformed how we interact and communicate with one another.”
• Original:  “Deforestation poses a significant threat to global ecosystems and biodiversity.”
• Paraphrased:  “The impact of deforestation represents a substantial danger to ecosystems and the diversity of life on a global scale.”
• Original:  “Effective time management is essential for achieving productivity in both professional and personal spheres.”
• Paraphrased:  “Efficient management of time is crucial for attaining productivity in both professional and personal aspects of life.”
• Original:  “The restaurant offers a diverse selection of culinary choices, ranging from traditional dishes to modern fusion cuisine.”
• Paraphrased:  “The restaurant provides a variety of food options, including both traditional and modern fusion dishes.”
• Original:  “The novel explores the complexities of human relationships in a rapidly changing society.”
• Paraphrased:  “The book delves into the challenges of human connections in a fast-changing world.”
• Original:  “Regular exercise is crucial for maintaining optimal physical health and preventing various health issues.”
• Paraphrased:  “Exercising regularly is important for keeping your body healthy and avoiding health problems.”

In these examples, you can observe the use of different wording, sentence structure, and synonyms while preserving the core meaning of the original sentences. This is the essence of paraphrasing.

What Are the Differences Between Paraphrasing, Quoting, and Summarizing?

So, we’ve established that successful paraphrasing is a way of rewriting someone else’s words whilst retaining their meaning and still giving credit to the original author’s ideas. But how is this different from quoting and summarizing?

While paraphrasing, quoting, and summarizing are all ways of incorporating information from source material into your own writing, there are key differences between them:

Paraphrasing

• Definition:  Paraphrasing involves rephrasing someone else’s ideas or information in your own words while retaining the original meaning.
• Usage:  You use paraphrasing when you want to present the information in a way that suits your writing style or when you need to clarify complex ideas.
• Example:  Original: “The study found a significant correlation between sleep deprivation and decreased cognitive performance.” Paraphrased: “The research indicated a notable link between lack of sleep and a decline in cognitive function.”
• Definition:  Quoting involves directly using the exact words from a source and enclosing them in quotation marks.
• Usage:  You use quoting when the original wording is essential, either because of its precision or uniqueness, or when you want to highlight a specific phrase or concept.
• Example:  Original: “The author argues, ‘In the absence of clear guidelines, individual judgment becomes paramount in decision-making.'”

The use of quotation marks is vital when quoting.

Summarizing

• Definition:  Summarizing involves condensing the main ideas of a source or original passage in your own words, focusing on the most crucial points.
• Usage:  You use summarizing when you need to provide a concise overview of a longer piece of text or when you want to capture the key points without including all the details.
• Example:  Original: A lengthy article discussing various factors influencing climate change. Summary: “The article outlines key factors contributing to climate change, including human activities and natural processes.”

In summary, paraphrasing is about expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words, quoting involves directly using the original words, and summarizing is about condensing the main points of a source.

Each technique serves different purposes in writing and should be used based on your specific goals and the nature of the information you are incorporating. If you want to level up your writing skills you need to be able to do all three of these.

Conclusion (In Our Own Words)

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill with numerous benefits. It helps you understand complex ideas, refine your writing style, and demonstrate ethical information use. It also allows you to tailor information for different audiences and can save time in academic and professional writing.

So, if you want to incorporate information from external sources into your writing in a way that is clear, concise, and respectful of the original author’s work, it’s worth mastering the art of paraphrasing.

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Definition of paraphrase

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of paraphrase  (Entry 2 of 2)

intransitive verb

transitive verb

Did you know?

When we paraphrase, we provide a version that can exist beside the original (rather than replace it). We paraphrase all the time. When you tell a friend what someone else has said, you're almost always paraphrasing, since you're not repeating the exact words. If you go to hear a talk, you might paraphrase the speaker's main points afterward for your friends. And when writing a paper on a short story, you might start off your essay with a paraphrase of the plot. Paraphrasing is especially useful when dealing with poetry, since poetic language is often difficult and poems may have meanings that are hard to pin down.

• restatement
• translating
• translation

Examples of paraphrase in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'paraphrase.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Noun and Verb

Middle French, from Latin paraphrasis , from Greek, from paraphrazein to paraphrase, from para- + phrazein to point out

1548, in the meaning defined at sense 1

1598, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

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Cite this Entry

“Paraphrase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paraphrase. Accessed 3 Apr. 2024.

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Kids definition of paraphrase.

Kids Definition of paraphrase  (Entry 2 of 2)

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about paraphrase

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Paraphrasing - an overview

Paraphrasing is ..., what are the differences between quoting, paraphrasing & summarising .

• Why Paraphrase?
• Paraphrasing versus Plagiarism
• The Do's and Don'ts of Paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing - examples
• Further Information

Paraphrasing is 'a restating of someone else’s thoughts or ideas in your own words. You must always cite your source when paraphrasing’ (Pears & Shields, 2019 p. 245).  

(Solas English, 2017)

• Quoting means using someone else’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks.. 
• Paraphrasing means expressing someone else’s ideas in your own voice, while keeping the same essential meaning.
• Summarising means taking a long passage of text from someone else and condensing the main ideas in your own words.

Watch the video below for more information.  

(UNC Writing Center, 2019)

• Next: Why Paraphrase? >>
• Last Updated: Sep 8, 2023 9:42 AM
• URL: https://lit.libguides.com/paraphrasing

The Library, Technological University of the Shannon: Midwest

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

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Written by  Scribendi

Is It Considered Plagiarism If You Paraphrase?

How do i paraphrase a source without running the risk of plagiarizing, paraphrasing vs. quoting: what's the difference, paraphrasing vs. summarizing, how to paraphrase a sentence, direct quotation, omissions and editorial changes,  paraphrasing, all you need to know about paraphrasing, when should you paraphrase information, what is the purpose of paraphrasing, understand the text you are paraphrasing, do paraphrases need to be cited, example of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase,  don't start paraphrasing by picking up a thesaurus , don't copy without quotation marks, paraphrase with a direct quote example, don't paraphrase too closely, example of paraphrases being too similar to their sources.

How to Paraphrase and Tips for Paraphrasing Correctly

Write Down Paraphrases of a Source on Notecards

Paraphrase from your own point-form notes on a source, how to paraphrase using plotnick's method,  practice two-step paraphrasing: sentence structure and word choice, understand basic sentence structures, vary the use of active and passive voice, vary sentence length, vary word choice, citing a paraphrase in apa, mla, and chicago styles, how to paraphrase in apa, apa paraphrasing examples, how to paraphrase in mla, mla paraphrasing examples, how to cite a paraphrase in chicago style, chicago style paraphrasing examples, what is the meaning of paraphrase, how do you put things in your own words, what does it mean to paraphrase something.

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.

Get Help with Proper Paraphrasing

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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.

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Paraphrasing Explained: Definition, Techniques, and Examples for Effective Writing

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While researching for your article or essay, you might have encountered a sentence or a paragraph that's so intriguing that you thought you must include it in your content! But you can't use those exact words, right?

Well, paraphrasing is the way to do that. However, the idea is not to steal someone's content but to capitalize on it by drafting a much better version while adding your input and research.

You can always have your own piece written and make it more intuitive to your audience while using the original one as a reference.

'It's easier said than done'

'Although the idea sounds like a good one in theory, it will still be difficult to actually execute it.'

Both the above sentences have similar meanings, but they appear different. That's a classic example of paraphrasing.

But how do you paraphrase while keeping the essence of the original sentence intact and still not plagiarising?

That calls for some tips and tricks! And here, we have got you covered.

Additionally, in this blog, we will explain what paraphrasing is, why you might need to paraphrase, and the difference between paraphrasing and summarizing.

Let's dive in.

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is the process of restructuring or tweaking a sentence so that it represents the same meaning or idea from the original statement but with different sentence construction, choice of words, formats, or, possibly, tone or voice.

It means making the meaning clearer, especially in a shorter and simpler form, along with your thoughts/comments. In addition to borrowing, clarifying, or expanding on information and your comments, paraphrasing is doing all the above-stated actions without plagiarizing the information.

Why do people paraphrase?

There are several reasons why people paraphrase. Following are some of the reasons for paraphrasing.

• Paraphrasing helps avoid plagiarism.
• It also provides support for claims or adds credibility to the writing.
• It demonstrates your understanding and provides an alternative method to using indirect and direct quotes in your own words (referenced) infrequently.
• Paraphrasing in academic research helps utilize source material for writing essays, providing evidence that the essay is appropriately referenced.
• Paraphrasing in writing helps you ensure that you use sources to communicate something important to your readers.

What is paraphrasing plagiarism?

Plagiarism is stealing someone else’s ideas without acknowledgment. Plagiarism can come in several forms: global, verbatim, patchwork, paraphrase, and self-plagiarism. However, apart from global plagiarism, other types of plagiarism are often accidental.

Although paraphrasing is accepted , rephrasing sentences or paraphrasing someone else’s idea without citing or acknowledgment is considered paraphrasing plagiarism. Even when translating someone else’s words, if the translated text from another language is not cited, this is also a type of paraphrasing plagiarism.

What is the difference between summarizing and paraphrasing?

Summarizing is a concise statement that briefs the contents of the passage, whereas paraphrasing is when you rewrite sentences using your own words. There is more than one difference between summarizing and paraphrasing.

Refer to the following comparison chart to learn the differences between summarizing and paraphrasing, besides their definition.

How to paraphrase?

Following are 5 digestible paraphrasing tips you can incorporate when paraphrasing your sentences.

Identify the important parts

Since paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding of the original material, it is important to understand its meaning. To do so, read and re-read the original content until you understand the idea enough to explain it in your own words.

Once you get the original source's concept, reduce it to the key concepts or points and not focus on the sentence structures. Another way to rewrite or reword the source without losing your key points is by using a paraphrasing tool .

