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Paraphrasing and Summarizing Exercises with Answers

Paraphrasing and Summarizing are two skills that are highly useful for writers. With these two techniques, writers can get help creating their content and providing it to their readers in an easy-to-peruse way.

However, if you happen to be new to the field of writing, you could be a little unaware and untrained in both these skills. But don’t worry. Everyone starts out as a beginner.

In this post, we’re going to be looking at some  paraphrasing and summarizing  exercises along with their answers and explanations. By following along, you’ll get a good idea about how you can use these techniques in your own capacity.

Let’s begin!

What is Paraphrasing and Summarizing?

Before we get to the exercises, let’s digress a little and understand what paraphrasing and summarization actually are.

Let’s start with paraphrasing.

Paraphrasing  is the process in which a particular piece of content is reworded and rephrased in such a way that it looks different from its original version but it has the same meaning and context.

A simple example of paraphrasing would be to change “John likes his cat” to “John adores his feline pet”. Paraphrasing can be as slight as merely changing some words in the text, or it can be as drastic as fully changing the tone, structure, order, and words of the content.

On the other hand,  Summarizing  is the process in which a piece of content is shrunk and shortened to about one-tenth of its original size. In this shortened version, the main idea and concept of the content is provided.

Summarization is usually used by authors and writers when they want to give a brief outline of a book or article to their readers.

Now that we’ve looked at the definitions of both, let’s move ahead to look at some exercises.

Paraphrasing Exercises (with Answers)

The main purpose of providing these exercises along with their answers is to help you understand what these techniques look like when they are implemented. Since we have explained their core definition above, you can try and work along the exercises to improve your skills a little as well.

Related:  Difference Between Paraphrasing And Rephrasing

Paraphrasing Exercise # 1:

Here is a sample paragraph that we will be paraphrasing as an exercise. We’ll write the paragraph alone first, and then provide the answer after a brief explanation.

Sample Paragraph:

"John could not find the butter in his fridge. He went to buy some from the store. On coming back, he saw his cat sitting on the floor, smacking its lips. There was some yellow stuff smeared all around its face. Thus, John solved the mystery of the missing butter."

So, as we mentioned earlier, paraphrasing can be done simply and sparingly, or it can be done drastically.

One of the primary and basic ways of paraphrasing is to simply change some words in the provided content with their synonyms. This is, we reiterate, a very basic level of paraphrasing, and it is often very easy to see through it.

So, for this first exercise, we are going to be doing only that level of paraphrasing as a way to illustrate how it looks like.

Here is what the above paragraph looks like when paraphrased:

Paraphrased Paragraph:

"John could not locate the butter in the refrigerator. He went to purchase some from the shop. On coming back, he observed his cat sitting on the ground, licking its lips. There was some yellow material smeared all around its face. Hence, John solved the mystery of the missing butter."

While we are on this discussion, it will also be salubrious to understand that when changing words with their synonyms for the purpose of paraphrasing, you have to be careful that you pick those that don’t mess up the context and intent of the lines.

Paraphrasing Exercise # 2:

Moving on, let’s look at another paraphrasing exercise. Here is the paragraph that we will be using for this one:

"John’s cat got lost in the forest. He went looking for it in the night time. He heard some movement in one of the bushes. He put his hand in and felt the fur. He pulled the thing out, thinking it to be his cat. After coming home, he realized it was an angry raccoon."

We mentioned in the last exercise that the basic level of paraphrasing is to change some of the words in the given text with their synonyms. And we also mentioned how that sort of paraphrasing can be easily detected.

So, for writers who want to paraphrase something in such a way that it does not resemble its original form a lot, there’s a step further that they can go, and that is to change the sentence structures + phrases.

Essentially, by changing the phrases used in the content as well as the arrangement of the sentences, the overall look of the paraphrased piece looks very different. If someone wants to go even ahead of that, they can shuffle the sentence  order  as well.

Considering this type of ‘extensive’ paraphrasing, here is the answer to the paragraph given above:

"John’s cat went missing in the forest. He went to search for it when it was dark. He discerned some movement in the hedge. After putting his hand inside it, he felt some fur. Thinking that it was his cat, he pulled the animal out. It was only after coming home that he realized that it was a frustrated raccoon."

