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How to Paraphrase a Sentence

The art of paraphrasing can take some time to get the hang of, but once you do, it becomes almost second nature. This skill is useful in the classroom, when you are taking notes, writing papers, writing annotations for bibliographies, or even explaining the gist of an article, chapter or book to a friend or colleague. Restating the words of someone else in your own words can be tricky, and you must always be sure to still cite and give credit to the original author (Purdue OWL).

Things You'll Need

  • Original text (that you will paraphrase)
  • Pen
  • Paper
  • Thesaurus
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Instructions

  1. Paraphrasing a Sentence

    • 1

      Read the sentence carefully to make sure you are interpreting it correctly and thoroughly (Purdue OWL). Explain what it is about either aloud to someone else or in your own head to double check.

    • 2

      Compose a sentence that states or argues the opposite thing from the original sentence. Use your own words. This will help ensure that you understand the sentence enough to rework it and identify its counterargument.

    • 3

      Pinpoint the main action of the sentence and the main "doer" of the action. Using a thesaurus, look up synonyms for both the character(s) and the action(s). Write these down.

    • 4

      Rewrite the sentence using your own understanding of its main points, employing the noun and verb synonyms you have looked up.

    • 5

      Cross check your sentence against the original. Make sure to put in quotes any language that you repeated from the original (Purdue OWL).

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