Change up the words

While noting down the concepts or key points, change up the words by using synonyms. But if you face writer's block and can’t find the right words, which can make your content incompetent, make use of rewording tools .

AI rewording tools can come up with synonyms, organize your phrases, and enhance your sentence structure. Moreover, an AI wording tool ensures the content is unique, original, and plagiarism-free.

Make sure meaning is preserved

Although paraphrasing requires rewording and changing the words, ensure that the same meaning must be maintained along with the ideas. In addition to that, keep your word choices lucid and simple to convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original source.

One way to keep your writing consistent when paraphrasing is by using paraphrasing tools . The AI tool can alter the sentence structure while maintaining the original meaning.

Double-check for grammar and punctuation

When paraphrasing, ensure to double-check and compare them with the original passage. Make adjustments to ensure it’s completely rewritten and that the grammar and punctuation are on point.

Double-checking your work for grammar and punctuation by reviewing it more than once improves the quality of your work. Paragraph rewriters use AI for paraphrasing, which can tweak the tonality and narrative, ensure a grammar check, and make the content concise and conceivable.

Use an online paraphrasing tool like Writesonic

As stated previously in the article, using a paraphrasing tool is the fastest and fool-proof way to paraphrase your sources without plagiarizing them. One such creative AI writing tool that assists you with paraphrasing is Writesonic .

Writersonic is trained on billions of parameters. It refines the grammar, spelling, and style to generate original, paraphrased content. In addition to that, Writersonic generates unique and plagiarism-free content that resonates with the target audience with just one click.

With AI chatbots like ChatGPT by Open AI and ChatSonic by Writesonic taking away all the limelight in 2023, they can also be used effectively for paraphrasing text.

Different strategies for paraphrasing

Even though there are AI paraphrasing tools to make the work easier, the following are different strategies you can use to paraphrase your sentence.

Understanding the main ideas

One of the strategies for successful paraphrasing is understanding the source's main idea and writing style. Because when you understand the idea behind the sentence, it becomes easier to explain in your own words.

After taking note of the important nouns and verbs, see which synonyms might be appropriate to replace. You can use a synonym that expresses the same meaning for the key concepts or points in the original sentence.

Making connections

When you use synonyms, it is given that the structure may also need a little changing. So, instead of just swapping a single word, make appropriate changes around the words to make sense of the sentence. Here, your paraphrasing skills come into play.

Here is an example of paraphrasing: “ According to scientists, there is another method to achieve a pollution-free environment.”

The paraphrased content would say something like - “Scientists found an alternate way to attain a pollution-free environment.”

In the above sentence, the adjective ‘according to’ is swapped with the verb ‘found’ along with other necessary changes. These changes are made to maintain a harmonious connection between the words and to make the sentence sensible while retaining its meaning and avoiding plagiarism.

Focusing on syntax

The syntax is the arrangement of words in a specific order written in well-formed phrases or sentences. While paraphrasing is about restating or rewording, ensure to focus on the well-structured and grammatically correct sentences by making appropriate connections or paraphrases.

Benefits of paraphrasing

Paraphrasing has some benefits that you can reap in aspects of your writing skills and learning abilities.

Improves writing skills

As discovered, paraphrasing requires you to paraphrase the passages in your own words, which may help refurbish your writing skills. Rewriting or paraphrasing is a favorable writing skill in writing essays or research papers.

Paraphrasing allows you to express ideas or information in a refreshing and simple manner. It provides an opportunity to enhance your writing skills and stop plagiarizing someone else’s work. This includes rewriting and expressing the ideas in your own voice.

Increases comprehension

Comprehension is understanding the written material and explaining what is read. As stated previously, paraphrasing demonstrates your understanding of the complex details from the source and your ability to explain the connections between main points.

Moreover, it was found that paraphrasing for comprehension is an excellent tool for reinforcing reading skills. It can assist by identifying the main ideas, finding supporting details, and identifying the original author's voice.

So when you rewrite the sentence in your own words, you can double-check your comprehension. This helps improve your awareness and allows you to gain a better understanding of the content, and allows you to write better.

Enhances understanding

To paraphrase words or phrases, you must extract their meaning by reading the material again and again and fully understanding the context. This allows the reader to understand the original statement more clearly by adding more clarity to it. So, when you paraphrase the original phrase, you articulate your thoughts and ideas more clearly and come up with new insights and perspectives on the topic..

Saves time & energy

Creating content from scratch is difficult and requires much time and energy. It requires you to do proper research, which is both time and energy-consuming.

An easy solution to the painstaking process is paraphrasing your sentence with appropriate citations. This will allow you to create the content without spending much time on research and ideation, saving much of your time and energy.

Helps avoid plagiarism

Among all the benefits, the most favorable benefit of paraphrasing is that it helps you avoid the accusation of plagiarism. You are simply committing plagiarism (an offense as stated by the federal government) when you use the same idea and speech from the original text, word by word.

However, by rewording the original source, you can present the ideas in your own words and easily avoid plagiarism. What’s more, paraphrasing can save you in both accidental and deliberate cases of plagiarism.

Paraphrasing examples

Now that we have known all about paraphrasing, its reasons for use, and its benefits, let’s look at some examples of paraphrasing and how exactly you can paraphrase.

#1 Example of Paraphrasing

#2 example of paraphrasing, final words.

Once you grasp the concept of paraphrasing, it can be a powerful tool for writers. It provides several benefits in aspects of writing and learning skills. The correct way and right use of paraphrasing can protect writers from accusations of plagiarism.

However, note that successful and correct paraphrasing requires the use of multiple techniques each time. So, it is not sufficient to simply replace the keywords or the main concepts with synonyms.

One of the easiest ways to reword the original source is by using an AI writing tool. Writersonic is a well-known AI paraphrasing tool that can refine grammar, spelling, and style to generate original plagiarism-free AI content .

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• Literary Terms
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Use Paraphrase

I. What is a Paraphrase?

A paraphrase (pronounced par – uh -freyz) is a restatement or rewording of a paragraph  or text,  in order to borrow, clarify, or expand on information without plagiarizing. Paraphrasing is an important tool to use when writing research papers, essays , and pieces of journalism.

II. Examples of Paraphrasing

For examples of paraphrasing, consider these possible re-wordings of the same statement:

She angered me with her inappropriate comments, rumor-spreading, and disrespectfulness at the formal dinner table.

She made me angry when she was rude at dinner.

This paraphrase is an example of a rewording which shortens and simplifies while maintaining the same meaning.

Her impoliteness, gossiping, and general lack of respect at dinner infuriated me.

This rephrasing maintains the same meaning but is rearranged in a creative way.

I was mad when she started spreading rumors, making inappropriate comments, and disrespecting other guests at our dinner.

Another paraphrase, this rewording properly and interestingly rearranges the information provided in the original sentence.

III. Types of Paraphrasing

A. change of parts of speech.

Parts of speech ranging from verbs and nouns to adjectives and adverbs are replaced with new parts of speech in this type of paraphrasing. Here is an example:

Original Sentence:

The boy quickly ran across the finish line, seizing yet another victory.

Paraphrase:

The quick boy seized yet another victory when he ran across the finish line.

In this example, many parts of speech are changed: the adverb quickly becomes the adjective quick, and the verb phrase with the gerund seizing becomes the verb seized.

B.  Change of Structure

This type of paraphrasing involves changing the sentence’s structure, sometimes creating a passive voice from an active voice and vice versa. The change in structure can be used to reflect the writer’s interpretation of the original quote. Here is an example of change of structure paraphrasing:

Puppies were adopted by numerous kind souls at the puppy drive.

Many kind souls adopted puppies during the puppy drive.

In this example, the object of the sentence (kind souls) becomes the subject with an active voice (adopted) rather than a passive voice (were adopted).

C. Reduction of Clauses

Reduction of clauses paraphrases reduce the number of clauses in a sentence, which can be interruptive or confusing, by incorporating the phrases into the sentence. Here is an example of reduction of clauses paraphrasing:

While I understand where you’re coming from, and truly respect your opinion, I wish you would express yourself more clearly, like Clara does.

I understand where you’re coming from and respect your opinion, but I wish you would be more like Clara and express yourself more clearly.

D. Synonym Replacement

Synonym replacement paraphrasing is one of the simplest forms of paraphrasing: replacing words with similar words, or synonyms. Here is an example:

The older citizens were honored with a parade for those once in the military.

Senior citizens were honored with a march for veterans.

In this example, many synonyms are used: older citizens are senior citizens, a parade becomes a march, and those once in the military refers to veterans.

IV. The Importance of Using Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is a way of referencing a source without directly quoting it or of further explaining a selected quote. Correct paraphrasing is important in that poor paraphrasing can result in accusations of plagiarism, or copying from a source without correctly citing it. Paraphrasing allows writers to examine the meaning of others’ work, creatively rephrase their statements, and craft information to suit an essay or composition’s goal or focus.

V. Paraphrase in Literature

Paraphrasing can be found in a variety of journalistic sources from newspapers to film documentaries to literary journals. Here are a few examples of paraphrasing in literature:

Someone once wrote that musicians are touched on the shoulder by God, and I think it’s true. You can make other people happy with music, but you can make yourself happy too.

In John Berendt’s nonfiction novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil , a character references what someone has once written by paraphrasing their message.

I’m going to paraphrase Thoreau here… rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness… give me truth.

In this example from the nonfiction novel Into the Wild , Jon Krakauer paraphrases Thoreau’s larger message of transcendence.

So far, Laurance’s critiques of new road-building schemes have been well received, but he expects that to change.

In Michelle Nijhuis’ article “What Roads Have Wrought,” William Laurance is paraphrased rather than quoted to express his general viewpoint.

VI. Paraphrase in Pop Culture

Paraphrasing is often found in pop culture when attempting to translate the language of older plays, poems, and stories, such as Shakespeare’s works. Here are a few examples of paraphrasing in pop culture:

10 Things I Hate About You (1999):

Just a minor encounter with the shrew… the mewling, rampalian wretch herself.