Read more: How And Why to Paraphrase Your Content?

Summarizing Exercises (with Answers)

Now that we have looked at the paraphrasing exercises, let’s move on to look at some for summarizing.

Just as we’ve looked at two types of paraphrasing above, we’ll also look at two different types of summarizing.

Actually, it’ll be better if we explain those two types before getting to the exercises.

Basically, there are  two types of summaries . One of them is called  extractive  and the other is called  abstractive .

In extractive summarization, the summary of a piece of content is generated merely by taking out some sentences from it and joining them together. This is usually the type of summaries that you get from automated tools.

When extractive summaries are created, there is no effort to understand the actual meaning and context of the text. Rather, the purpose is only to take some lines from it and join them together in such a way that they make sense.

On the other hand, abstractive summaries are those that are written using a completely new and different set of words, phrases and sentences than the content (that is being summarized). As opposed to extractive summarization, abstractive summarization involves understanding the meaning and context of the text, and then creating a completely new summary that features all those concepts and ideas.

Summarizing Exercise # 1 (Extractive)

In order to demonstrate and explain extractive summarization, we’re going to first write a paragraph here and then provide its summary afterwards:

Sample paragraph:

"John’s car broke down. He stopped by the road side and screamed at people to stop and help him. But no one stopped for him. He continued howling and howling for hours. People kept driving by. After getting tired, he picked up a sheet and wrapped it around himself. Then, he started spinning on his spot. He grew dizzy. He kept spinning and spinning until he fell asleep."

Now, since we have to use the “extractive” summarization technique here, we’ll create the summary using the lines and sentences used in the content itself.

"John’s car broke down. But no one stopped for him. Then, he started spinning on the spot. He kept spinning and spinning until he fell asleep."

Summarizing Exercise # 2 (Abstractive)

For this exercise, we will use the same para that we did above. However, the technique used for the summarization will be different.

Since we will be using the abstractive technique here, the summary will be created using different words and phrases as the original.

"John’s vehicle went phut. But, no one stopped their car to help him. After he was tired, he made himself dizzy by spinning and then went to sleep."

So, that’s about it.

If you were a little confused about paraphrasing and summarization techniques, hopefully you’re a little more confident about them now.

These skills can come in handy for writers in a lot of different situations. If you don’t have the hang of them already, you should try and get it as quick as you can.

Best 5 Paraphrasing Exercises

Read on to see our helpful paraphrasing exercises and tips in this article to get you started.

One of the most important skills you can hone as a student or writer is to paraphrase the words of other academics and experts effectively. Since new knowledge is built upon that which is already known, it makes sense that you’d want to reference the ideas of others in your work. However, this is often easier said than done. Paraphrasing, especially if you want to do it well, can be challenging.

Fortunately, as is the case with most other skills in life, you can improve your ability to paraphrase through practice. For instance, you can improve this skill by regularly doing paraphrasing exercises. As I was an academic for a long time in my life, I thought it might be helpful to those who have little or no experience in paraphrasing if I provided a list of paraphrasing exercises. If you’re such a person, I hope that this article will get you started on your journey toward mastering the art of paraphrasing. Your academic or writing career will undoubtedly be better off for it when you do.

The Art of Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing exercises and activities to help you master the skill, 1. broaden your vocabulary, 2. create a word map, 3. paraphrase in small chunks, 4. ways to paraphrase shorter and easier sentences, 5. imagine you’re explaining the source material to someone, helpful tips, 1. avoid plagiarism, 2. summarizing is not paraphrasing, 3. changing word order is not paraphrasing.

Although paraphrasing is an essential skill when writing papers, essays, or articles, it’s one that many find challenging to master. To paraphrase the words of others, you need first to comprehend their meaning, and then you need to express this meaning in your own words. To do this effectively requires a broad and sophisticated range of vocabulary and advanced grammar skills.

As stated in the introduction, you can improve your paraphrasing skills through paraphrasing exercises. Doing this will help you construct meaningful and original paraphrased sentences and increase the speed at which you work. Especially when you’re a student, reading, and paraphrasing the words of other scholars and experts can form a big chunk of your work. Learning how to paraphrase well and at a quick pace will enhance your academic experience and will open up your schedule for other activities, such as sports or parties.

