Paraphrasing/ plagiarism/ IELTS Test

TECHNIQUE 1: USING SYNONYMS

Synonyms are dif erent words that have the same or similar meanings.

Example 1:

The original sentence “The hardest language to learn is Japanese.”

The paraphrased sentence:

- “The most difficult language to learn is Japanese”

- “The most difficult language to be good at is Japanese.”

- “The most difficult language to master is Japanese.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “Many people in Canada are bilingual”,

The paraphrased sentence “Many people in Canada speak two languages”.

Example 3:

The original sentence “It can be difficult to choose a suitable website

designer from a large number of applicants.”

The paraphrased sentence “It is sometimes hard to select an appropriate

website designer from many applicants.”

Example 4:

The original sentence “Our car needs petrol.”

The paraphrased sentence “Our vehicle requires fuel.”

Example 5:

The original sentence “Violent crime is on the increase among teenagers.”

The paraphrased sentence “Violent offences are increasing among adolescents.”

Example 6:

The original sentence “Global warming is mostly caused by emissions from vehicles.”

The paraphrased sentence “Climate change is mainly caused by the release of fumes from vehicles.”

Example 7:

The original sentence “The school that is across the street is old.”

The paraphrased sentence:

- “The school across the street is ancient.”

- “The school on the other side of the street is ancient.”

Example 8:

The original sentence “There is little chance that my mom will buy me a new PC.”

The paraphrased sentence “There is little possibility that my mom will purchase me a new PC.”

Example 9:

The original sentence “The Japanese restaurant is located in the city centre of

Shanghai.”

The paraphrased sentence “The Japanese restaurant is situated in the city centre of Shanghai.”

Example 10:

The original sentence “That is a building of 15 floors.”

The paraphrased sentence:

- “That is a 15-floor building.”

“That is a building which has 15 floors.”

Example 11: LIKE/ LOVE

The original sentence “I enjoy reading comic books.”

The paraphrased sentence:

- “I like reading comic books.”

- “I love reading comic books.”

- “I have a particular liking for reading comic books.”

- “I’m fairly/ pretty keen on reading comic books.”

- “I’m really into reading comic books.”

- “I’m quite a big/ dedicated fan of reading comic books.”

- “I’m quite/ pretty fond of reading comic books.”

- “I’m totally mad about reading comic books.”

- “I’m passionate about reading comic books.”

- “I have a strong/clear preference for reading comic books.”

- “I’m a great lover of reading comic books.”

- “I’m very interested in reading comic books.”

Example 12: DISLIKE/ HATE

The original sentence “I don’t like living in a big city.”

The paraphrased sentence:

- “I don’t enjoy living in a big city.”

- “I’m not keen on living in a big city.”

- “I’m not interested in living in a big city.”

“I hate living in a big city.”

- “I can’t stand living in a big city.”

 TECHNIQUE 2: CHANGE THE ORDER OF WORDS

1. If the original sentence has two or more clauses, change the order of

the clauses.

Example 1:

The original sentence “If I am late again, my boss will be mad.”

The paraphrased sentence “My boss will be mad if I am late again.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “If we don't hurry, we will miss the bus.”

The paraphrased sentence “We will miss the bus if we don’t hurry.”

Example 3:

The original sentence “Because Tom slept too late, he missed his first class.”

The paraphrased sentence “Tom missed his first class because he slept too

late.”

Example 4:

The original sentence “In order to pass the final exam, she had to study very

hard.”

The paraphrased sentence “She had to study very hard in order to pass the

final exam.”

Example 5:

The original sentence “Tom wanted to buy the car, but he couldn’t afford it.”

The paraphrased sentence “Tom couldn’t afford the car even though he

wanted it.”

Example 6:

The original sentence “Tom had no much money left in the wallet, so heborrowed some.”

The paraphrased sentence “Tom borrowed some money because he had no

much money left in the wallet.”

2. If the original sentence has an adjective and noun, change the

adjective into a relative clause.

Example 1:

The original sentence “Tom is a very handsome actor.”

The paraphrased sentence “Tom is an actor who is very handsome.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “Parenting can be a challenging task.”

The paraphrased sentence “Parenting can be a task which is challenging.”

3. Other cases.

Example 1:

The original sentence “The hardest language to learn is Japanese.”

The paraphrased sentence “Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to

master.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “Playing video games too much affects negatively

children’s poorer health.”

The paraphrased sentence:

“Children’s poorer health is a negative effect of playing video games.”

“Video game players can suffer health problems.”

“It is believed that playing video games too much has a negative effect on

children’s health.”“The disadvantage of playing video games is to affect children’s health.”

“When children play video games too much, their health can be negatively

affected.”

“Children play video games too much, and therefore, their health may be

negatively affected.”

Example 3:

The original sentence “Watching films develops people’s imagination.”

The paraphrased sentence:

“People’s imagination development is a positive effect of watching films.”

“Film watchers can develop their imagination.”

“It is thought that watching films is to develop people’s imagination.”

