How to Paraphrase (Without Plagiarising)
Paraphrasing means expressing someone else’s idea in your own words and sentence structure, while still crediting the original source. Done well, it shows you understand the material. Done badly, it can count as plagiarism.
Updated 21 October 2026 · EssayWriting.com editorial team
- Paraphrasing restates a passage in your own words and structure, with a citation.
- Every paraphrase must be cited, because the idea is still someone else’s.
- Swapping synonyms while keeping the structure (patchwriting) can count as plagiarism.
What does paraphrase mean?
A paraphrase restates a specific passage in new words, at roughly the same level of detail as the original. It is different from a summary, which condenses the main point, and from a quotation, which uses the exact words in quotation marks. All three need a citation.
| Quote | Paraphrase | Summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wording | Exact | Your own | Your own |
| Length | Same as original | About the same as the passage | Much shorter |
| Use when | Exact words matter | You need the detail but not the wording | You need only the main idea |
| Citation | Yes, with page | Yes | Yes |
Five-step paraphrasing method
- Read the passage until you understand it. Look up unfamiliar words.
- Close the source and write the idea from memory, as if explaining it to a friend.
- Change the structure, not just the vocabulary: reorder clauses, split or combine sentences, change from passive to active.
- Compare with the original. If any distinctive phrase remains, rewrite it or put it in quotation marks.
- Cite the source, including a page number if your style requires it.
Good and bad paraphrase examples
Original: "Students who sleep fewer than six hours a night perform noticeably worse on memory tasks than those who sleep seven hours or more." (Shah and Kim 105)
Bad paraphrase (patchwriting): Students who sleep less than six hours each night do noticeably worse on memory tasks than those who get seven or more hours (Shah and Kim 105).
Why it fails: it keeps the original structure and swaps a few words. Many institutions treat this as plagiarism even with a citation.
Good paraphrase: According to Shah and Kim, memory performance drops clearly when students get under six hours of sleep, compared with peers who sleep at least seven (105).
Why it works: new structure, new wording, same meaning, cited.
Source and quotation are fictional examples.
How to cite a paraphrase
| Style | Example |
|---|---|
| APA 7 | (Shah & Kim, 2023) or Shah and Kim (2023) found that... Page numbers are encouraged but not required for paraphrases. |
| MLA 9 | (Shah and Kim 105) |
| Harvard | (Shah and Kim, 2023, p. 105) where your guide asks for pages |
| Chicago notes | A footnote, as for any cited material |
See the APA, MLA and Harvard guides for full rules.
Techniques for changing structure
- Change the starting point: begin with a different part of the idea.
- Change voice: passive to active, or the reverse.
- Change word class: "performed poorly" becomes "poor performance".
- Split or combine sentences.
- Use your own examples to restate abstract points (and say they are yours).
Keep technical terms that have no real synonym (such as "photosynthesis" or "inflation"); changing them can change the meaning.
Paraphrasing tools: a caution
Automated paraphrasers rewrite text by swapping words and structures. Using one to disguise someone else’s work is plagiarism, and many schools treat submitting tool-rewritten text as misconduct even when it is cited. They can also distort meaning. If you use any writing tool, check your school’s policy and make sure the understanding and wording are genuinely yours.
Practice exercise
Passage: "Cities that removed parking minimums often saw more housing built on small lots, because developers no longer had to fit expensive parking structures onto limited land."
Your task: close this page, write the idea in one sentence of your own, then compare. Did you change the structure as well as the words? Did you keep the meaning exact?
Paraphrasing checklist
- I understood the passage before rewriting it.
- My version uses different structure and wording.
- The meaning is unchanged.
- Any distinctive phrase I kept is in quotation marks.
- The paraphrase is cited.
Related
Paraphrasing in different subjects
Sciences: keep technical terms and numbers exact; change the sentence structure around them. Humanities: paraphrase arguments and interpretations, but quote when the exact wording of a primary text is what you are analysing. Social sciences: paraphrase findings, keep the study's key variables and population accurate, and avoid overstating results ("suggests" rather than "proves" when the original is cautious).
Signal phrases that introduce paraphrases
- According to Shah and Kim (2023), ...
- Lopez argues that ...
- As the National Education Agency reports, ...
- Research by Okoro suggests ...
Signal phrases make it clear where the borrowed idea starts. The citation marks where it ends. Anything after the citation is understood as your own analysis.
A second worked example
Original: "Tourism replaced fishing as the main employer in many coastal towns, but the benefits were uneven, favouring property owners over former fishing families." (Lopez 112)
Paraphrase: Lopez shows that, as tourism overtook fishing as the leading source of jobs, families who owned property gained far more than those who had lived from the sea (112).
Fictional source for illustration.
Quick answers to common questions
Can I paraphrase a whole article?
For a whole article you usually want a summary, which condenses the main argument, rather than a paraphrase of every sentence.
How close is too close?
If someone placing your sentence next to the original could see the same structure with swapped words, it is too close.
Frequently asked questions
What is paraphrasing?
Restating a specific passage in your own words and sentence structure, at a similar level of detail, with a citation to the original source.
Do I need to cite a paraphrase?
Yes. A paraphrase uses someone else’s idea, so it must be cited.
Is changing a few words enough?
No. Swapping words while keeping the original structure (patchwriting) can be treated as plagiarism.
What is the difference between paraphrasing and summarising?
A paraphrase restates a passage at similar length; a summary condenses the main idea into fewer words.
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