Our paraphrasing vs. summarizing guide might be helpful.

Now that you know the importance of paraphrasing, let’s dive right in and look at some exercises and activities that can help you improve. Remember, as is the case when learning any other new skill, you need to engage with these exercises regularly.

Since you cannot paraphrase appropriately without a decent range of vocabulary, it makes sense to aim to add more words to your vocabulary bank constantly. Of course, if you’re an academic, you’ll want to focus on improving your academic vocabulary in your specific field. However, since academic language has a formal tone, you can add general terms to your vocabulary bank to help you express yourself more sophisticatedly. Examples of such words, for instance, are verbs such as “theorize,” “opine,” “constitute,” and “approximate.”

There are various ways in which you can enrich your academic vocabulary. These include:

• Keeping a word journal: A great way to learn new words is to carry a little book along with you, in which you can write down words that you don’t know. You can write down the word and then look up the meaning when you have time. It can also be helpful to construct your sentence with the word once you’ve jotted down its definition.
• Highlight words in texts: Whether you’re working with a physical copy of a text or a digital version, it’s good to highlight or underline words that you don’t know. You can then either write a definition of the words in the margin or, if you’re working with a digital copy, you can add a comment. Another good tip is to write by hand – people learn better when writing something by hand than if they typed the same information.
• Read as much as you can: Although this may be obvious, the best way to improve your vocabulary is to read as many books and articles as you can fit into your schedule. Even if you don’t have the time to look up the meaning of each word that you don’t understand, just seeing the word pop up in different contexts will help you work out the meaning for yourself over time. Apart from reading, you can also listen to podcasts or watch documentaries and news channels.

If you’re battling to paraphrase an original paragraph or sentence into your own words, it can be helpful to create a word map. You can, for instance, write a few complex words or phrases down on a piece of paper. Next, draw a box around each word or phrase, and leave enough space around each so that you can draw and link other boxes. As a next step, you can draw boxes in which you write the synonym of each word. You can also write down the definition of each word if you’re unsure of its meaning.

Next, you need to clarify the relationship between these words or terms. Draw arrows between them indicating patterns, correlation, or cause and effect. You can also add boxes between the original words or phrases in which you add other words, such as verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, or adjectives. Doing so can help you further explain the terms or link them meaningfully. Once you’ve added all the information you can think of, try to create a paraphrased sentence or paragraph from your word map.

A valuable way to learn how to paraphrase when you’re a beginner is to break sentences into smaller parts. For example, instead of paraphrasing a long and complex sentence, which can become overwhelming if you’re not used to this process, you can focus on shorter phrases. Let’s take a look at an example. Here, for instance, is a long and complex sentence:

“ Many impacts are unavoidable and will hit the world’s most vulnerable populations hardest, it warns — but collective action from governments to both curb greenhouse-gas emissions and prepare communities to live with global warming could yet avert the worst outcomes. “

You may find it challenging to paraphrase this sentence as a whole. However, breaking it into smaller chunks makes the task more doable. You can break this sentence up in the following way:

• Many impacts are unavoidable
• And will hit the world’s most vulnerable populations hardest, it warns
• But collective actions from governments
• To both curb greenhouse-gas emissions
• And prepare communities to live with global warming
• Could yet avert the worst outcomes

Remember, the sentence structure of your paraphrased version can and often will look different from the source. This means that you can form two or multiple sentences if this helps you create a meaningful paraphrased version, even if the original is one sentence.

If you want to practice your paraphrasing skills, you can do so by paraphrasing a sentence in two or three different ways. You can practice finding different synonyms, grammar, and sentence structures while retaining the meaning across all versions.

If you have time, you can do this exercise with longer sentences. However, it may be good to start by paraphrasing shorter sentences. Doing so will allow you to focus on finding multiple synonyms and different ways to write the same sentence.

Here’s an example:

“ Scientists know that bees are dying from a variety of factors. “

Paraphrased version 1:

“Experts maintain that the future of bees is in danger due to multiple causes.”

