Checked: 2 September 2026. This reader guide is aligned to MOE’s English Language Syllabus 2020 Primary and current Secondary English expectations. It does not claim a current eduKateSG Jurong East branch.
Paraphrasing sounds simple: say the same thing in your own words. In practice, students often change too little and copy the original sentence, or change too much and distort the meaning. Strong paraphrasing requires control of three things at once: the original idea, the grammatical relationship and the new wording. For Jurong East families, this legacy 2017 URL now owns one precise English mechanism: how to paraphrase without changing what the source actually means.
Quick read
- Understand the sentence before changing it.
- Preserve the core relationship, not the original wording.
- Change more than individual synonyms; restructure where useful.
- Do not add certainty, emotion or detail that the source did not contain.
- Use paraphrasing for comprehension answers, summaries, source-based writing and note-making.
- The goal is a learner who can restate meaning accurately without becoming dependent on copying.
Paraphrasing is not synonym replacement
Weak paraphrase:
The boy was exhausted after running for a long time.
becomes:
The child was tired after jogging for an extended period.
The words changed, but the structure barely did.
A stronger paraphrase might be:
After the long run, the boy was completely worn out.
The relationship is preserved while the sentence is rebuilt.
Step 1: identify the core meaning
Before writing, ask:
- Who or what is involved?
- What happened?
- Why or under what condition?
- What relationship matters most?
- How certain is the claim?
If the learner cannot answer these questions, they are not ready to paraphrase.
Step 2: identify what must not change
Preserve:
- facts;
- cause-and-effect;
- sequence;
- comparison;
- degree of certainty;
- who did what;
- important conditions;
- the source’s main judgement where relevant.
The language can change. These relationships should not.
Step 3: close the source temporarily
After understanding the sentence or paragraph, look away and explain it in simple language.
This reduces copying pressure.
Then return to the source and compare:
- Did I preserve the meaning?
- Did I omit anything essential?
- Did I accidentally add something?
The source becomes a checking instrument rather than a sentence template.
Step 4: change the sentence architecture
Useful transformations include:
- cause-first → effect-first;
- active → passive where natural;
- two clauses → one clause plus phrase;
- noun phrase → verb phrase;
- direct statement → concise explanatory structure;
- long detail → compressed category.
Structural change creates a more genuine paraphrase than swapping isolated words.
Example: cause and effect
Original:
Because the road was flooded, the bus service was delayed.
Paraphrase:
The flooded road caused delays to the bus service.
The cause remains the same. The structure changes.
Example: preserving uncertainty
Original:
The results suggest that the new method may improve efficiency.
Bad paraphrase:
The new method definitely improves efficiency.
The paraphrase has become stronger than the source.
Better:
The findings indicate that the method could make the process more efficient.
Uncertainty is preserved.
Example: preserving degree
Original:
The number of visitors fell slightly.
Bad paraphrase:
Visitor numbers collapsed.
The degree changed.
Better:
There was a small decrease in the number of visitors.
Precision matters.
Paraphrasing in comprehension answers
Students sometimes copy entire lines from the passage when a question asks them to explain in their own words.
A useful routine:
- locate the evidence;
- underline the relationship;
- close or cover the source;
- state the idea simply;
- write the answer;
- compare for distortion.
The learner should preserve the answer, not the sentence shape.
Do not paraphrase keywords that need precision
Some words should remain if changing them would make the answer less accurate.
For example:
- technical terms;
- proper nouns;
- important scientific or legal concepts in cross-curricular work;
- task-specific vocabulary.
“Own words” does not mean every word must be different.
Paraphrasing and vocabulary depth
Students with shallow vocabulary often distort because they choose a synonym with the wrong:
- strength;
- register;
- collocation;
- connotation;
- grammatical form.
Vocabulary teaching should therefore include near-neighbour distinctions, not only definitions.
Paraphrasing and grammar
Changing sentence structure requires grammatical control.
A learner should be able to preserve:
- tense;
- reference;
- cause;
- condition;
- comparison;
- modality;
- negation.
One lost not can reverse the meaning completely.
The negation check
When paraphrasing, explicitly check:
- not;
- never;
- hardly;
- rarely;
- unless;
- only;
- except.
These small words can control the entire proposition.
The pronoun check
When restructuring, make sure pronouns still point to the correct person or thing.
Original:
When Mei spoke to Lina, she apologised.
If the original context makes Mei the one apologising, a paraphrase that makes Lina the subject changes the fact.
