If you are contemplated to improve your score in IELTS Test, one thing that you can do is practise PARAPHRASING.

Wondering, what Paraphrasing is?

Paraphrasing is changing a statement or passage into different sentence or passage but keeping the same meaning as original one.

In simple words, you can say that paraphrasing is expressing the same meaning of the text but by using different words (i.e. in your own words).

For many tests of English language like IELTS Test, being skilful at paraphrasing is extremely important. In IELTS Exam, it is the one of the most important skills to have for Writing and Speaking Tests. However, it will also help you in the IELTS Reading as well as the Listening Tests.

Let's keep it simple! If you know Paraphrasing, you can achieve your desired IELTS Score.

Why It Is Important To Paraphrase?

Mainly, paraphrasing is used to avoid plagiarism. That means, it is used to avoid reiteration of the same words so that it prevents you from losing marks in the IELTS Exam.

Sometimes, it is essential to repeat some information either in the beginning of the essay or in other paragraphs so as to put emphasis on that particular details. Now, you don't want to use the same words repetitively to highlight the details. So, what you can do is - take that information and frame it in other words i.e. paraphrase it. But, take care that the meaning of the information you want to convey remains the same as that of the original one.

Do you know IELTS Test determines a test taker's ability to paraphrase in different ways? Well, let's understand by taking the IELTS Academic Reading Test as an example here.

The reading passages provided to you are written using one specific sentence structure. The questions structured below the passage are rephrased from the information given in the passage. Here, your ability to recognize two things with the same meaning is tested i.e. your paraphrasing skill.

Before getting into the details, have a look at an example.

Original Sentence: Any trip to Australia should include a visit to Hunter to sample their exquisite wines.

Paraphrased Sentence: Be sure to include Hunter's wine-tasting experience while visiting Australia.

What Are The Paraphrasing Tools That You Can Use?

Here are some of the paraphrasing tools. Understand them with the given illustrations and put them into practise to ace your IELTS Test.

1. Synonyms & Antonyms

Original Sentence: The hardest language to learn is Korean.

Paraphrased Sentence using Synonym: Korean is a language considered as one of the most difficult to master.

Original Sentence: The peel of banana can be easily removed unlike the orange.

Paraphrased Sentence using Antonym: The peel of banana is not as hard to remove as that of an orange.

2. Sentence Structures

Original Sentence: Though Julie is youngest in her class, she is at least three inches taller than her classmates.

Paraphrased Sentence: Julie is taller than other students in her class by three inches or more, despite being the youngest there.

3. Clauses

Original Sentence: Jenny lives in Ottawa. Ottawa is the capital of Canada.

Paraphrased Sentence: Jenny lives in Ottawa, which is the capital of Canada.

4. Active/Passive Voice

Original Sentence: A tornado destroyed Joe's house. [Active]

Paraphrased Sentence: Joe's house was destroyed by a tornado. [Passive]

Knowing the proper use of these tools can help you fetch a good score in your IELTS Exam.

Remember These Quick Tips that will Help You to PARAPHRASE like a PRO!

• Read the given text properly
• Identify the Independent Clause of the sentence
• Isolate the main idea of the text from the independent clause
• Change as many words as possible. Nouns, Verbs, Adverbs, and Adjectives can be changed
• Change the structure of the sentence
1. Change Active Voice to Passive Voice and vice versa
2. Convert Complex sentences to Simple sentences
3. Change Phrases to Clauses and vice versa
• Always start a new sentence with Capital Letter
• Maintain relationships, order and sequence of the information as given in the original text. For example, the sentence is describing two events - 'A' and 'B'. 'A' happened before 'B'. So, even if you change the structure of the sentence, the order in which events occurred will remain the same i.e. first 'A' and then 'B'

Again, make sure that the original idea of the text never changes while you paraphrase.

Do you need some help to put these tips into practice? Here is an example!

Want to refer to some more examples of paraphrasing?

It's simple!

Pick up two newspapers of different publication. Select an article on the event that is published in both the newspapers. Read them turn by turn. You will notice that though both articles contain the same details, their way of forming the sentences and presenting the information are different. This is none other than use of PARAPHRASE.

You can also practice paraphrasing by taking a piece of academic article from magazines, newspapers, or other online resources and try to write them in your own words. Again, remember that the gist of your paraphrased writing must remain the same as the original one.

Attempt Free IELTS practice tests on IELTS Tutorials to improve your paraphrasing skills and increase your chances of achieving high score in IELTS Exam.