Paraphrased version 2:

“There are many different reasons why bees are going extinct, according to scientists.”

A helpful way of practicing paraphrasing while reading through articles or research papers is to recite your paraphrased version of some more complex sentences. Since the first step of paraphrasing is to ensure that you’ve correctly understood the source, repeating what you’ve just read in your own words can help you grasp the meaning of the source material.

You don’t need to use formal academic language and complex terms when doing this paraphrasing exercise. Instead, the aim is to repeat what you’ve read in plain and simple terms. Also, since you don’t need to write anything down for this paraphrasing exercise, it’s something you can regularly do while you’re reading through the source material.

It’s vital that you understand what you’re reading and that all the information is not just going over your head. Doing this exercise, primarily when you find yourself drifting off or having problems grasping a sentence, will ensure that you’ve understood the section you’ve read. At the same time, you get to practice your paraphrasing skills.

Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind while paraphrasing.

Even though you’re not using direct quotes when paraphrasing but rather stating another author’s ideas in your own words, you still need to reference their work. Failing to do so amounts to plagiarism, a serious offense, whether you’re producing academic work or an article for a web page.

The format you have to use when citing the work of others varies. For instance, in academic writing, you need to provide in-text citations and a list of references at the end of your essay, article, or thesis. The precise way you’ll write your in-text citations and list of references will be determined by the formatting style, whether this is APA , Harvard , Chicago , or MLA .

Although both tools or techniques involve using your own words to describe somebody else’s text, they are different. You need to retain the original work’s meaning with both techniques while using your own words. When you’re summarizing a work , you’re selecting only the most essential points of the text and rewriting these in your own words. This means that you provide a short overview of what a text is about.

It would be best to remain far more loyal to the source material with paraphrasing. You refer to specific ideas an author has provided to incorporate these into your work. To ensure that you’re not changing the original version too much or skewing the meaning the author intended to bring across, you have to rewrite actual sentences and paragraphs. You can’t just write a summary of large chunks of text.

Although this is a “technique” employed by lazy students, you should be aware that merely swapping around the word order of an original text does not constitute paraphrasing. It’s also not good enough to merely change a sentence from passive voice to active voice or vice versa.

Using either of these as your only paraphrasing method when rewriting somebody else’s words can amount to plagiarism since you’ve not used your own words or demonstrated your understanding of the source material. In such instances, you’d be better off simply rewriting the author’s exact words and placing these in quotation marks.

To learn more, check out our guide on paraphrasing vs. plagiarism .

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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Paraphrasing and Synthesising

Introduction

One of the essential skills in academic writing is the ability to paraphrase the work of other authors. This means to express their opinions or findings in your own words. Many lecturers prefer paraphrase to direct quotations as too many direct quotations can break up the ‘flow’ of your writing. Also, through paraphrasing, you can often express the information from your sources more concisely by picking out the essential elements of the extract you are rewording. In this Learning Object you will be given the opportunity to practise paraphrasing and synthesising, which means using more than one source to support your arguments.

Before starting the activities, you can obtain an overview of how best to use this Learning Object, using a Screencast (with audio), by following this link Overview

• To provide practice in using synonyms to write effective paraphrases
• To raise awareness of the essential elements of a good paraphrase
• To suggest useful techniques when paraphrasing from a published source
• To suggest ways that sources can be synthesised to support your arguments

Activity 1: Using academic synonyms for paraphrasing

For paraphrasing it helps to have a good awareness of common academic synonyms. To begin with, you can try the following exercises to check your knowledge of these and practise using them at sentence level.

Instruction

Follow this link to the activities : Academic Synonyms for Paraphrasing

Activity 2: The essential elements of a good paraphrase

In this activity, you will explore the essentials of a good paraphrase. You will be using extracts from textbooks and encyclopedia definitions of management. However, before going any further, we suggest you write a definition of “management”, which should include the most important roles of “managers”, in the box below.

Now imagine that a student at Queen Mary has been given the following essay title:

Compare and contrast what managers are supposed to do, according to textbook models, with what they actually do, according to empirical studies of management.

She decides that it would be a good idea to define the term “management” in her introduction and copies out the following definition from a business encyclopedia she consults in the library.

