Rephrasing Sentences
To rephrase simply means to write the same idea or question in an alternative manner
to enhance clarity. It’s not just copying word-for-word; it’s about reshaping the original
text to make it unique and more concise.
Examples of Rephrase
Original Rephrased
The boy ran quickly to the store. The boy sprinted to the store.
The cake was delicious. The cake tasted scrumptious.
The car was driving too fast. The vehicle was traveling at an excessive speed.
She spoke in a soft voice. Her voice was gentle and subdued.
The dog barked loudly. The canine emitted a boisterous bark.
He was extremely tired. He felt utterly exhausted.
The book was very interesting. The book proved to be exceptionally captivating.
She sang beautifully. Her singing was lovely and melodious.
The sun is shining brightly. The sunlight is gleaming radiantly.
He ate his dinner quickly. He consumed his meal rapidly.
The film was really boring. The movie turned out to be quite dull.
The house was big. The residence was spacious.
The children were playing noisily. The kids were making a lot of noise while playing.
She was very happy to see her friends. She was overjoyed to meet her friends.
The ocean water was cold. The seawater was chilly.
The concert was loud. The performance was noisy.
He was not interested in the movie. The movie failed to capture his attention.
The bird flew high in the sky. The bird soared in the clouds.
The coffee was hot. The coffee was steaming.
The room was dark. The space was dimly lit.
An effective rephrase includes more than one of the following techniques. If
you use only one of these techniques when rephrasing, you have not
rephrased effectively.
1. Change a word from one part of speech to another
Original: Medical professor John Swanson says that global changes are influencing the
spread of disease.
Rephrase: According to John Swanson, a professor of medicine, changes across the
globe are causing diseases to spread (James, 2004).
2. Use synonyms
Original: The U.S. government declared that the AIDS crisis poses a national security
threat. The announcement followed an intelligence report that found high rates of HIV
infection could lead to widespread political destabilization.
Rephrase: The government of the United States announced that AIDS could harm the
nation's security. The government warned the population after an important
governmental study concluded that political problems could result from large numbers
of people infected with HIV (Snell, 2005).
3. Change numbers and percentages to different forms
Original: Minority groups in the United States have been hit hardest by the
epidemic. African Americans, who make up 13 percent of the U.S. population,
accounted for 46 percent of the AIDS cases diagnosed in 1998.
Rephrase: The AIDS epidemic has mostly affected minorities in the United States. For
example, in 1998, less than 15 percent of the total population was African, but almost
half of the people diagnosed with AIDS in the United States that year were African
America (Jenson, 2000).
4. Change word order: this might include changing from active to passive voice or
moving modifiers to different positions.
Original: Angier (2001) reported that malaria kills more than one million people
annually, the overwhelming majority of them children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Rephrase: Every year, more than a million people are killed by malaria, and most of the
victims are children who live in sub-Saharan Africa (Angier, 2001).
5. Use different definition structures
Original: Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease caused by a bacterium transmitted
by ticks (small bloodsucking arachnids that attach themselves to larger animals). The
disease is usually characterized by a rash followed by flu-like symptoms, including fever,
joint pain, and headache.
Rephrase: Lyme disease-a disease that causes swelling and redness-is caused by a
bacterium carried by a small arachnid known as a tick. The ticks attach to and suck the
blood of animals and humans, transferring some of the Lyme disease bacteria into their
hosts and causing symptoms similar to the flu (Wald, 2005).
6. Use different attribution signals
Original: “That’s because there are so many different ways the diseases could have
arrived,” veterinarian Mark Walters declared in his recent book, Six Modern Plagues.
Rephrase: According to Mark Walters, a veterinarian who wrote Six Modern Plagues, the
disease could have arrived in numerous ways (Peterson, 2004).
7. Change the sentence structure and use different connecting words
Original: Although only about one-tenth of the world’s population lives there, sub-
Saharan Africa remains the hardest hit region, accounting for 72 percent of the people
infected with HIV during 2000.
Rephrase: Approximately 10 percent of the world’s population resides in sub-Saharan
Africa. However, this area of the world has the highest percentage of AIDS-related
illnesses. In fact, in 2000, almost three-fourths of the population had the HIV virus
(Bunting, 2004).
Caution: When paraphrasing, do not change key terms or proper nouns.
Original: In the northeastern United States, people are building homes on the edge of
woods, where ticks that carry Lyme disease hitch rides on deer. In addition, in Africa,
hunters bring back the meat of animals that scientists think may transmit Ebola, a
usually fatal disease that causes massive hemorrhaging in its victims.
Rephrase: In the United States, residential areas are being built near wooded areas in
the northeast. These areas are also the homes of ticks carrying Lyme disease. Also,
according to scientists, hunters in Africa kill animals that may carry the Ebola virus (an
often fatal virus that causes massive hemorrhaging) (Yaya, 2004).