In the modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew , many characters ’ lines paraphrase Shakespeare’s originals. Here is Shakespeare’s version:

A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew.

A Different World: Romeo, Oh Romeo

First, the student reads Shakespeare’s original words:

Oh gentle Romeo. If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully. Or if thou thinkest I’m too quickly won, I’ll frown and be perverse and say thee nay, so thou wilt woo.

Then, she paraphrases to translate its meaning for modern ears:

It’s all about translation. Oh, sweet thang Romeo. If you think I’m all that, then step to me correctly. But if you think I’m a skeeze, I’ll be dissin’ and dismissin’, then you’ll be workin’ overtime getting’ me back.

VII. Related Terms

Like paraphrases, summaries are rewordings of original statements. Whereas paraphrases are precise and specific, summaries are brief and selective. Summaries report main points in a shortened version of the original, whereas paraphrases simply restate the original statement in a new way. Here is an example of summary versus paraphrase:

Original Statement:

At the party we had delicious red punch, a bunch of different appetizers, and a cookout. Since it was at the park, we played volleyball, went swimming, and sunbathed for fun.

At the party we enjoyed food and drink and various outdoor activities.

Here, the summary purposefully shortens the original statement while covering its major points.

At the party we drank some punch, ate a handful of appetizers, and had a cookout. The park allowed us to enjoy a number of enjoyable activities from volleyball to swimming to sunbathing.

As this example shows, the paraphrase rephrases the original statement and keeps more of its original content than the summary.

Translation

Although paraphrase sometimes translates difficult phrasing into more understandable phrasing, it is not literally considered translation. For something to be a translation, it must change writing in one language to another language. Here is an example of translation versus paraphrasing:

Original Phrase:

That’s life.

Translation into French:

C’est la vie.

That’s just how life goes sometimes.

Although we loosely may refer to paraphrase as translating ideas, technically it is not a tool of translation.

VIII. In Closing

Paraphrasing is an important tool for nonfiction writers, journalists, and essayists alike. It is a common proponent of news and reporting. Correct paraphrasing protects writers from plagiarism and allows them to creatively rephrase original works, incorporating them into their own compositions.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Autobiography
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
• Essay Guide
• Cite This Website

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
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A paraphrase is a restatement of a text in another form or other words, often to simplify or clarify meaning .

"When you paraphrase," says Brenda Spatt, "you retain everything about the original writing but the words."

"When I put down words that I say somebody said they needn't be the exact words, just what you might call the meaning." (Mark Harris, The Southpaw . Bobbs-Merrill, 1953

Paraphrasing Steve Jobs

"I've often heard Steve [Jobs] explain why Apple's products look so good or work so well by telling the 'show car' anecdote . 'You see a show car,' he would say (I'm paraphrasing here, but this is pretty close to his words), 'and you think, "That's a great design, it's got great lines." Four or five years later, the car is in the showroom and in television ads, and it sucks. And you wonder what happened. They had it. They had it, and then they lost it.'" (Jay Elliot with William Simon, The Steve Jobs Way: iLeadership for a New Generation . Vanguard, 2011

Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation

"A summary , written in your own words, briefly restates the writer's main points. Paraphrase , although written in your own words, is used to relate the details or the progression of an idea in your source. Quotation , used sparingly, can lend credibility to your work or capture a memorable passage." (L. Behrens, A Sequence for Academic Writing . Longman, 2009

How to Paraphrase a Text

" Paraphrase passages that present important points, explanations, or arguments but that don't contain memorable or straightforward wording. Follow these steps: (R. VanderMey, The College Writer . Houghton, 2007

• Quickly review the passage to get a sense of the whole, and then go through the passage carefully, sentence by sentence.
• State the ideas in your own words, defining words as needed.
• If necessary, edit for clarity, but don't change the meaning.
• If you borrow phrases directly, put them in quotation marks .
• Check your paraphrase against the original for accurate tone and meaning."

Reasons for Using Paraphrase

" Paraphrasing helps your readers to gain a detailed understanding of your sources , and, indirectly, to accept your thesis as valid. There are two major reasons for using paraphrase in your essays .

1. Use paraphrase to present information or evidence whenever there is no special reason for using a direct quotation . . . . 2. Use paraphrase to give your readers an accurate and comprehensive account of ideas taken from a source--ideas that you intend to explain, interpret, or disagree with in your essay. . . .

"When you take notes for an essay based on one or more sources, you should mostly paraphrase. Quote only when recording phrases or sentences that clearly merit quotation. All quotable phrases and sentences should be transcribed accurately in your notes, with quotation marks separating the paraphrase from the quotation." (Brenda Spatt, Writing From Sources , 8th ed. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011

Paraphrase as a Rhetorical Exercise

"A  paraphrase differs from a translation in not being a transfer from one language to another. . . . We generally associate with paraphrase the notion of an expansion of the original thought by definitions , periphrasis , examples , etc., with a view to making it more intelligible; but this is not essential. Here is meant the simpler form, in which the pupil reproduces in his own words the complete thought of an author, without attempting to explain it or to imitate the style .

"It has been frequently urged against this exercise, that, in thus substituting other words for those of an accurate writer, we must necessarily choose such as are less expressive of the sense. It has, however, been defended by one of the greatest rhetoricians-- Quintilian ." (Andrew D. Hepburn, Manual of English Rhetoric , 1875

Monty Python and Computer Paraphrasing

"In the famous sketch from the TV show 'Monty Python's Flying Circus,' the actor John Cleese had many ways of saying a parrot was dead, among them, 'This parrot is no more,' 'He's expired and gone to meet his maker,' and 'His metabolic processes are now history.'

"Computers can't do nearly that well at paraphrasing . English sentences with the same meaning take so many different forms that it has been difficult to get computers to recognize paraphrases, much less produce them. "Now, using several methods, including statistical techniques borrowed from gene analysis, two researchers have created a program that can automatically generate paraphrases of English sentences." (A. Eisenberg, "Get Me Rewrite!" The New York Times , Dec. 25, 2003

The Lighter Side of Paraphrasing

"Some guy hit my fender the other day, and I said unto him, 'Be fruitful, and multiply.' But not in those words.” (Woody Allen)    "The other important joke for me is one that's usually attributed to Groucho Marx, but I think it appears originally in Freud's Wit and Its Relation to the Unconscious . And it goes like this--I'm paraphrasing --'I would never want to belong to any club that would have someone like me for a member.' That's the key joke of my adult life in terms of my relationships with women." (Woody Allen as Alvy Singer in Annie Hall , 1977)

Pronunciation: PAR-a-fraz

• How and When to Paraphrase Quotations
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• Difference Between "Quote" and "Quotation": What Is the Right Word?
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a restatement of a text or passage giving the meaning in another form, as for clearness; rewording.

the act or process of restating or rewording.

to render the meaning of in a paraphrase: to paraphrase a technical paper for lay readers.

to make a paraphrase or paraphrases.

Origin of paraphrase

Synonym study for paraphrase, other words for paraphrase, other words from paraphrase.

• par·a·phras·a·ble, adjective
• par·a·phras·er, noun
• mis·par·a·phrase, verb, mis·par·a·phrased, mis·par·a·phras·ing.
• un·par·a·phrased, adjective

Words Nearby paraphrase

• paraphase amplifier
• paraphernalia
• paraphimosis
• paraphrasis
• paraphrastic
• paraphyletic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use paraphrase in a sentence

When Obsessive Loser Duncan Stevens suggested examples for this contest — one of several Shakespeare-centered challenges he’s proposed — I told him that I wanted to stick to modern paraphrases, rather than taking him humorously out of context.

To paraphrase Peter Tosh, if Illinois were to legalize it, would you advertise it?

To paraphrase the renegade philosopher Hannibal, I love it when science comes together.

To paraphrase Fox Friends, don't get caught beating women on camera and you're safe to play in the NFL.

Barry Goldwater is not the sort of man you might expect Stephen F. Cohen to paraphrase .

To paraphrase the great John Oliver, listen up, fellow self-pitying nerd boys—we are not the victims here.

A man may weep and weep, to paraphrase Shakespeare, "and be a villain!"

The omissions are the most sensible that I have found in a paraphrase .

This is not paraphrase ; it is sheer misapprehension of the Old English.

As the language in which it is written is not easily intelligible, I have added a paraphrase on the opposite pages.

Instead of "Him that maketh the seven stars and Orion," we have the paraphrase , "That maketh and transformeth all things."

British Dictionary definitions for paraphrase

/ ( ˈpærəˌfreɪz ) /

an expression of a statement or text in other words, esp in order to clarify

the practice of making paraphrases

to put (something) into other words; restate (something)

Derived forms of paraphrase

• paraphrastic ( ˌpærəˈfræstɪk ), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for paraphrase

A restatement of speech or writing that retains the basic meaning while changing the words. A paraphrase often clarifies the original statement by putting it into words that are more easily understood.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Paraphrasing: 3 Things You Need to Know (What, How and Why?)

Paraphrasing is an essential writing tool for conveying meaning of core concepts and ideas while avoiding plagiarism. In this article, we’ll cover exactly what paraphrasing is and isn’t, the five step approach for effective paraphrasing and finally, the importance of paraphrasing beyond issues of plagiarism.

What is Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is rewording another’s written or spoken words into your own words. This is done by presenting the meaning of the original statement with new words and an altered structure. For example, the above point could be paraphrased to: “Paraphrasing means to share another’s ideas in your own words, keeping the original meaning intact by simply changing the words used or structure involved”. The original point remains, but the wording and sentence structure has changed. 

The focus is to convey the meaning of the original idea using your own words. This writing technique is usually used for a short individual passage or idea, and is not to be confused with summarising. A paraphrase will often be similar in length to the original statement, and will focus on the core points of that idea. In contrast, summaries usually involve synthesising a wide range of information to share the core theme, or results of a piece of work. 