Management is a process that is used to accomplish organizational goals; that is, a process that is used to achieve what an organization wants to achieve. An organization could be a business, a school, a city, a group of volunteers, or any governmental entity. Managers are the people to whom this management task is assigned, and it is generally thought that they achieve the desired goals through the key functions of (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) directing, and (4) controlling.

LUFT, R.L., 2000. entry on “Management” . In MALONIS, J., ed., “Encyclopedia of Business” , 2nd. ed., Detroit: Gale Group

Now that you have read the original extract, read the three paraphrases that follow it. Choose which of the sentences that follow the extracts accurately describe the different paraphrases.

Paraphrase 1

In Luft’s entry on “Management”, in the “Encyclopedia of Business” (Malonis J. (Ed.) 2000), he states that the way a group of people working together achieves its aims is through its managers. He then divides their responsibilities into four key roles: ‘planning’, ‘organising’, ‘directing’ and ‘controlling’.

Paraphrase 2

Luft in his entry on “Management” in the “Encyclopedia of Business” (Malonis J. (Ed.) 2000), states that management is the method that is used to achieve organisational aims; that is, the method that is used to achieve what an organisation wants to achieve. He makes clear that an organisation could be a business, a school, a town, a group of people working voluntarily, or any governing body. Managers are the people who this task is given to, and it is agreed that they achieve what they want through the key activities of planning, organising, directing and controlling.

Paraphrase 3

Management can best be defined as the system that is used for any organisation to succeed in meeting its objectives. This organisation can take many forms and be large or small. The key people in the accomplishment of these objectives are the managers. Their most important roles in the process are planning, organising, directing and controlling.

Now decide which of the following five sentences about the above paraphrases are true and which are false.

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Sentences 3 and 5 are true , but sentences 1 , 2 and 4 are false .

Although key vocabulary has been changed in all of the paraphrases, the second paraphrase is too similar to the original. This is the case in terms of vocabulary, sentence structure and the order of information.

It is not necessary to change the four last “key functions” in the paraphrases, as to do so would risk changing the original content of the source.

Although the first paraphrase is shorter, the essential information has been included, so this is not problematic.

Even though the third paraphrase is otherwise a good example of paraphrase, it is still very important to reference your original source so as to avoid accusations of plagiarism.

Activity 3: Synthesising from multiple sources

Synthesising refers to the process by which you refer to not one but multiple sources to support your argument when writing an essay or research paper. The best examples of synthesis lead into the author’s own original work, which has been informed by the paraphrasing of multiple sources.

Now read these other definitions of management.

management (noun) 1 [uncountable] the activity of controlling and organizing the work that a company or organization does

“management”. In Longman English Dictionary Online . Retrieved June 8 2009 from http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/management management (noun) 1 : the art or act of managing: the conducting or supervising of something (as a business) 2 : judicious use of means to accomplish an end “management”. In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary . Retrieved June 8 2009 from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/management

We define management as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, accomplish efficiently selected aims.

Koontz, H., and Weirich, H. 1988 Management 9th international edition, Singapore: McGraw-Hill. p.4

Management is tasks. Management is a discipline. But management is also people. Every achievement of management is the achievement of a manager. Every failure is a failure of a manager. People manage rather than “forces” or “facts”. The vision, dedication and integrity of managers determine whether there is management or mismanagement.

Drucker, P.F. 2007 Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices London: Transaction Publishers.p.xiii Management is a process that is used to accomplish organizational goals; that is, a process that is used to achieve what an organization wants to achieve. An organization could be a business, a school, a city, a group of volunteers, or any governmental entity. Managers are the people to whom this management task is assigned, and it is generally thought that they achieve the desired goals through the key functions of (1) planning, (2) organizing, (3) directing, and (4) controlling.

Luft, R.L., 2000. entry on “Management” . In Malonis, J.,ed., “Encyclopedia of Business” , 2nd. ed. Detroit: Gale Group

Now, in the text box below, write a synthesis of the definitions given above. You may use direct quotation for isolated words or phrases, but these should be sparing and appropriate. Be careful to cite the sources in the paragraph.

If you need further guidance or help with this task, please use the Help option below.

