1. HOW AND WHY TO PARAPHRASE
E. SILER

2. DEFINITIONS
• PARAPHRASE can refer to either a noun or a
verb.
• TO PARAPHRASE means to substantially
change the grammar and vocabulary of a text
without changing the meaning.
• A PARAPHRASE is a text that has been
changed by someone.

3. AN EXAMPLE
• ORIGINAL: The Malian army, too weak to do
the job of retaking the north alone, was (and
still is) slowly reinforcing its frontier along
Azawad.
• PARAPHRASE: The Malian army is not strong
enough to conquer Azawad by itself. Instead,
it has been strengthening the border between
Mali and Azawad.

4. WHY WE PARAPHRASE
• In academic culture, we value the use of one’s
own words to show that a person has understood
what was read.
• Good academic style uses lots of paraphrase and
summary --- and relatively little direct quotation.
• If you are planning to ever write anything in
academic English again (either in a class or in
graduate school), you need to learn this valuable
skill.

5. HOW WE PARAPHRASE
• Good paraphrasing is an art and a skill.
• It requires patience.
• But if you learn to do it, step by step, and you
practice, you will find that this skill:
– improves your written English,
– improves your vocabulary, and
– improves your ability to understand what you
read.

6. The Basic Steps
• 1. Change the grammar first.
• 2. Change the vocabulary second.
• 3. Recombine the changed grammar.
• 4. Adjust until you have a full paraphrase.
• 5. Cite

7. An Example
• The
soldiers entered Malian villages to
conduct a census, declaring that the villages
were in fact in Burkina Faso.

8. Step 1: Grammar Breakdown
• 1a. Find the verbs.
• 1b. Add subjects.
• 1c. Create many smaller sentences from the
original larger sentence.

9. 1a. Locate the verbs
• Was fought
• Entered
• To conduct
• Declaring
• were

10. 1b. Assign a subject to each verb;
change verbs to simple tenses
• The Christmas War was fought
• Burkinabe soldiers entered
• Burkinabe soldiers planned to conduct
• Burkinabe soldiers declared
• The villages were.

11. 1c. Create simple little sentences.
• The Christmas War was fought at the end of
December.
• Burkinabe soldiers entered Malian villages.
• Burkinabe soldiers planned to conduct a
census.
• Burkinabe soldiers declared something.
• The villages were in Burkina Faso.

12. Step 2: Change Vocabulary
• Get your tools out! Use these TWO tools
together:
• http://www.thesaurus.com
• http://www.ldoceonline.com

13. 2a. Find synonyms for verbs first.
• The Christmas War was fought at the end of
December. Fought at > occurred > happened
• Burkinabe soldiers entered Malian villages.
• Visited> went into
• Burkinabe soldiers planned to conduct a census.
Conduct > hold > administer
• Burkinabe soldiers declared something. Declared
> claimed
• The villages were in Burkina Faso.

14. The Thesaurus
• A thesaurus is a list of words that are
somewhat like the word you are looking to
replace.
• Type the word you want at the top of the
thesaurus.
• Let’s look at an example with the verb
“conduct” as in, The soldiers planned to
conduct a census.

15. Example

16. Choosing the Best Word
• Use the dictionary to help you!
• Consider the difference between two possible
thesaurus-generated synonyms: ordain and
run.

17. Ordain

18. RUN

19. Results
• The Christmas War happened at the end of
December
• Burkinabe soldiers went into Malian villages.
• Burkinabe soldiers planned to run a census.
• Burkinabe soldiers claimed something.
• The villages were in Burkina Faso.

20. Step #3: Recombine
• Recombine the small sentences that you have
created into new sentences of no more than
two verbs.

21. Possible solutions
• The Christmas War happened at the end of
December +
• Burkinabe soldiers went into Malian villages.
= When Burkinabe soldiers went into Malian
villages at the end of December, the Christmas
War started.
= The Christmas War, which happened at the
end of December, started because Burkinabe
soldiers went into Malian villages.

22. More Solutions
• Burkinabe soldiers planned to run a census.
• Burkinabe soldiers claimed something.
• The villages were in Burkina Faso.
• = The soldiers claimed the villages were in
Burkina Faso. They planned to run a census
of the villages.

23. Now Compare
• ORIGINAL:
soldiers entered Malian villages to
conduct a census, declaring that the villages were
in fact in Burkina Faso.
• PARAPHRASE: The Christmas War, which
happened at the end of December, started
because Burkinabe soldiers went into Malian
villages. The soldiers claimed the villages were in
Burkina Faso. They planned to run a census of
the villages.

24. Step 4: Adjust
• Now make smaller changes to smooth out
your paraphrase:
• The Christmas War, which happened at the
end of December, started because Burkinabe
soldiers went into Malian villages. The soldiers
claimed those villages were actually in
Burkina Faso. Therefore, they planned to run
a census of the villages.

25. LAST STEP: CITE!
• Even if you have paraphrased, you MUST cite.
This is NOT optional. It is always the final step
in the paraphrase process.
• The Christmas War, which happened at the
end of December, started because Burkinabe
soldiers went into Malian villages. The soldiers
claimed those villages were actually in Burkina
Faso. Therefore, they planned to run a
census of the villages (Chilson, 2013, p. 21).