Hello! Welcome back to our course.
In our last lesson, we learned how to use cohesive devices like linking words and pronouns to connect our ideas and make our writing flow smoothly. We briefly touched on using substitution and synonyms to avoid repeating words. Today, we'll expand on that idea and master a skill that is absolutely critical for the IELTS exam: paraphrasing.
This lesson will teach you how to paraphrase information accurately without changing its meaning. This skill is essential not only for writing a strong introduction in both Writing Task 1 and Task 2, but also for supporting your points throughout your essay. Furthermore, understanding paraphrasing will boost your score in the Reading and Listening sections, as questions often use different words to express the same ideas found in the texts and audio clips.
1. What is Paraphrasing and Why Is It Important?
Before we learn the techniques, let's be clear on what paraphrasing is and why you must avoid simply copying the question in your IELTS essays.
How to write a good essay: Paraphrasing the question
This video from English with Emma · engVid clearly explains what paraphrasing means and why you lose marks for copying the essay question.
Watch the beginning of the video, from 00:00 to 04:05. Pay close attention to the definition of paraphrasing: changing the words and sentence structure while keeping the original meaning.
As Emma explained, paraphrasing is about expressing someone else's idea in your own words. It shows the examiner that you understand the topic and have a good range of vocabulary.
To put it simply:
2. The Three Core Techniques of Paraphrasing
There are three main techniques you can use to paraphrase effectively. The best approach is often to combine them. Let's look at each one.
Technique 1: Use Synonyms (Carefully!)
The most common method is to replace keywords in the original sentence with synonyms (words with a similar meaning).
How to write a good essay: Paraphrasing the question
Let's continue with Emma's video, where she demonstrates how to identify keywords and find synonyms.
Watch from 04:05 to 07:36. Notice the synonyms she suggests for words like 'important', 'development', and 'country'.
However, this is where many students make mistakes. Synonyms rarely have the exact same meaning or usage. The context is very important.
Vocabulary for IELTS: Paraphrasing Tips
This video from IELTS Liz provides an essential warning about using synonyms. She explains why some synonyms work in one context but are completely wrong in another.
Watch from the beginning to 07:25. Focus on her examples: Why you can 'consume' fuel but 'eat' meat (not 'use' meat). When to use 'people' versus 'humans'.
The key message from Liz is critical: your knowledge of collocations (words that naturally go together) and context is more important than just knowing a list of synonyms. If you are not 100% sure a synonym fits, it is safer to reuse the original word.
Technique 2: Change the Word Form
A safer and very effective technique is to change the form of a word. For example, you can change a noun to a verb, or a verb to an adjective.
- Original: "The consumption of junk food is a problem." (Noun)
- Paraphrase: "People who consume too much junk food face problems." (Verb)
Top Five Paraphrasing Techniques
This article from the British Council gives a clear example of changing word forms.
Read the short section titled '2. Use a Different Word Form'. Notice how the noun 'consumption' is changed to the verb 'consumed'.
This technique shows grammatical flexibility and is often easier than finding a perfect synonym.
Technique 3: Change the Sentence Structure
You can also change the order of words and clauses in a sentence. One powerful way to do this is to change the voice from active to passive.
- Original (Active): "The government has implemented new policies to reduce pollution."
- Paraphrase (Passive): "New policies have been implemented by the government to reduce pollution."
Another method is to change the order of the clauses.
How to Paraphrase Successfully in IELTS
The article 'How to Paraphrase Successfully in IELTS' by IELTS Liz demonstrates how to change sentence structure effectively.
Read section 5, 'Changing Sentence Structure'. Pay attention to how the order of clauses is reversed and, more importantly, how a gerund (-ing word) is used to start the sentence. This is a high-level skill.
3. Putting It All Together: A Step-by-Step Example
The most effective paraphrasing combines these techniques. Relying on just one method can be difficult and less successful.
Let's paraphrase this sentence from an IELTS question:
Original Sentence: "The increasing use of technology in education has significantly changed how students learn."
-
Change word forms and use synonyms:
- "increasing" (adjective) -> "growing" (synonym)
- "use" (noun) -> "application" (synonym)
- "significantly changed" (adverb + verb) -> "transformed" (stronger verb synonym)
- "how students learn" -> "the way students learn"
Initial Paraphrase: "The growing application of technology in education has transformed the way students learn."
-
Change the sentence structure (Active to Passive):
- The object of the first sentence ("the way students learn") can become the subject of the new sentence.
Final Paraphrase: "The way students learn has been transformed by the growing application of technology in educational settings."
By combining these techniques, we have created a sophisticated paraphrase that keeps the original meaning perfectly.
4. Your Turn: Practice Paraphrasing
Now it's time for you to practice. Paraphrase the following sentences using a combination of the techniques we've discussed.
Sentence 1:
"Many people believe that city life offers more opportunities for professional development."
Sentence 2:
"Governments should invest more money in public transport to reduce traffic congestion."
Take about 10 minutes to write your own versions. When you're ready, look at the model answers below.
Click to see model answers
Sentence 1 Model Answer:
"It is widely believed that urban environments provide greater possibilities for career advancement."
- Techniques used:
- Synonyms:
city life->urban environments,offers->provide,more->greater,opportunities->possibilities,professional development->career advancement. - Sentence Structure: Changed from "Many people believe that..." to "It is widely believed that..." (a common academic passive structure).
- Synonyms:
Sentence 2 Model Answer:
"A reduction in traffic congestion could be achieved if more government funding was invested in public transportation systems."
- Techniques used:
- Synonyms:
money->funding,public transport->public transportation systems. - Word Form:
reduce(verb) ->reduction(noun). - Sentence Structure: Changed the order of clauses and used a conditional structure (
if...). The main verb was also changed from active (should invest) to passive (was invested).
- Synonyms:
Conclusion
Great work today. You have learned the essential techniques for paraphrasing, a skill that will dramatically improve your IELTS Writing score and help you across the entire exam.
Key Takeaways:
- Paraphrasing means restating an idea in your own words while keeping the original meaning. Never copy the question.
- The three main techniques are: using synonyms, changing word forms, and changing sentence structure.
- Be very careful with synonyms; context and collocation are key. When in doubt, reuse the word.
- The most effective paraphrasing combines all three techniques.
In this lesson, we saw how changing a word's form (e.g., from verb to noun) is a powerful paraphrasing strategy. In our next lesson, we'll focus on a specific type of this called nominalization, which is the process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns. This is a key feature of formal, academic writing and will help you achieve a more sophisticated style in your essays.