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The following synthesis is quite a demanding activity, especially if English is not your first language.

Remember linking words help you to show transitions between sentences: ‘ whereas ‘ for contrast, ‘ therefore ‘ and ‘ consequently ‘ state the result of the first clause, and ‘ finally ‘ can be used for the last in a list of different definitions.

Useful language for citing sources includes: ‘ make(s) reference to ‘, ‘ maintain(s) ‘, and ‘ to define sth. (something) as ‘.

Useful synonyms can be found at sites like Synonym.com (opens in new tab)

Finally, you might like to begin with: ‘ Both the Longman and Merriam-Webster online dictionaries define management as… ‘

Two suggested syntheses of these various sources are given below:

William’s Synthesis: Both the Longman and Merriam-Webster online dictionaries define management as the act (or art) of ‘controlling’, ‘supervising’ and ‘organising’ the work undertaken by a company or organisation. However, Koontz and Weirich (1988: 4) make reference to the environment in which those working together achieve their ‘efficiently selected’ aims and emphasise the maintenance and design of this environment. Luft (2000), having noted that the way a group achieves their aims is through management, divides managers’ responsibilities into four key roles: ‘planning’, ‘organising’, ‘directing’ and ‘controlling’. Finally, Drucker (2007: xiii) maintains that the human element of management is paramount. Therefore, the human qualities of ‘vision’, ‘dedication’ and ‘integrity’ are more crucial for success or failure of allotted tasks than other factors.

Jessica’s Synthesis: The concept of “management” is complex, and is defined as “controlling and organizing” (Longman English Dictionary Online) or, “conducting or supervising” (The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Koontz and Weirich (1988:4) define management as the act of creating and controlling the place where individuals, who effectively combine their efforts and skills, achieve objectively chosen goals. However, in contrast, Drucker (2007:xiii) writes that management can be defined as activities, a school of learning and furthermore, as human beings themselves. He asserts that each accomplishment of ‘management’ is, in actual fact, the accomplishment of the person who has done the managing. Each inability to reach a goal is, in reality, the inability of the person in charge to reach that goal. Drucker concludes by stating that the clarity of sight, commitment and honesty that people in positions of responsibility possess, determines whether or not there is good or bad management. The final proposed definition of management is proffered by Luft (2000). He claims that management is the act of achieving institutional targets; more specifically, the act of attaining company defined goals. Managers attain their clearly defined targets through the primary factors of preparation, organisation, direction and control (Luft, 2000).

Activity 4: Your own definition

Now conclude with your own preferred definition. How has it changed after synthesising your sources? Write your new, improved, definition of management in the box below. You might like to begin, “The definition of management that I will use is…”

One possible definition…

The definition of management that I will use is the planning, organisation and control of allotted tasks to further an organisation’s goals, to be achieved through the design of an environment best suited to this aim. The manager’s vision, sincerity and industry are consequently critical to the successful accomplishment of the company’s targets.

Activity 5: References

Finally, list your references as you would do at the end of your essay in the text entry box.

Check your references against those in the “Review” section at the bottom of this page, which have been compiled according to the Harvard system of referencing.

Would you like to review the main points?

Show review Hide review

When paraphrasing, a wide vocabulary (and especially a good knowledge of academic synonyms) is extremely helpful. A good thesaurus can prove invaluable in this context. However, it is not sufficient to just change a few words. Alteration of sentence structure and order of information also assist in the rewording of the original. Care must be taken, though, to ensure that you do not misrepresent your source and remember that after paraphrasing, it is still essential to cite the authors of your sources within your paragraph and to reference them correctly at the end of your assignment.

For further online advice about paraphrasing, using quotations and synthesising from different sources, you might like to try the following websites: Paraphrasing: advice and activities from RMIT university --> Paraphrasing source material: advice from Colorado State University Quoting and paraphrasing sources: advice from University of Wisconsin-Madison Quoting, paraphrasing and summarising: advice from Purdue University

There follows one possible version of the references you would need to include after synthesising the definitions of management in Activity 5 above.

