The one-sentence truth: Paraphrasing is not replacing words. It is rebuilding meaning in a new linguistic form without changing the intellectual content.
Good Paper 2 paraphrase preserves four things: proposition, scope, degree and relationship. Change the vocabulary and syntax only after those are secure.
Preserve the proposition
Identify the smallest complete claim. Who does what, to whom, under what conditions? If the original says “Subsidies can widen access by lowering upfront cost”, the paraphrase must preserve both the effect and mechanism.
Preserve scope
“Some adolescents” cannot become “young people”. “In highly unequal societies” cannot become “in society”. Scope words are meaning.
Preserve certainty
May, likely, often, generally, strongly suggests and establishes sit at different levels. A paraphrase that strengthens or weakens certainty is inaccurate even if the topic remains the same.
Preserve relationships
If X exacerbates Y, do not write that X causes Y. If A offsets B, do not write that A eliminates B. Causal and evaluative verbs are part of the proposition.
Change syntax, not just vocabulary
Turn nouns into verbs, active into passive where natural, reorder cause and effect, or compress clauses. Structural change reduces lifting more safely than synonym substitution alone.
Use semantic families
Learn groups such as reduce/mitigate/alleviate/dampen and understand the differences. A paraphrase becomes reliable when you know which neighbour fits the original degree and object.
Before and after
Original: “Strict regulation may inhibit innovation by raising compliance costs for small firms.”
Good paraphrase: “Smaller companies may innovate less freely when demanding rules increase the cost of meeting legal requirements.”
The wording changes while possibility, mechanism, actor and effect remain.
The paraphrase audit
- Same core claim?
- Same population and context?
- Same certainty?
- Same causal direction?
- Same evaluative strength?
- Enough lexical and structural change?
Seven-day drill
- Paraphrase one sentence three ways.
- Preserve qualifiers.
- Preserve causal verbs.
- Change syntax deliberately.
- Work with abstract nouns.
- Check for accidental overstatement.
- Complete a timed Paper 2 paraphrase set.
Continue the JC2 GP vocabulary system
Return to General Paper Vocabulary Year 2 (JC2) and Vocabulary for Junior College (JC1–JC2).
Final thought
The best paraphrase changes the language enough that it is yours while preserving the meaning enough that it is still the writer’s.