ASB: Week 7
Paraphrasing Worksheet
Step 1: Understand the meaning of the original source.
Accurate paraphrasing requires careful attention to the meaning of words. The ones you choose
must reflect the meaning found in the original source without plagiarizing its author. The key to this
begins with your own comprehension. How well you understand the contents of a passage will
determine how accurately you restate it in your own words.
Read the passage from the original work, then re-read the passage underlining the key points the
writer is making. Only when you understand the original work, can you begin to paraphrase.
Task 1: Look at the following sentences and underline the key words.
1 “The English way of structuring an essay normally includes introduction, body and
conclusion” (Lima, p4, 2010).
2 “All languages use metaphors to convey meaning” (Harris, p423, 2012).
3 “Each paragraph usually contains one clear step” (Mustane & Freeman, p45, 1998).
4 “A paper written in the British style would be considered poorly written in other
countries”(Dickinson, p2,2014)
Step 2: Use Synonyms.
Synonyms are words that have the same or a near meaning, such as the pair ‘close and shut’, or the
trio ‘begin, start, and commence’. Synonyms are useful in paraphrasing as they can help restate the
original information using different words without changing the meaning. For effective paraphrasing,
it helps to have a good awareness of common academic synonyms.
N.B. Some key terms or specific technical vocabulary cannot always be substituted for a synonym, as
this may detract from the original meaning.
Task 2: Now, look back at the sentences and change some of the vocabulary using synonyms.
Step 3: Change Word Forms
A common approach to changing the word forms in a sentence is to change the main verb into a
noun, or less commonly to change the main noun into a verb. It may also be possible to change
adjectives into adverbs or vice versa.
Task 3: Now look back at the first sentence and change a word form.
Step 4. Change the sentence structure
You can change the sentence structure by breaking up a long sentence into two shorter ones or
combining two short sentences into a longer one. Another way of paraphrasing is to change the
order of the main ideas in a sentence. One way of doing this is to change the active voice to passive
voice or the passive voice to active voice. The active voice focuses on who or what is affected by a
process or event, whilst the passive voice focuses on the event or process.
Look back at sentences 2 and 3.
Task 4: Change them from active to passive or passive to active.
Step 5: Reference
Even though you have used your own words in a paraphrase, it is still not your own ideas. Therefore,
you must reference the original source or you will be guilty of plagiarism. When Paraphrasing you
need to include the following: The author's name and the year of publication. These can go before
or after your paraphrase and this shows that the idea comes from someone else and it is not yours.
Step 6: Check
When you have finished, revise your paraphrase. In other words, examine your results carefully and
compare them with the original to see that what you have written is original, gives credit and
repeats the essential information.
Task 5: Now write 4 complete paraphrases for the 4 sentences. When you are finished, compare
with another student.
Task 6: Writing Look at a text of your choice. Choose some sentences and write a paraphrase for
each using the steps in Task 3.
Original
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Paraphrase
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Original
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Paraphrase
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Original
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Paraphrase
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Original
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Paraphrase
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