How to Paraphrase

There’s a five step approach to paraphrasing effectively. First, read the material carefully to extract meaning. It’s important to develop an understanding of the points being made in order to effectively convey this meaning to another. Second, note down the key concepts. What have you understood from the passage? What key points would you like someone else to understand? Third, attempt to paraphrase this information without looking at the original. You can do this using a range of methods:

• Use synonyms to keep some of the original content, without directly using the same words. “Teachers” could be replaced by “Educators”, or “Students” could become “Undergraduates”. This depends on the content, and it’s important to make sure you still convey the core points well. 
• Rearrange the content by switching the order of certain phrases or sentences. This might involve switching from an active to a passive voice. Although it's best to use the active voice, this is an ideal way to begin paraphrasing content, giving you a starting point to work on. You can continue editing the first paraphrase to ensure it’s written in a clear and concise way. 
• Utilise digital tools to get you started. In genei’s notepad, you can paraphrase your notes with the click of a button, giving you new words to work with. This is ideal because you can easily work with the notes made from your readings, and minimise your workflow to one space. 

Fourth, compare your paraphrased version to the original. Check if words, sentences or phrases are too similar and make edits. You can also ensure your paraphrase is effective by noting down the core ideas in your paraphrase. Do these match those originally noted from the source? Finally, be sure to cite the source! You must still acknowledge that you have paraphrased someone else’s ideas. 

The Importance of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is an important academic skill for avoiding plagiarism . However, this isn’t the only reason paraphrasing can be important. The process of paraphrasing involves actively engaging with the material you want to rework. This can improve your own knowledge of the idea you’re working with, which can be more effective for long term understanding in comparison to simply memorising facts. Likewise, the ability to paraphrase well, is evidence that you understand the content and core ideas involved.

Beyond academia, paraphrasing still proves to be essential. This technique can act as a bridge and communication tool for sharing valuable information with a non-specialist audience. Original sources of information can be hard to digest if you’re not familiar with the subject area, however, sometimes this information still needs to be communicated. Paraphrasing allows you to tailor ideas to a particular audience, making it accessible, while still retaining the core message. For example, being able to convey important business information to a client, would require certain professional documents and plans to be paraphrased for clearer communication. 

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• How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples

Published on 8 April 2022 by Courtney Gahan and Jack Caulfield. Revised on 15 May 2023.

Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words. Paraphrasing a source involves changing the wording while preserving the original meaning.

Paraphrasing is an alternative to  quoting (copying someone’s exact words and putting them in quotation marks ). In academic writing, it’s usually better to paraphrase instead of quoting. It shows that you have understood the source, reads more smoothly, and keeps your own voice front and center.

Every time you paraphrase, it’s important to cite the source . Also take care not to use wording that is too similar to the original. Otherwise, you could be at risk of committing plagiarism .

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Table of contents

How to paraphrase in five easy steps, how to paraphrase correctly, examples of paraphrasing, how to cite a paraphrase, paraphrasing vs quoting, paraphrasing vs summarising, avoiding plagiarism when you paraphrase, frequently asked questions about paraphrasing.

If you’re struggling to get to grips with the process of paraphrasing, check out our easy step-by-step guide in the video below.

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Putting an idea into your own words can be easier said than done. Let’s say you want to paraphrase the text below, about population decline in a particular species of sea snails.

Incorrect paraphrasing

You might make a first attempt to paraphrase it by swapping out a few words for  synonyms .

Like other sea creatures inhabiting the vicinity of highly populated coasts, horse conchs have lost substantial territory to advancement and contamination , including preferred breeding grounds along mud flats and seagrass beds. Their Gulf home is also heating up due to global warming , which scientists think further puts pressure on the creatures , predicated upon the harmful effects extra warmth has on other large mollusks (Barnett, 2022).

This attempt at paraphrasing doesn’t change the sentence structure or order of information, only some of the word choices. And the synonyms chosen are poor:

• ‘Advancement and contamination’ doesn’t really convey the same meaning as ‘development and pollution’.
• Sometimes the changes make the tone less academic: ‘home’ for ‘habitat’ and ‘sea creatures’ for ‘marine animals’.
• Adding phrases like ‘inhabiting the vicinity of’ and ‘puts pressure on’ makes the text needlessly long-winded.
• Global warming is related to climate change, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

Because of this, the text reads awkwardly, is longer than it needs to be, and remains too close to the original phrasing. This means you risk being accused of plagiarism .

Correct paraphrasing

Let’s look at a more effective way of paraphrasing the same text.

Here, we’ve:

• Only included the information that’s relevant to our argument (note that the paraphrase is shorter than the original)
• Retained key terms like ‘development and pollution’, since changing them could alter the meaning
• Structured sentences in our own way instead of copying the structure of the original
• Started from a different point, presenting information in a different order

Because of this, we’re able to clearly convey the relevant information from the source without sticking too close to the original phrasing.

Explore the tabs below to see examples of paraphrasing in action.

• Journal article
• Newspaper article
• Magazine article

Once you have your perfectly paraphrased text, you need to ensure you credit the original author. You’ll always paraphrase sources in the same way, but you’ll have to use a different type of in-text citation depending on what citation style you follow.

Generate accurate citations with Scribbr

It’s a good idea to paraphrase instead of quoting in most cases because:

• Paraphrasing shows that you fully understand the meaning of a text
• Your own voice remains dominant throughout your paper
• Quotes reduce the readability of your text

But that doesn’t mean you should never quote. Quotes are appropriate when:

• Giving a precise definition
• Saying something about the author’s language or style (e.g., in a literary analysis paper)
• Providing evidence in support of an argument
• Critiquing or analysing a specific claim

A paraphrase puts a specific passage into your own words. It’s typically a similar length to the original text, or slightly shorter.

When you boil a longer piece of writing down to the key points, so that the result is a lot shorter than the original, this is called summarising .

Paraphrasing and quoting are important tools for presenting specific information from sources. But if the information you want to include is more general (e.g., the overarching argument of a whole article), summarising is more appropriate.

When paraphrasing, you have to be careful to avoid accidental plagiarism .

Students frequently use paraphrasing tools , which can be especially helpful for non-native speakers who might have trouble with academic writing. While these can be useful for a little extra inspiration, use them sparingly while maintaining academic integrity.

This can happen if the paraphrase is too similar to the original quote, with phrases or whole sentences that are identical (and should therefore be in quotation marks). It can also happen if you fail to properly cite the source.

To make sure you’ve properly paraphrased and cited all your sources, you could elect to run a plagiarism check before submitting your paper.

To paraphrase effectively, don’t just take the original sentence and swap out some of the words for synonyms. Instead, try:

• Reformulating the sentence (e.g., change active to passive , or start from a different point)
• Combining information from multiple sentences into one
• Leaving out information from the original that isn’t relevant to your point
• Using synonyms where they don’t distort the meaning

The main point is to ensure you don’t just copy the structure of the original text, but instead reformulate the idea in your own words.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly reference the source . This means including an in-text referencing and a full reference , formatted according to your required citation style (e.g., Harvard , Vancouver ).

As well as referencing your source, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas into your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely into your own words and properly reference the source .

To present information from other sources in academic writing , it’s best to paraphrase in most cases. This shows that you’ve understood the ideas you’re discussing and incorporates them into your text smoothly.

It’s appropriate to quote when:

• Changing the phrasing would distort the meaning of the original text
• You want to discuss the author’s language choices (e.g., in literary analysis )
• You’re presenting a precise definition
• You’re looking in depth at a specific claim

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

Gahan, C. & Caulfield, J. (2023, May 15). How to Paraphrase | Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 2 April 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/working-sources/paraphrasing/

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Meaning of paraphrase in English

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• din something into someone
• drum something into someone
• flog yourself to death idiom
• reassertion
• recapitulate
• regurgitate
• reiteration
• repetitively
• restatement
• I would take issue with your paraphrase of my position .
• She does not follow Shakespeare's text but has devised her own paraphrase of it.
• Allow me to end my first speech with my own paraphrase of the statement .

paraphrase | Intermediate English

Examples of paraphrase, translations of paraphrase.

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What's a paraphrasing tool?

This AI-powered paraphraser lets you rewrite text in your own words. Use it to  paraphrase articles, essays, and other pieces of text. You can also use it to rephrase sentences and find synonyms for individual words. And the best part? It’s all 100% free!

What's paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing involves expressing someone else’s ideas or thoughts in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. Paraphrasing tools can help you quickly reword text by replacing certain words with synonyms or restructuring sentences. They can also make your text more concise, clear, and suitable for a specific audience. Paraphrasing is an essential skill in academic writing and professional communication. 

Why use this paraphrasing tool?

• Save time: Gone are the days when you had to reword sentences yourself; now you can rewrite a text or a complete text with one click.
•  Improve your writing: Your writing will always be clear and easy to understand. Automatically ensure consistent language throughout. 
• Preserve original meaning: Paraphrase without fear of losing the point of your text.
• No annoying ads: We care about the user experience, so we don’t run any ads.
• Accurate: Reliable and grammatically correct paraphrasing.
• No sign-up required: We don’t need your data for you to use our paraphrasing tool.
• Super simple to use: A simple interface even your grandma could use.
• It’s 100% free: No hidden costs, just unlimited use of a free paraphrasing tool.

Features of the paraphrasing tool

Rephrase individual sentences

With the Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool, you can easily reformulate individual sentences.

• Write varied headlines
• Rephrase the subject line of an email
• Create unique image captions

Paraphrase a whole text

Our paraphraser can also help with longer passages (up to 125 words per input). Upload your document or copy your text into the input field.

With one click, you can reformulate the entire text.

Find synonyms with ease

Simply click on any word to open the interactive thesaurus.

• Choose from a list of suggested synonyms
• Find the synonym with the most appropriate meaning
• Replace the word with a single click

Paraphrase in two ways

• Standard: Offers a compromise between modifying and preserving the meaning of the original text
• Fluency: Improves language and corrects grammatical mistakes.