“The advantage of watching films is to develop people’s imagination.”

“If people watch films, they can develop their imagination.”

“People watch films, and therefore, they can develop their imagination.”

Example 4:

The original sentence “Peter studied Japanese, and, as a result, he translated

for our visitors from Japan.”

The paraphrased sentence: “Peter could translate for our visitors from Japan,

because he had studied Japanese.”

TECHNIQUE 3: CHANGE THE FORM OF THE

WORD

If the sentence uses a noun, you can rewrite the sentence by using the

adverb, adjective or verb form of the word. Change as many words as

you can.

Example 1:

The original sentence “In 2012, spending on mobile phones in Australia was

around 20 million dollars.

The paraphrased sentence “In 2012, Australian consumers spent around 20

million dollars on mobile phones.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “John is an accurate typist.”

The paraphrased sentence “John types accurately.”

Example 3:

The original sentence “We need to find a solution for this problem.”

The paraphrased sentence “We needs to solve this problem.”

Example 4:

The original sentence “Diabetes is the cause of kidney disease.”

The paraphrased sentence “Diabetes causes kidney disease.”

TECHNIQUE 4: USING ANTONYMS, NEGATIVES

OR OPPOSITE EXPRESSIONS

Another way to paraphrase is to use antonyms to change a negative

expression into a positive expression, or a positive expression into a

negative expression.

Example 1:

The original sentence “Tom is short.”

The paraphrased sentence “Tom is not tall.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “The mall is far away.”

The paraphrased sentence “The mall is not near.”

Example 3:

The original sentence “Sally was disappointed because the movie was

boring.”

The paraphrased sentence “Sally wasn’t satisfied since the film wasn’t very

good.”

Example 4:

The original sentence “Tom wanted some soup, but there wasn’t any in the

bowl.”

The paraphrased sentence “Tom wanted some soup, but the bowl was

empty.”

These are examples of using ANTONYMS, NEGATIVES or OPPOSITE

EXPRESSIONS to paraphrase phrases or sentences. It is a fairly basic simple

technique for us to use once in a while, not all the time, but we can use it

successfully.

TECHNIQUE 5: USING A PHRASAL VERB

For example:

Instead of saying “Susan discarded her old watch in the trash bin”,

we could say “Susan threw away her old watch in the trash bin”.

If we keep using the same words, then it would not be considered

“paraphrasing”, so what we're looking for is to successfully substitute those

words with our own words and also try to resist the temptation of copying or

using those words no matter how wonderful they are.

TECHNIQUE 6: CHANGE THE ACTIVE VOICE TO

PASSIVE VOICE OR VICE VERSA.

Example 1:

The original sentence “I gave her a watch for her birthday.”

The paraphrased sentence “She was given a watch for her birthday.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “Someone has cleaned the table.”

The paraphrased sentence “The table has been cleaned.”

Example 3:

The original sentence “Using mobile phones while driving may cause some

serious accidents.”

The paraphrased sentence “Some serious accidents may be caused by using

cell phones while driving.”

TECHNIQUE 7: CHANGE FROM A CLAUSE TO A

PHRASE OR VICE VERSA.

Example 1:

The original sentence “After Mary studied, she went to bed.”

The paraphrased sentence “After studying, Mary went to bed.”

Example 2:

The original sentence “The restaurant across the street is new.”

The paraphrased sentence “The restaurant that is across the street is new.”

TECHNIQUE 8: CHANGE TRANSITIONS

The original sentence “Although Bob’s got a good job, he still complains.”

The paraphrased sentence:

“Bob’s got a good job, but he still complains.”

“Bob’s got a good job; however, he still complains.”

TECHNIQUE 9: COMBINING OR SEPARATING

SENTENCES.

Long sentences can be divided into short sentences, and short sentences

can be combined with other short sentences to form long sentences.

Example:

The original sentence “Australia is a wonderful country, which has many

beautiful natural landscapes, an interesting history, and friendly people.”

The paraphrased sentence:

“Australia is a wonderful country. It has many beautiful natural landscapes,

an interesting history, and friendly people.”

“Australia, which is a wonderful country, has many beautiful natural

landscapes, an interesting history, and friendly people.”

TECHNIQUE 10: USING A QUOTATION

Because sometimes we want to copy something we hear or read that sounds

quite good, but we can’t do it since that is called copying and it may lead us

to plagiarism.

Now, what happens if we find a particular phrase or sentence that sounds

quite good in our reading passage and we really don't want to paraphrasing or

we don't know how to paraphrase it. So what should we do then? Well, in this

case, it is possible for us to use a QUOTATION. We can use the quotation

in a whole sentence and put it in a quotation mark. We could use certain

expressions and put them in quotation marks as well.

For example:

“Do the dif icult things while they are easy and do the great things while they

are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” --

Lao Tzu --

So these are 10 techniques we can use for paraphrasing an original text or

passage. This is a really important skill in academic life.

Good luck with your paraphrasing.