Drucker, P.F. (2007) Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. London: Transaction Publishers. Koontz, H., and Weirich, H. (1988) Management 9th international edition, Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Longman English Dictionary Online . Entry on “Management”. Retrieved June 8 2009 from [http://ldoceonline.com/dictionary/management] Luft, R.L., (2000). Entry on “Management”. In Malonis, J., ed., Encyclopedia of Business , 2nd. ed. Detroit: Gale Group, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary , entry on “Management”. Retrieved June 8 2009 from [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/management]

© William Tweddle, Queen Mary, University of London, 2010, photo used under the terms of an attributive CC license: courtesy of Nenyaki

Moving English Lessons

Practice with paraphrasing.

•When you paraphrase, you write or say something that someone else has written or said, in your own words.

•Paraphrasing is an important skill for you to practice because it shows your ability to express the idea of another person using different words, without copying the exact text or speech.

•When you paraphrase properly, you avoid plagiarism, which is a form of academic theft that is considered unethical.

•Paraphrasing can be done in the following ways: by substituting keywords with synonyms, by changing the sentence structure, and by transforming the parts of speech of certain vocabulary words in the sentence.

•Regular practice paraphrasing helps you build your overall ability to use a range of vocabulary and practice varying your sentence structure.

•Paraphrasing improves your ability to restate the gist of the passage, which helps you better grasp the meaning of the passage.

•You become a better speaker and writer because you practice playing with grammar, sentences, and words.

Is the HERD framework hitting home with you? Herding wild horses! Think of the HERD strategy when you need to quickly paraphrase an academic text.

I’m in the midst of designing some free paraphrasing lesson plans for teachers at varying levels. Let me know if you or your students need practice with this skill.

Here are some paraphrasing tools you can use: Quillbot, an online paraphraser, Thesaurus , online dictionaries, Grammarly , and wordreference.

Get your free Paraphrasing practice lesson!

Additional Resources:

UW Madison’s Writing Center

Purdue on Paraphrasing

• Memberships
• Institutional Members
• Teacher Members

Improve your paraphrasing skills

by AEUK | Jan 29, 2022 | Lessons , Referencing , Writing

  Paraphrasing  is using your own words to express someone else’s message or ideas. In a paraphrase, the ideas and meaning of the original source must be maintained; the main ideas need to be expressed, but the wording has to be your own.

Paraphrasing video.

A 10-minute video on how to paraphrase effectively using the 4-key stages of paraphrasing. This video is based on our Paraphrasing Lesson 1.

  The key skills to paraphrasing are: 

• Change in word forms
• Change in sentence structure
• Reference to the author

PDF Lesson Download

Paraphrasing lesson 1 – how to paraphrase effectively [updated 2021].

 It starts by discussing the differences between quotation, paraphrase and summary. It takes students through the basics of identifying keywords, finding synonyms and then changing the grammatical structure. There is plenty of practice, all with efficient teacher’s notes.  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]   Example  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Paraphrasing Lesson 2 – improve your paraphrasing skills  [new for 2021]

This lesson helps students to improve their paraphrasing skills. The guided learning approach includes a text analysis activity where students identify the paraphrasing strategies, five sentence-level tasks to practise the strategies and two paragraph-level exercises to build on the previous tasks..  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]   Example  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Paraphrasing Exercises

Taken from paraphrasing lesson 2 – improve your paraphrasing skills.

Task: Underline the key words you do not have to change in the following sentences.

• Reports predict that zero waste shops are on the increase.
• Many actors feel that funding for performance arts is currently too low.

For a detailed worksheet and more exercises – buy the  download Paraphrasing Lesson 2 below. 

Task: Replace the underlined words with synonyms in the following sentences.

• Every day 8 million pieces of plastic are discarded in the oceans.
• The introduction of bike lanes in many cities has been successful in reducing traffic accidents.
• Every day 8 million pieces of plastic are disposed of in the oceans.
• The introduction of bike lanes in many cities has been effective in reducing traffic accidents.

Task: Rewrite the sentences using a different word form. Use the word in brackets.

1.The sales of electric cars will increase dramatically this year . (dramatic)

___________________________________________________________________

2. The UK’s Test and Trace system failed mainly due to a lack of planning. (failure)

• There will be a dramatic increase in the sales of electric cars this year.
• The failure of the UK’s Test and Trace system was mainly due to a lack of planning.