Upload different types of documents

Upload any Microsoft Word document, Google Doc, or PDF into the paraphrasing tool.

Download or copy your results

After you’re done, you can easily download or copy your text to use somewhere else.

Powered by AI

The paraphrasing tool uses natural language processing to rewrite any text you give it. This way, you can paraphrase any text within seconds.

Avoid accidental plagiarism

Want to make sure your document is plagiarism-free? In addition to our paraphrasing tool, which will help you rephrase sentences, quotations, or paragraphs correctly, you can also use our anti-plagiarism software to make sure your document is unique and not plagiarized.

Scribbr’s anti-plagiarism software enables you to:

• Detect plagiarism more accurately than other tools
• Ensure that your paraphrased text is valid
• Highlight the sources that are most similar to your text

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How does this paraphrasing tool work?

1. put your text into the paraphraser, 2. select your method of paraphrasing, 3. select the quantity of synonyms you want, 4. edit your text where needed, who can use this paraphrasing tool.

Paraphrasing tools can help students to understand texts and improve the quality of their writing. 

Create original lesson plans, presentations, or other educational materials.

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Explain complex concepts or ideas to a wider audience. 

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Quickly and easily rephrase text to avoid repetitive language.

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By using a paraphrasing tool, you can quickly and easily rework existing content to create something new and unique.

Bloggers can rewrite existing content to make it their own.

Writers who need to rewrite content, such as adapting an article for a different context or writing content for a different audience.

A paraphrasing tool lets you quickly rewrite your original content for each medium, ensuring you reach the right audience on each platform.

The all-purpose paraphrasing tool

The Scribbr Paraphrasing Tool is the perfect assistant in a variety of contexts.

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Writer’s block? Use our paraphraser to get some inspiration.

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Produce creative headings for your blog posts or PowerPoint slides.

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Paraphrase sources smoothly in your thesis or research paper.

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Frequently asked questions

The act of putting someone else’s ideas or words into your own words is called paraphrasing, rephrasing, or rewording. Even though they are often used interchangeably, the terms can mean slightly different things:

Paraphrasing is restating someone else’s ideas or words in your own words while retaining their meaning. Paraphrasing changes sentence structure, word choice, and sentence length to convey the same meaning.

Rephrasing may involve more substantial changes to the original text, including changing the order of sentences or the overall structure of the text.

Rewording is changing individual words in a text without changing its meaning or structure, often using synonyms.

It can. One of the two methods of paraphrasing is called “Fluency.” This will improve the language and fix grammatical errors in the text you’re paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing and using a paraphrasing tool aren’t cheating. It’s a great tool for saving time and coming up with new ways to express yourself in writing.  However, always be sure to credit your sources. Avoid plagiarism.  

If you don’t properly cite text paraphrased from another source, you’re plagiarizing. If you use someone else’s text and paraphrase it, you need to credit the original source. You can do that by using citations. There are different styles, like APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago. Find more information about citing sources here.

Paraphrasing without crediting the original author is a form of plagiarism , because you’re presenting someone else’s ideas as if they were your own.

However, paraphrasing is not plagiarism if you correctly cite the source . This means including an in-text citation and a full reference, formatted according to your required citation style .

As well as citing, make sure that any paraphrased text is completely rewritten in your own words.

Plagiarism means using someone else’s words or ideas and passing them off as your own. Paraphrasing means putting someone else’s ideas in your own words.

So when does paraphrasing count as plagiarism?

• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if you don’t properly credit the original author.
• Paraphrasing is plagiarism if your text is too close to the original wording (even if you cite the source). If you directly copy a sentence or phrase, you should quote it instead.
• Paraphrasing  is not plagiarism if you put the author’s ideas completely in your own words and properly cite the source .

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Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

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This handout is intended to help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

Paraphrasing is one way to use a text in your own writing without directly quoting source material. Anytime you are taking information from a source that is not your own, you need to specify where you got that information.

A paraphrase is...

• Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.

Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...

• It is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

• Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
• Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
• Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
• Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
• Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
• Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

Some examples to compare

Note that the examples in this section use MLA style for in-text citation.

The original passage:

Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers . 2nd ed., 1976, pp. 46-47.

A legitimate paraphrase:

In research papers, students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).

An acceptable summary:

Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

A plagiarized version:

Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

A note about plagiarism: This example has been classed as plagiarism, in part, because of its failure to deploy any citation. Plagiarism is a serious offense in the academic world. However, we acknowledge that plagiarism is a difficult term to define; that its definition may be contextually sensitive; and that not all instances of plagiarism are created equal—that is, there are varying “degrees of egregiousness” for different cases of plagiarism.

What is Paraphrasing?

Jan 31, 2023

If you’re trying to learn more about paraphrasing, you’re at the right place. In this blog post, we’ll be talking about what paraphrasing is, how you can do it properly and how it can help you with your writing endeavors.

The Definition of Paraphrasing

Since there are a lot of definitions that have been tendered by different online sources for explaining paraphrasing, we’ll borrow a couple of those before talking about our own version.

According to Merriam-Webster , the definition of “paraphrase” is:

“A restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form…”

According to CliffsNotes , the definition is thus:

“When you paraphrase something, you are using your own words to restate the meaning of an existing quote or piece of text…”

And lastly, Literary Terms puts the definition of “paraphrase” like this:

“A paraphrase (pronounced par-uh-freyz) is a restatement or rewording of a paragraph or text.”

Gleaning from the above, we can simply understand paraphrasing to mean “ the act of rewording or restating an existing piece of text using different terms but with the same meaning as the original.”

The main condition that defines paraphrasing is adherence to the original meaning . In other words, when some text is paraphrased, it should retain the original meaning, otherwise, the changes won’t remain in the ambit of “ paraphrasing ”. They will simply be defined as “ edits ”.

What is the Purpose of Paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing has a lot of different purposes. For the next part of this post, we will look at some of those:

Better Clarity

Providing better clarity is a common use of paraphrasing. By rewording a statement or a passage, the speaker/writer can employ easier terms so that the meaning can be understood better.

This sort of paraphrasing is usually done in a mere sentence or two. It can be both verbal and written.

Here is an example:

“The ensuing cajoling made him acquiesce to the proposal. In other words, he accepted the proposal after being persuaded .”

In the above quote, the bold text is the paraphrased version of the first sentence. The first sentence has some difficult words in it, such as “ cajoling ”, “ ensuing ” and “ acquiesce ”. But, in the paraphrased version, you can see that all of those words are replaced with easier synonyms like “ persuade ” and “ accept ”.

Better Brevity

Another use of paraphrasing is achieving better brevity and conciseness. If a particular sentence or passage is too long, you can try paraphrasing it in order to shorten its length while retaining the original meaning.

Here is an example of what this looks like:

Original Version: “His behavior was embarrassing, the way he submissively obeyed him, cap in hand.”

Paraphrased Version: “His obsequious behavior was embarrassing.”

In the example above, the original text is 13 words long whereas the paraphrased version only consists of five words. The meaning of both, however, is the same.

Attaining Uniqueness

This is yet another good use of paraphrasing tools. You can use them to make your content unique and free from accidental plagiarism.

Let’s actually elaborate on this in some detail:

When creating content, a lot of content writers can face the issue of accidental plagiarism. Accidental plagiarism occurs when a writer unknowingly comes up with such a sentence or passage that exists, in that same exact form, on some existing online source.

If, after writing a draft, a writer finds out that a certain portion of their work is plagiarized, they can simply paraphrase it. That way, the exact match, and replication will be removed and their content will be rendered unique.

Here is an example of what this looks like. For the purpose of this example, we will pick some text from our own website and run it through our plagiarism checker . These are the lines that we’re going to be using:

Plagiarism is not a criminal offense but illegal because of copyright infringements and can cause you serious damage in many ways.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a student, content writer, or blogger; legal issues of plagiarism affect you in any way.

Being a webmaster, if you post plagiarized content, your website’s page quality will be low on Google search engine.

As you can see in the image below, this passage is coming back as 100% plagiarized, which is pretty accurate.

Now, to show you how paraphrasing can be an effective way to eliminate plagiarism, we will take this same piece of text and run it through our paraphrasing tool :

Here is how the result came out:

Plagiarism is not a crime , it is illegal due to copyright infringement and can seriously harm you in many ways. It doesn't matter if you are a student, a content writer or a blogger . Legal issues related to plagiarism will affect you in some way. As a webmaster, if you publish plagiarized content, the page quality of your website will be low in Google search engine.

Other than the grammatical errors, you can see that the changes made by the paraphrasing tool are pretty extensive. Now, we will take this paraphrased version of the text and put it through the same plagiarism checker:

And as you can see, the results come back as 100% unique.

Disclaimer: The above technique/method is only endorsed for eliminating such plagiarism that comes in writing accidentally. It is neither allowed nor ethical to take someone else’s content and paraphrase it for one’s own use.

Also Read : ( Difference Between Summarizing and Paraphrasing )

Examples of Paraphrasing

Although we looked at quite a few examples and instances of paraphrasing in this post up till now, we’ll still dedicate this section to some more of them. That way, you’ll get a better idea about the different ways in which paraphrasing can be done.

Example # 1:

In this example, we will only make individual changes to the words. We won’t alter the grammatical order or the sentence structure.

Original Text: The man chewed the meat for fifteen minutes, wondering how it could be so stubborn. It was after another fifteen minutes that he realized that the meat was still on the plate and he was chewing on his Rexene jacket.

Paraphrased Text: The man chomped the meat for a quarter of an hour , wondering how it could be so unyielding . It was after an additional fifteen minutes that he realized that the meat was still on the plate, and he was biting on his synthetic leather jacket.

Example # 2:

In this example, we will make more extensive changes to the text. We will shorten things up and also add some ‘phrasal’ alterations.