Reference must survive the rewrite.
Paraphrasing a paragraph
For longer source material:
- identify the paragraph’s main idea;
- list 2–4 essential supporting points;
- remove examples that are not needed;
- reorder the explanation if helpful;
- write from notes rather than line-by-line substitution;
- check against the source.
This begins to overlap with summarising, but the goal is still faithful restatement.
Paraphrase versus summary
Paraphrase: restates roughly the same amount of meaning in new language.
Summary: compresses the source by selecting only the most important ideas.
A good learner knows which job is required.
Paraphrase versus quotation
Quotation: preserves the exact source wording.
Paraphrase: preserves the meaning but changes the language.
In school comprehension, students may be expected to use their own words in some tasks. In later academic writing, quotation and paraphrase have different source-handling roles.
Primary progression
Primary learners can begin by:
- retelling a sentence simply;
- changing sentence order;
- replacing only safe vocabulary;
- preserving cause and sequence;
- checking whether the new sentence still says the same thing.
The aim is meaning fidelity.
Secondary progression
Secondary students can work with:
- more abstract vocabulary;
- source comparison;
- argument paraphrase;
- modal language;
- qualification;
- compression;
- source integration.
Distortion becomes more subtle as texts become more nuanced.
Common failure: synonym drift
The learner replaces concerned with terrified.
Repair:
Compare intensity. Is the new word stronger than the source?
Common failure: changing cause into sequence
Original:
The match was postponed because of the rain.
Weak paraphrase:
It rained and then the match was postponed.
The sequence remains, but the causal claim is weaker.
Preserve the relationship explicitly.
Common failure: adding explanation
The learner writes a plausible reason that the source did not state.
Repair:
Separate paraphrase from inference. If the source does not contain the reason, do not smuggle it into the restatement.
Common failure: copying chunks
Repair:
Read, cover, say, write, check.
This simple sequence forces generation.
Three students and paraphrase comparison
In a 3-pax class, three students can paraphrase the same sentence differently.
The group checks:
- Which version preserves all essential meaning?
- Which version changed the degree?
- Which version copied too much?
- Which version is clearer?
Several correct paraphrases may exist.
Catch Up, Keep Up, Move Ahead
Catch Up: paraphrase short concrete sentences with clear cause or sequence.
Keep Up: use paraphrase in comprehension and school writing.
Move Ahead: paraphrase nuanced arguments, qualified claims and source material while preserving stance and certainty.
Meaning fidelity remains the standard.
A 90-minute paraphrase lesson
A useful session can:
- compare paraphrase and copying;
- identify a sentence’s core meaning;
- cover the source;
- produce two valid restatements;
- check for distortion;
- paraphrase a short paragraph from notes;
- apply the skill to a comprehension answer.
The learner should increasingly paraphrase from meaning rather than from visible words.
How parents can help
- Ask the child to explain a sentence aloud without looking at it.
- Ask whether the new wording is stronger or weaker than the original.
- Watch for added reasons or lost negatives.
- Do not insist every single word must change.
- Ask what relationship must remain the same.
Current official source
MOE’s English Language Syllabus 2020 Primary emphasises comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, effective communication and independent meaning-making. Paraphrasing is one practical way to show that meaning has been understood and can be represented flexibly.
What we removed from the old 2017 page
The historical Jurong East article was a generic locality clone with stale service claims, broad “first language” marketing and unrelated image galleries.
This rebuild removes the false locality implication and gives the URL one precise English job: paraphrasing without distortion.
Boundary and locality
This guide is written for Jurong East families and other Singapore English learners. It does not claim a current eduKateSG Jurong East branch. Current physical locations and class availability should be checked on the contact page.
Frequently asked questions
Does every word need to change in a paraphrase?
No. Preserve necessary terms and proper nouns. The sentence should be genuinely reconstructed, not mechanically synonym-swapped.
How is paraphrasing different from summarising?
Paraphrasing restates meaning; summarising selects and compresses the most important meaning.
Can paraphrasing be shorter?
Yes, as long as no required meaning is lost. But compression is not the main goal unless the task asks for a summary.
Why does my child distort the source?
Often because they change vocabulary before fully understanding the relationship, or choose near-synonyms with different strength or register.
What is the long-term goal?
A reader-writer who can detach meaning from the original sentence shape and represent that meaning accurately in their own language.
The larger point
Real paraphrasing begins when the learner stops translating words and starts carrying meaning.