Task 4: Change the sentence structure in the following sentences. Use the prompt given.

• Although fast food can cause a number of health issues, many people still continue to consume this type of food.

Despite________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Despite fast food causing a number of health issues, many people still continue to consume this type of food.

Task 4: Practice all four strategies (synonyms, word form, word order & sentence structure) and add a reporting verb. Use the author in brackets.

The principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use and regenerating natural systems is defined as the circular economy (Macarthur, 2020).

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Possible answer: 

Macarthur (2020) defines the circular economy as the method of eliminating waste and pollution, the continual use of resources and the restoration of physical and biological materials.

NEW! Academic Paraphrasing Lesson 2 Download

Academic paraphrasing lesson 1 download, referencing lessons.

• Harvard Referencing Guide
• APA 7th Edition Referencing Guide

Referencing Guide: Harvard

 This is a basic reference guide to citing and creating a reference list or a bibliography. It shows the correct way to create in-text citations and reference lists for books, journals, online newspapers and websites.   Web page link . TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Referencing Guide: APA 7th Edition

Referencing: harvard referencing worksheet 1 [updated 2021].

Two part worksheet that is a paragraph and reference list.  Students have to put in the correct in-text reference. The second part is a reference list exercise where students have to put the sections in the correct order. A nice lesson to introduce students to referencing and becoming aware of key referencing principles.  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]  Example  / Webpage link / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Referencing: Harvard Referencing Worksheet 2 [new for 2021]

This lesson supports students in their understanding and use of Harvard referencing. It contains six worksheets: a discussion on referencing, a noticing activity, a reordering task, an error identification exercise, a sentence completion task, a gap-fill activity and a reference list task.   Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]  Example  / Webpage link / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Two part worksheet that is a paragraph and reference list. Students have to put in the correct in-text reference. The second part is a reference list exercise where students have to put the sections in the correct order. A nice lesson to introduce students to referencing and becoming aware of key referencing principles.  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]    Example   / Webpage link   / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

This lesson supports students in their understanding and use of APA referencing. It contains six worksheets: a discussion on referencing, a noticing activity, a reordering task, an error identification exercise, a sentence completion task, a gap-fill activity and a reference list task. Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]    Example   / Webpage link   / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

Reporting Verbs 

 Use the verbs in the box to put into the sentences in the worksheet. Each sentence has a description of the type of verb needed. Check the grammar of the verb too! Web page link . TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

      Writing a paragraph – using quotes about smoking

Students are given a worksheet with nine quotes taken from The New Scientist, BBC News, The Economist, etc… After selecting only three, they use these three quotes to write a paragraph trying to paraphrase the quotes and produce a cohesion piece of writing.  Level ** ** * [B1/B2/C1]    Example  / Webpage link  / TEACHER MEMBERSHIP  / INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP

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Academic phrases, academic style [1], academic style [2], academic style [3], academic word list , writing websites, error correction,   hedging [1], hedging [2], noun phrases [1], noun phrases [2], referencing, in-text referencing, harvard referencing, apa referencing, reference generators, reference lists, reporting verbs, credible sources, evaluating sources, academic integrity, ‘me’ in writing, writing skills, paraphrasing [1], paraphrasing [2], paraphrase (quotes), summarising  , summary language, critical thinking, argument essays, spse essays, parallelism, sentence structure [1], sentence structure [2], punctuation, structure    , essay structure, introductions, thesis statements, paragraphing, topic sentences, definitions, conclusions, linking words, marking criteria, more blog posts….

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English Exercises: paraphrasing

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

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Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Learn to borrow from a source without plagiarizing. For more information on paraphrasing, as well as other ways to integrate sources into your paper, see the Purdue OWL handout Quoting Paraphrasing, and Summarizing . For more information about writing research papers, see our resource on this subject. Purdue students will want to make sure that they are familiar with Purdue's official academic dishonesty policy as well as any additional policies that their instructor has implemented. Another good resource for understanding plagiarism is the Statement on Plagiarism from the Council of Writing Program Administrators .

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

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): 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.

Paraphrasing

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