Original Text: The lion chased the cat until it climbed a tree. ‘That’s not fair,’ said the lion, ‘you climb trees while I am unable’. ‘Is it fair that you chase me whilst I am unable to chase you?’ replied the cat. ‘Who said you cannot chase me?’ retorted the lion. ‘True,’ said the cat, pulling out a machine gun. The lion started yelping and running while the cat followed him with bursts of gunfire and maniacal laughter.

Paraphrased Text: The lion pursued the cat until the latter scampered up a tree. ‘This is hardly fair’ muttered the lion, ‘you climb trees while I lack this ability .’ ‘Is it fair that you chase me while I am not able to do the same to you ?’ replied the cat. ‘No one said you cannot chase me ,’ shot back the lion. ‘ You’ve spoken correctly ,’ said the cat, extracting a machine gun. The lion started screaming and running while the cat followed with bursts of gunfire and lunatic laughter.

How is Paraphrasing Done?

For the next part of this post, let’s take a look at how paraphrasing can be done. Although we did feature that answer to this question here and there throughout this post, we didn’t expressly elaborate on it.

There are a number of different techniques that can be employed for paraphrasing a piece of text. Depending on the need and situation at hand, all of the techniques can be collectively or selectively employed.

Let’s take a look at those techniques:

Synonymizing (Replacing Words with Synonyms)

The first and most simple way to paraphrase content is to replace certain words with suitable synonyms. Depending on the purpose for which you require the paraphrasing, you can either change a few words in the text or all of them.

Below, we’ll show two examples of synonymizing.

Original Text: The man looked this way and that way before crossing the road.

Sparse Synonymizing: The person looked this way and that way before he crossed the road.

Heavy Synonymizing: The gentleman glanced up and down the road before he crossed it .

In both examples, you’ll see that the meaning and structure of the sentence remained the same, but the degree of change varies.

The first form of sparse synonymizing can be useful when you want to paraphrase someone’s content while citing them. On the other hand, the heavy type of synonymizing can come in handy when you want to take inspiration from a source, but can’t figure out how to write a certain sentence or passage in your own words.

In this case, you can synonymize the text so that it does not match the original, but it also conveys the exact same meaning.

Changing Sentence Structure

Changing the sentence structure is also a good way to complement paraphrasing. It’s not a paraphrasing technique on its own, but it can work with other changes (such as synonymizing) to make the altered text look a lot different from its original form.

Here is an example of changes made to the sentence structure:

Original Text: The man ran after he accidentally stepped on a tiger’s tail.

Paraphrased Text: After he accidentally stepped on a tiger’s tail, the man ran.

As you can see in the example above, the changed version of the text does not look very different from the original since the only alteration involved is the switching of the positions of the two clauses.

But if we add some synonymizing to this example as well, you’ll see how the overall changes look:

Paraphrased Text: After unintentionally stepping on a tiger’s tail, the person fled .

Altering Grammatical Elements

When we say ‘grammatical elements’, we refer to things such as tenses, voice (active and passive), adverbs, etc.

Instead of explaining, let’s just demonstrate what this sort of change entails:

Original Text: He was laughing loudly when the librarian came and whacked him on the head.

Paraphrased Version: He was laughing in a loud manner when the librarian came and gave him a whack on the head.

As you can see in the paraphrased version, the adverb ‘loudly’ was dissolved and the verb ‘whacked’ was changed into a noun i.e., gave a ‘whack’.

Paraphrasing is a useful skill that writers have to use every now and then. Hopefully, after reading this post, you have a better idea of what it involves and how you can easily do it.

1. Is Paraphrasing Legal?

Paraphrasing is perfectly legal if you cite the original source. Alternatively, paraphrasing is also fine if the changes are so extensive as to eliminate the resemblance with the original text. This applies if the content in question belongs to someone else. If you’re paraphrasing your own content, then there is no problem with it.

2. What are the 3 Steps of Paraphrasing?

The 3 steps of paraphrasing can be roughly listed thus:

• Understanding the content
• Making changes to the content
• Reviewing and proofreading

3. What is a Paraphrase?

‘Paraphrase’ means to make changes to a piece of content while retaining the meaning.

However, the word ‘paraphrase’ can be colloquially used as a noun to refer to the paraphrased version of a sentence or a passage. For example, when a sentence is paraphrased, we can refer to the changed version as a ‘paraphrase’.

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Computer Science > Computation and Language

Title: task-oriented paraphrase analytics.

Abstract: Since paraphrasing is an ill-defined task, the term "paraphrasing" covers text transformation tasks with different characteristics. Consequently, existing paraphrasing studies have applied quite different (explicit and implicit) criteria as to when a pair of texts is to be considered a paraphrase, all of which amount to postulating a certain level of semantic or lexical similarity. In this paper, we conduct a literature review and propose a taxonomy to organize the 25~identified paraphrasing (sub-)tasks. Using classifiers trained to identify the tasks that a given paraphrasing instance fits, we find that the distributions of task-specific instances in the known paraphrase corpora vary substantially. This means that the use of these corpora, without the respective paraphrase conditions being clearly defined (which is the normal case), must lead to incomparable and misleading results.

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What’s So Bad About Asking Where Humans Came From?

Human origin stories have often been used for nefarious purposes. That doesn’t mean they are worthless.

Here is an origin story about origin stories. Once upon a time, we knew where we came from: Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Fall. Then came modern science, modern doubt. Geology, paleontology: The world grew older very fast. Skulls were discovered, and stone tools. Human origins became a problem and a fascination. Who are we? How did we emerge? And given who we think we may be, how should we live?

Explore the May 2024 Issue

Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.

In The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession With Human Origins , the intellectual historian Stefanos Geroulanos, who teaches at NYU, offers a compendium of the ideas—speculative, scientific, and somewhere in between—that have arisen in response to these and other questions. Beginning with Rousseau and his idyllic state of nature, we learn the genealogy of a familiar set of tropes: the “noble savage,” the “lizard brain,” the “killer ape,” the goddess-worshipping matriarchy. Other concepts may be less familiar: the “primitive communism” of Engels and others, which allegedly existed prior to the rise of patriarchy, private property, and class struggle; Freud’s “primal horde,” commanded by a father whose murder (and ingestion) by his sons, the original band of brothers, inaugurated civilization and its discontents.

We learn about “stadial” schema, theories about the stages (usually three) through which humanity has passed: Stone/Bronze/Iron, savage/barbarian/civilized, magic/religion/science. About disputes as to where Homo sapiens emerged (China? Egypt?) and where the Indo-European peoples did (Germany? The Caucasus? Somewhere between Iran and India?). About the impact of the unearthing of the dinosaurs and other fossils, of Darwinian evolution, of geology’s discovery of deep time. About questions that continue to engross us . Who were the Neanderthals? What do the cave paintings mean? Were early humans violent or peaceful?

From the November 2021 issue: William Deresiewicz on a brilliant new history of humanity

All of this is fascinating—or would be, but for major problems. For one thing, Geroulanos is not a congenial companion. Like a professor who’s trying too hard to be cool, he sprinkles his language with clumsily modish locutions. “His prose was straight-up goth.” “Rousseau amped up the device of ‘nature’ to the max.” “Bataille vaporized history so as to teleport back to the very beginning.” Worse is the snark, which is relentless, and mostly aimed at nothing worse than the routine careerism of intellectual life. “Jumped at the chance to take credit”; “did his best to show himself to be a good schoolboy”; “had the bad taste to go over his mentors’ head”; “exudes an ambition worthy of Darwin.” Some of it is aimed at exactly the kind of work that scholars are supposed to do. Darwin used “masses of tedious evidence to establish a position others would find hard to assail.” “Other linguists insisted that thanks to their mind-numbingly dry comparative analysis of phonemes they could explain all these bigger issues.” It’s almost as if these people cared about the truth.

All of this points to deeper problems, ones that typify the drift of the contemporary academy. Geroulanos is the executive director of NYU’s Remarque Institute, a prominent center for research on Europe; an executive editor of the Journal of the History of Ideas ; the author or co-author of four previous books; and the co-editor or co-translator of a dozen—in short, a major figure in the history of thought. Yet instead of coming to his subject with a scholar’s open-mindedness—this, alas, is no surprise these days—he does so with self-righteousness and an agenda. His purpose is to argue that the study of humanity’s beginnings is and always must be evil. “The Euromodern search for origins began in and then contributed to a long, brutal history of conquest and empire,” he writes. “It has been drunk on hierarchy. It is rooted in illusions—often murderous ones … Its beautiful ideas have justified force against those deemed weak, different, ugly.”

This is, of course, to a great extent true. It is also not surprising. We are well aware by now that scientific concepts—or, more often, pseudo- or at best proto-scientific ones—have been used to rationalize violence and domination (so, for that matter, have nonscientific concepts). That doesn’t mean we don’t still need to talk about this fact. To pronounce Indigenous people “savage,” as Geroulanos explains, was to license one’s attempts to “civilize” them. To designate them “fossil men,” vestiges of ancient times, was to declare them fit to be displaced. Germany was the birthplace of Indo-European culture, the Nazis believed, so Germans really were the master race.

From the April 2019 issue: Adam Serwer on white nationalism’s deep American roots

But can we have all this without the attitude, the knowing, smug superiority? This so often seems to be the way now on the left—in academia, in media. We are better than the past. Or the rest of you aren’t better, but we are, my allies and I. But you aren’t better than the past; you’re just lucky enough not to live there. Nor are you better than everyone else; you’re just readier to claim you are. Exposing the sources of Western prosperity does not in itself make you virtuous.

Besides, the picture, on Geroulanos’s own evidence, is much more complicated than his politics will allow him to acknowledge. The study of human origins has not invariably been “rooted in illusions,” nor has it always “served ferocious power,” “justified force,” or “rationalized colonial domination.” Sometimes quite the opposite. Geroulanos shows this himself, yet he tends to downplay it, and in any case conveniently forgets it when making his general claims. Indeed, there is an entire through line in his book of figures who employed prehistory to criticize colonialism, capitalism, modern warfare, and modernity more broadly. Rousseau used his state of nature to attack the inequality and artificiality of 18th-century European society. Engels’s primitive communism “offered a model … for true socialist kinship.” The year after Lord of the Flies , William Golding came out with The Inheritors , a book in which he “asked his reader to identify with Neanderthals” against their aggressive, deceitful rivals, the sapiens .

