72 Tammy Guy Harshbarger

The Process of Paraphrasing

To paraphrase a sentence is to rewrite the sentence using different

words, different grammar, and different word order. A paraphrase
has the same meaning as the original sentence and it is about the
same length.

When paraphrasing:
• Don’t copy the original sentence
• Don’t use too many of the original words
• Don’t change the meaning of the original sentence
• Don’t leave out important information

The process of paraphrasing:

• Identify grammar structures and key words
• Change grammar structures
• Change words
• Change word order

Grammar structures:
• independent and dependent clauses
• word forms: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
• clauses: adjective, noun, and adverb clauses
• phrases: prepositional phrases, participial phrases (reduced
clauses)
• verb phrases: active voice and passive voice, phrasal verbs
• connecting words: coordinating conjunctions, subordinating
conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs
• transitional words and phrases

Relationships between ideas:

cause/effect, purpose, manner, comparison, contrast, opposition,
concession, time, place, condition, addition

212285_Tsuda Review_no57-4校.indb 72 2012/12/26 15:31:02

 The Process of Paraphrasing 73

Paraphrasing Example:
Those whose self-esteem is low do not necessarily see themselves
as worthless or wicked, but they seldom say good things about
themselves.
(Psychology by David G. Myers, page 608)

Grammar structures:
• adjective clause: whose self-esteem is low
• verb phrase: do not see themselves as worthless or wicked
• verb phrase: seldom say good things about themselves

Relationships between ideas

• There are people who have low self–esteem.
• They do not necessarily see themselves as worthless or wicked.
• They seldom say good things about themselves.
• Opposition: but

Key words:
• self-esteem
• low
• necessarily
• see
• worthless
• wicked
• but
• seldom
• say
• good

Synonyms:
• self-esteem: self-worth, self-respect
• low: poor, unfavorable, negative, bad
• necessarily: inevitably, automatically, inexorably, certainly,
definitely
• see: view, perceive, describe, think of

212285_Tsuda Review_no57-4校.indb 73 2012/12/26 15:31:02

 74 Tammy Guy Harshbarger

• worthless: unworthy, useless, no-good, of little/no value,

despicable
• wicked: evil, sinful, bad, immoral, corrupt, dishonorable,
unethical, unholy
• but: however, although, though, even though, while, whereas
• seldom: rarely, hardly ever, infrequently
• say: talk, speak
• good: positive, nice, favorable

Possible paraphrases:
• People with low self-esteem don’t necessarily view themselves
as evil or worthless; however, they rarely talk positively about
themselves.
• Although they hardly ever speak favorably about themselves,
people who have poor self-esteem do not inevitably perceive
themselves as useless or bad.
• People with a low opinion of themselves generally describe
themselves in negative terms, even though they don’t think they
are really bad.
• People with low self-esteem may or may not think of themselves
in strongly negative ways, but they rarely say anything positive
about themselves.

Introducing paraphrases:
• According to him…
• He believes that …
• As he believes…
• Her point is …
• In her opinion…

Reporting verbs: affirm, allege, argue, assert, assume, believe,

explain, claim, complain, conclude, contend, demonstrate, describe,
discover, discuss, emphasize, estimate, examine, explore, find,
illustrate, imply, indicate, inform, maintain, mention, note, observe,
predict, present, presume, point out, propose, recognize, recount,

212285_Tsuda Review_no57-4校.indb 74 2012/12/26 15:31:02

 The Process of Paraphrasing 75

reveal, report, say, show, state, stress, suggest, suppose, suspect,

tell, verify
Reporting nouns: argument, claim, complaint, conclusion,
explanation, point, opinion

Example:
• David Myers points out that people with low self-esteem don’t
necessarily view themselves as evil or worthless; however, they
rarely talk positively about themselves.
• According to Myers, although they hardly ever speak favorably
about themselves, people who have poor self-esteem do not
inevitably perceive themselves as useless or bad.

Exercises to Build Paraphrasing Skills

Usually paraphrasing and plagiarism are discussed as a student is

learning how to write a research paper, but I want the students to have as
many opportunities as they can to practice writing paraphrases before they
actually write their research papers. During the first semester at Tsuda
College, when students write essays, I give them paraphrasing exercises
in every class, which meet once a week. Students do about ten exercises
during the first semester. I give them a few paraphrasing exercises at the
beginning of the second semester, when they write essays and a research
paper. Sometimes I give the exercises at the beginning of class, which
takes 10 to 15 minutes. I have only given them as homework a few times,
and each time I have done this, at least one or two of the students did
not do the homework. Sometimes students do the paraphrasing exercises
while I conduct individual conferences with students about their essays,
which can take 30 to 40 minutes. Students always use their electronic
dictionaries/thesauruses when they do the paraphrasing exercises. I
collect and correct the students’ paraphrases. The following week, at the
beginning of class, I give them back their corrected paraphrases. I explain
the mistakes I corrected to the whole class and sometimes to an individual
student if she asks me to do so in private. I also give them a list of

212285_Tsuda Review_no57-4校.indb 75 2012/12/26 15:31:02