Concepts developed to promote the idea of Western superiority could be turned in the other direction, and were. It is not “they” who are savages, but we: we who exterminate entire populations, slaughter one another in the trenches, bomb cities from the air. Cultural diffusionism, the idea that civilization spread from a single source, often identified as white—Mesopotamia, Northern Europe—“also contributed to an opposing set of political claims: Pan-Africanism and decolonization.”

Geroulanos presents these counterexamples as exceptions, never pausing to consider that, once you have enough of them, exceptions aren’t exceptions so much as a new rule (the study of prehistory: sometimes good), one whose tension with his old rule (the study of prehistory: evil) needs to be worked through into a broader one (prehistory: It’s complicated). So when he does mention someone who played a more positive role in Western relations with the nonwhite world, he often makes sure to undercut them, typically with little or no evidence.

Lewis Henry Morgan, a lawyer and an early ethnographer, advocated on behalf of Native Americans in the years before the Civil War. “The Seneca had adopted him in thanks for his legal and political activism,” Geroulanos tells us, “though today we would see Morgan’s role as much more problematic.” He doesn’t say why. Claude Lévi-Strauss, the great anthropologist, was relentless in his wholesale condemnation of the Western impact on Indigenous societies. Yet his arguments, Geroulanos insists, “had the peculiar quality of diminishing the effects of specific acts of colonial violence.” No reason is given. Other anthropologists are blamed for having tried to preserve what they could of disappearing cultures, if only in the form of artifacts and records of traditions. For this, Geroulanos refers to them as “drivers of colonial violence,” not bothering to explain what they were supposed to have done to stop the real drivers of colonial violence, the companies and states and armies.

This is the opposite of history, if the discipline of history is meant to help us better understand how people saw the world they lived in and the reasons they acted as they did. Instead of strutting through the past, wagging his finger and clucking his tongue, Geroulanos might have exercised a bit of generosity toward people who were trying to make sense of what they had, with the tools that they had. The theories he so gleefully belittles were responding, many of them, to developments that we’ve become accustomed to but that must have been incredibly destabilizing. What did it feel like to learn that the Earth was thousands of times older than we had ever suspected? That it contained remains of creatures more alien than anything we had ever dreamed? That among those creatures were some who looked remarkably like us, yet were somehow not us? There are flashes of this kind of sympathy, but, like the more progressive attitudes that Geroulanos keeps stumbling over, they are quickly overridden and forgotten.

Again, it’s easy to mock the humanitarian impulses of a supposedly benighted past—the belief, for example, that we are all one human family, sharing similar sorrows and joys, which displaced ideas of racial hierarchy after World War II but which Geroulanos condemns for minimizing “difference” (that postmodern holy word). But not only did this represent a real advance; it was a step toward our more enlightened understanding. Yes, to paraphrase T. S. Eliot , we know more than those who came before us, and what we know is them.

But the worst of The Invention of Prehistory is right there in the title. “Invention,” not investigation. Doesn’t it matter if this or that theory is true: about where human beings first evolved, or our historical and genetic relationship to Neanderthals, or the degree of violence in ancient hunter-gatherer societies, or how patriarchy emerged? Apparently, it doesn’t. “I do not much care if particular theories are true,” Geroulanos writes. “I ask what work they do.” It isn’t clear, in fact, if he thinks that there is such a thing as truth. This is someone who can write about “the invention of deep time” and “the ‘discovery’ of the earth’s past”—the scare quotes meaning not that the past was there all along, but that it isn’t there at all, not in any external, empirically observable way. The nascent science of geology, he writes, “played midwife to the birth … of a whole swarm of ostensibly ancient creatures” (that is, the dinosaurs). Ostensibly? So there’s no reality beneath the theories? Geroulanos ducks the question. “The story of human origins has never really been about the past. It has never really been concerned with an accurate, precise depiction of humanity’s emergence out of nature.”

I wonder what his colleagues—the geneticists and archaeologists, the linguists and the neuroscientists—would say to that. This is social constructionism, the idea that there is no truth outside our agreed interpretations, taken to its logical, inane conclusion. And it points to a crucial distinction that Geroulanos’s project denies: the difference between science and pseudo- or proto-science. We have theories about human origins now, and we had theories about them in the 19th century, but they are not the same kinds of theories. Yes, scientists can still have social biases, but contemporary scientific protocols, such as peer review, are meant to root them out. Is the system perfect? Of course not. But there is a qualitative difference between believing that humanity originated in China because (or in order to argue that) the Chinese are “backwards” and deducing that it originated in Africa because that is what genetics and paleontology suggest.

So if truth is irrelevant, what about that “work,” as Geroulanos puts it, that contemporary theories “do”? Well, that’s just the thing. For all his talk of “the new scientific ideologies,” he doesn’t turn up much, in recent decades, that’s indictable. These hypotheses include the notion that the cave paintings show evidence of shamanism; that tools and human bodies shaped each other in a “feedback loop” akin to those we know from the world of computers; that we all descend from a single genetic ancestor, popularly dubbed “Mitochondrial Eve.” All of this is pretty harmless, and certainly a distant cry from the “empire, violence” of his subtitle. Much of it, indeed, comes down on the progressive side of the ledger: goddesses and matriarchies, relatively peaceful tribes that existed before the invention of war, preagricultural egalitarianism. There are still plenty of ideologies running around that justify racism, militarism, and other evils, but they are not drawn from science, for the most part.

And insofar as they are, whose fault is that? “The archaeologists who dig up old bones and the biologists who study hominid genes,” Geroulanos writes, “are seldom the vectors of violence.” Seldom indeed. They also aren’t responsible, to name some of his targets, for Yuval Noah Harari (the “reigning prophet of prehistory’s future”), or 2001: A Space Odyssey (which popularized the idea of the “killer ape,” our supposedly brutal australopithecine ancestor, a notion that Geroulanos presents as having been designed to create an image of violent Indigenous Africans and thus to serve as an argument against decolonization). Nor should they be blamed for the far right’s appropriation of Neanderthals as the original white Europeans. If scientific findings are sensationalized by journalists, oversimplified by authors, and misused by political actors, what are scientists supposed to do? Stop doing science?

Geroulanos seems to imply that the answer is yes, at least for those who study human origins. The world of early humans, he insists, is “inconceivable,” inaccessible. Almost anything we say about it is “a narcissistic fantasy,” a myth. So he openly promotes the myths he likes, which are the ones that announce themselves as such. “I prefer [Georges] Bataille’s and [Annette] Laming-Emperaire’s myths” about the cave paintings—respectively, that the images reflect the moment at which humans became conscious of themselves as separate from nature (and thus conscious of death) and that they embody a complex symbolic system structured around gender (which Laming-Emperaire actually did not regard as a myth). Geroulanos writes admiringly about feminist imaginings that place the female at the center of human evolution. Elaine Morgan’s popularization, in The Descent of Woman , of the “aquatic ape” hypothesis —the theory that hominins developed not on the savanna but in the shallow sea, where mothers could protect their babies from feline predators—was “proudly speculative.” Susan Brownmiller’s assertion, in Against Our Will , that hominin social organization began in fear of rape , was “a primal fiction” that refused to “be judged by crude verification.” He even puts a word in for Wakanda as the “fluorescent triumph” of the Afrocentric view of human history.

This is what constructionism gets you. Geroulanos’s ultimate targets are “humanism, which has always hidden violence,” and the idea of human nature, along with the associated notion that studying the origin of the species can get us closer to understanding it. “In reality,” he writes (reality?), “humans have almost nothing in common with our paleolithic forefathers.” This is also a belief, an ideology, a myth. Human nature may be too, and so may humanism. But I’ll take them over what Geroulanos is offering.

This article appears in the May 2024 print edition with the headline “What’s So Bad About Asking Where Humans Came From?” When you buy a book using a link on this page, we receive a commission. Thank you for supporting The Atlantic.

More From Forbes

Biden’s lunar time zones are a reminder to make space for free enterprise.

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Breaking news finds Biden directing NASA to work with other agencies to develop time standards for the Moon.

A lone astronaut standing facing away from the camera dressed in full space suit with backpack, ... [+] stands still looking towards a distant planet Earth. The sun illuminates a side of Earth and hundreds of stars are visible in deep space.

Lunar gravitational interactions with other celestial bodies make matters asynchronous for governments and private entities engaged in the space race who need to rely upon Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC).

It’s not clear if anyone asked Congress first, but this could be a positive step if it helps enable sound steps toward privatization and property rights in space and celestial bodies as opposed to the governmental projects and partnerships that now dominate and potentially preclude.

At first blush, a lunar time standard does not appear to conflict with the Outer Space Treaty (OST) in the senses of abrogating other nations' rights or harming the lunar environment. The LTC also seems consistent with the non-binding Artemis Accords on space exploration and could well foster such cooperative measures.

Paraphrasing an Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) official, Reuters noted that, like universal time on Earth, a "time standard would be essential for coordinating operations, ensuring the reliability of transactions and managing the logistics of lunar commerce."

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This is heartening. In many if not most extant federal regulatory regimes—such as in communications technology, transportation and finance—were we starting with a blank sheet of paper, we would not retain the ill-founded regulatory authorities in place today. While Japan was recently the fifth nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon, Luna does remain essentially that blank sheet (well, sphere) in terms of the wide-open choices policymakers face with respect to maximizing freedom for healthy commercialization and wealth creation.

One hears deserved praise of permissionless innovation, the importance of a light-touch law and order framework, and the rejection of over-caution. Nonetheless, there is little evidence that regulators intend to relinquish tight authority over the commercialization of space. That can cost tomorrow’s economy (or economies, both earthbound and spacefaring) access to quintillions in wealth . So an LTC with commercialization serving as partial rationale is a “timely” reminder to keep restraint in mind.

Laissez-faire did not happen automatically for earthbound heavy industries and technologies after our industrial revolution, and still has not materialized to the extent sectors remain mired in subsidy and government-granted franchise. The smokestack stage of industrial enterprise ushered in an unfortunate public utility and common carrier mindset, artificial monopolies against which competition was outlawed, and the era of bureaucratic rule-by-experts that remains today.

Sectors like networked communications, new breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and robotics, autonomous vehicles and more stand on the threshold of inextricably snug, irreversible regulation at precisely the time these very types of technologies have rendered moot the market failure rationalizations that spawned old-school regulation of production, distribution and risk in the first place.

Accordingly, laissez-faire will play little role in space exploration and commercialization unless political ambitions are explicitly disciplined instead. Similar dynamic tensions are playing out now with respect to AI governance, and one hopes the two leading-edge fields can share battle plans rather than scars.

There exists too little vocabulary among 21 st century policymakers for legitimizing large-scale and complex free enterprise and expressly keeping unnecessary government interference out. The problem is worsening, as the interventionism undergirding the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act do not inspire optimism for a light touch in space commercialization.

Competence in the systematic de-escalation of central power is the expertise needed today, rather than the Administrative State’s century-long premise that expertise resides in a priestly, guiding hand from above. Rather than expanding domains, the appropriate task for policymakers is to extend foundational liberal economic institutions of complex private property rights, contract and risk management into the likes of airsheds and airspace, watersheds, spectrum, new EV charging networks and smart cities and more here on Earth, while constructing a regulatory heat shield protecting commercialized space. Telling lunar time more precisely can be a symbolic foundation for starting the clock on a new mission firewalling private and collaborative space endeavors from the 19 th and 20 th century terrestrial bureaucratic temperament.

At minimum, Congress could prohibit the proliferation of new agency rules and directives affecting frontier sectors and technologies where it has not specifically authorized such intervention. More importantly, Congress also should r epeal or modify laws like those noted that have locked in administrative power.

The primary threats to making space for free enterprise are the thousands of pre-existing regulators, and cronyism. Government funding of science and technology displaces private funding, as can billionaires with palms outstretched for federal subsidies and favors. A corollary of permissionless innovation is the notion that one innovates alone or in voluntary cooperative ventures with others; not that one extracts taxpayer resources in exchange for favorable regulation or an exclusive right to operate. Other citizens have aspirations of their own that may not involve paying for lunar endeavors or a trip to Mars—even if enabled by better LTC or Coordinated Martian Time.

Commercial space development is of such import that entire industry structures will be upended in waves of creative destruction beneficial to society. Cronyism’s effects will be particularly severe if they persist in in this setting, so the roles of regulators and the federal contracting state require reassessment. Technology pulls America’s economic wagon, but sub-optimal interventions and bad precedents can mean stagnation that propagates for decades, mirroring the banning of competition and affirming of monopolies in the communications and electricity sectors a century ago that have saddled us with diminished infrastructure wealth.

Everything new and game-changing—drones, self-driving cars, space commercialization and more—remains at risk of infection by 21st century versions of 19th-century public-utility style regulation. After all, as roads and airspace remain primarily government controlled with little pushback, way may infer that few policymakers are fretting over extension of private property rights and corridors into low-earth orbit and beyond. But that is precisely what they should be doing.

Many regulatory steps veer into cul-de-sacs inducing permanent reductions in frontier production possibilities, wealth expansion, well-being and advancements in safety. But if we can tell time in space, we can also have a stopwatch there when it comes to over-regulation, and instead set about extending property rights assignments (in airspace and on celestial bodies) and fostering the creation of insurance, liability and warranty innovations—which are forms of wealth in themselves—to protect the public.

Apart from addressing issues of escalating safety and reducing risk, privatizations in space will also render the entrepreneurs we rely upon more likely to pick the right exploration projects in the first place. The Solar System is big, and valuable. The mineral content of the asteroid Davida is reportedly worth some $26,990,000,000,000,000,000.

To our descendants centuries from now, the downsides of overregulation “out there” will have been far greater than overreach “down here” on terra firma. The birth of Coordinated Lunar Time can serve as a timely reminder to stick with basic rule of law rather than send over-regulation into orbit and beyond. Tick tock, and lift off.

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Neil Diamond on "A Beautiful Noise," Parkinson's, and being thankful

By Anthony Mason

April 2, 2023 / 10:01 AM EDT / CBS News

The new Broadway show, "A Beautiful Noise," is the story of a singer who's sold more than 130 million records. Its subject: Neil Diamond, who said that attending the opening was "kind of like a dream come true. It was absolutely wonderful."

With his wife, Katie, by his side, the 82-year-old Diamond, who's rarely performed since he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, led the crowd in a chorus of "Sweet Caroline."

There was, he said, a lot of love in the theatre, "and I felt it."

Mason asked, "Were you ever getting flashbacks in the middle of the show?"

"I think constantly, from the minute it started! Like, everything was a flashback!"

He said he'd wanted to make a musical (he thinks all songwriters and performers have that desire), but as the show was being developed, Diamond told the producers and writers he wanted it "warts and all." "I didn't necessarily love it, warts and all, but I wanted it," he said.

Will Swenson plays the young Neil Diamond, whose Olympian ambition undoes two marriages. Mark Jacoby plays the older Diamond, still haunted by self-doubt. Diamond said. "This show was part of my psychotherapy. And it hurt. I didn't like looking at myself in many of the scenes."

What part was hardest? "It all was pretty hard. I was a little embarrassed, I was flattered, and I was scared."

Mason asked, "What were you scared of?"

"Being found out is the scariest thing you can hope, because we all have a façade, and the truth be known to all of 'em, I'm not some big star; I'm just me."

Just a Jewish kid from Brooklyn who wanted to be a songwriter.

In 2005, Diamond took "Sunday Morning" back to the Bitter End , the Greenwich Village club where the singer got his start. 

He asked, "Can I step up on the stage and see what it feels like to be 25 again?

"It was my beginning," he said. "It was right here."

In the 1960s Diamond climbed the charts with hits like "Cherry, Cherry," "Thank the Lord for the Night Time," "Holly Holy," and "Sweet Caroline."

In the Seventies, with "Cracklin' Rose," "Song Sung Blue," and "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," he conquered the world. By the Eighties, he was one its biggest concert draws. In the '90s, no one sold more tickets than the "Jewish Elvis."

When Diamond and Mason met once more in 2014 for "CBS This Morning," the singer was about to go on the road again – and he implied it wasn't by choice. "I have to, yeah. I don't want to," he said.

"So, where does the 'have to' come from?" Mason asked.

"I have to because if I want to maintain any self … " He paused. "I don't know why I have to."

But in January 2018, Diamond revealed he'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that abruptly ended his touring career.

• Legends say goodbye: Neil Diamond, Sir Elton John to retire from touring ("Sunday Morning")

Diamond still regularly visits his Archangel Studio in Los Angeles, where the halls are decked with decades' worth of awards, and where – for the first time since that diagnosis – he talked about facing Parkinson's.

Mason asked, "How hard has it been for you to give up [touring]?"

"Oh, I still haven't given it up, yet . It's very hard," he replied. "In a sense, I was in denial for the first year or two. When the doctor told me what it was, I was just not ready to accept it. I said, 'Oh, okay. I'll see you, you know, whenever you wanna see me. But I have work to do, so I'll see you later.'"

His acceptance, he admits, is a work in progress. "I'm still doing it. And I don't like it," he said. "Okay, so this is the hand that God's given me, and I have to make the best of it, and so I am."

Mason asked, "Was there a moment in that process where you finally sort of did say to yourself, I accept this?"

"I think this has just been in the last few weeks."

"But somehow a calm has moved [into] the hurricane of my life, and things have gotten very quiet, as quiet as this recording studio," said Diamond. "And I like it. I find that I like myself better. I'm easier on people, I'm easier on myself. And the beat goes on, and it will go on long after I'm gone.

"I still can sing," he said.

"Do you need to still sing?"

"Well, I like singing. I've been doing it for 50 years, and I enjoy it."

"What happens inside you when you sing?"

"I feel good. It's like, all the systems in my mind and my body are working as one when I'm singing. And it's a great feeling."

"[It's] given you a pretty amazing life."

"I've had a pretty amazing life, it's true," Diamond said. "And the thing was, I wasn't always able to look back on it and be comfortable with it, smile, feel that I was worth it. I think all of that good stuff is starting to come into my life."

Why? "Well, I can't really fight this thing, so I had to accept it, this Parkinson's Disease. There's no cure. There's no getting away from it. You can't just say, 'Okay, enough already. Let's get back to life.' It doesn't work like that. But I've come to accept what limitations I have, and still have great days."

Great days, like an opening night on Broadway.

He said, "I just have to take life as it comes to me, enjoy it, be thankful that I've had it, especially having the life that I've had."

For Neil Diamond, it's a life worthy of a Broadway musical.

Mason asked, "What does it mean to you?"

"Well, to paraphrase Sally Field, 'They like me! They really like me!'" he laughed.

To listen to the Original Broadway Cast Album of "A Beautiful Noise" click on the audio player below:

       For more info:

• "A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical, " at the Broadhurst Theatre, New York City |  Ticket info
• Original Broadway Cast Album:  "A Beautiful Noise"  (Ume)
• Photos: "A Beautiful Noise on Broadway"
• neildiamond.com

        Story produced by Jon Carras. Editor: Carol Ross. 

• Parkinson's Disease

Anthony Mason is senior culture and senior national correspondent for CBS News. He has been a frequent contributor to "CBS Sunday Morning," and is the former co-host for "CBS This Morning: Saturday" and "CBS This Morning."

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