ielts reading paraphrasing exercises

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IELTS Reading: Paraphrasing Practice

Virtually every IELTS Reading question involves some form of paraphrased language; if the questions used the exact same language as the passage and involved a simple word hunt, there would essentially be no test at all!

To answer Reading questions quickly and confidently, you must be able to match the rephrased language that appears in the questions to its original counterpart in the passages. The following exercises are designed to help you practice this skill.

(Answers are at the bottom of the page.) 

Match the numbered phrases with their rewritten versions below. Each answer is used only once.  

Aviation is a (1) stubbornly difficult strand of transport to decarbonise. Aircraft burn huge amounts of fossil fuel, for business travel, leisure activities and tourism that used to be (2) prohibitively expensive but in recent decades have become accessible to large populations as fossil fuels became cheaper (3) in real terms .

Demand management aside – and that too is on the table, of course, alongside that Swedish phrase flygskam, or ‘flight shame’ – very few (4) industry observers truly think that batteries will make the sort of gains in energy density to ever be capable of displacing liquid fuels for (5) aviation applications . Hence, the question arises whether sustainable replacements for fossil liquid fuels can be developed and then made in (6) sufficient quantities .

(Source: https://www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/article/towards-sustainable-aviation-fuel )

A. In the absolute sense

B. Use in the field of aviation

C. Persistently challenging

D. Too costly to be possible

E. Large-enough amounts

F. People who follow the aviation business

What did the Romans ever do for us? It seems they added an inch to the average height of their British subjects — they came, they saw, we prospered. And after taking a plunge during the Anglo-Saxon era, the height of the average inhabitant rose again in the wake of the Norman Conquest. These are just two of the findings of new research using data from skeletal remains to calculate how the average height of men rose or fell over 2,000 years of history in what is now England. The result is (1) a startling picture of changes in health and wellbeing.

Using data of skeletal remains of men aged between 21 and 49 years from a range of archaeological excavations across England, they deduced (2) individuals’ full heights from their femur length. Lead author Dr Gregori Galofré-Vila, from the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford, said: ‘We believe our results shed new light on the development of health in England over the very long run.’

He and his team worked on the basis that height, linked with childhood nutrition, is (3) a good measure of  wellbeing and can be estimated accurately from the length of a full grown man’s femur. Biologists and epidemiologists have long recognised that although (4) the main causes of variation in individual height may be genetic, changes in the economic, social and environmental circumstances are reflected in the mean heights of different groups of people at any given time.

The working paper reveals that men in this area of Britain became taller when it was under Roman occupation (200–410AD), with average height rising from 167cm (5ft 6in) to 170cm (5ft 7in). The researchers suggest this rise in average height (5) coincided with the Romans’ improved water supply and sanitation systems and a more varied diet. Heights did not decline immediately after the Romans left Britain in 410, but fell from 600AD. The paper (6) highlights previous research suggesting that health (7) may have deteriorated when populations moved out of the towns and cities set up by the Romans, abandoning the more hygienic water supplies and waste-disposal systems. Plague and pestilence then became common and infectious diseases were on the increase, with archaeological evidence also suggesting that (8) diets were inadequate , notes the paper.

(Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20190514234756/http://www.oxfordtoday.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-04-28-tall-and-short-it-how-average-english-height-has-changed-over-2000-years )

A. Food did not provide sufficient nutrients

B. Might have become worse

C. Occurred at the same time as

D. A surprising image

E. The primary reasons for differences

F. Calls attention to earlier studies

G. How tall people grew to be

H. A reliable assessment 

Scroll down for the answers

Answers: Passage 1

Answers: Passage 2

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How to Paraphrase in the IELTS Test

Paraphrasing is an essential IELTS skill. This post will show you how to paraphrase effectively.

Paraphrasing is simply re-writing a phrase or sentence so that it has the same meaning but with different words. Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills to learn before doing your IELTS test. It is most important for writing and speaking, but will also help you in the reading and listening tests. In other words, if you know how to paraphrase, you are more likely to get the score you need.

The mental processes required to paraphrase will also help you to fully understand the question, and this is one of the reasons I tell my students to begin all of their answers in the writing test by paraphrasing the question.

Let’s look at an example.

Example: Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills to learn before doing your IELTS test.

Paraphrased: Before taking the IELTS test, mastering paraphrasing is one of the most crucial things to do.

As you can see, the second sentence (paraphrased sentence) uses synonyms to change some vocabulary (e.g., ‘important’ for ‘crucial’ and ‘’prior’’ to ‘before’ and changes the grammar (e.g., Paraphrasing is one of the most important skills” for “mastering paraphrasing”). You can also change the word order.

You should use these three main methods in the IELTS test to paraphrase sentences. Ideally, you should try to use all three, but sometimes two will only be possible.

We will now look at each method in detail and also have a look at the passive.

Method Number 1: Using Synonyms

Synonyms are different words that have the same meaning. For example, ‘humans’ is a synonym for ‘people’ and ‘attractive’ is a synonym for ‘beautiful’. This method replaces words with the same meaning to produce a new sentence.

For example:

My car needs petrol .

My vehicle requires fuel.

As you can see, I have replaced 3 out of four words with synonyms to produce a new sentence with the same meaning as the first one. You will notice that I didn’t replace all of the words, but you should try to replace most of them.

This is the most common method that students use, and it can be used effectively, but you should be careful.

Violent crime is on the rise among teenagers .

Violent offences are rising among young people .

This student has changed the word ‘teenagers’ to ‘young people’. They are similar words, and teenagers are, of course, young people; however, children and young adults, aged between 18-30, could also be described as young people. A more term would be ‘adolescents’ or ‘young people between the ages of 13-19.’ A better way to paraphrase this sentence would therefore be:

Violent offences are rising among adolescents.

You should, therefore, only use words you are 100% sure about. Don’t change a word unless you are 100% sure that it is a direct synonym. Otherwise, you are likely to make mistakes, which will lower your score.

Let’s look at another good example:

Global warming is mostly caused by emissions from internal combustion engines.

Climate change is mainly caused by the release of fumes from motor vehicles.

M ethod Number 2: Change the Word Order

Changing the word order also allows us to effectively paraphrase a sentence, but again, we have to be careful. Don’t change the word order without thinking about how this affects the grammar of the sentence. By changing the word order, you may have to add a word, subtract a word or change the form of the word.

The 100% rule applies again; don’t change it if you are not 100% sure it is grammatically correct. Remember that you are judged on your ability to produce error-free sentences in the IELTS test and use a range of grammar structures.

Fortunately, there are two straightforward ways to change the word order in most IELTS questions.

• You can easily change the order of the clauses if the original sentence has more than one clause.

Question: As languages such as Spanish, Chinese and English become more widely used, there is a fear that many minority languages may die out.

Paraphrased by changing word order: There is a fear that many minority languages may die out, as languages such as Spanish, Chinese and English become more widely used.

We could also add some synonyms to paraphrase it even more:

Paraphrased with changing word order AND synonyms: There is dismay that many lesser-used languages may pass away as languages such as Chinese, English and Spanish become more broadly spoken.

• You can also change the word order if there is an adjective or noun in the question. You do this by simply changing the adjective into a relative clause.

Question: Learning to manage money is one of the key aspects of adult life.

Paraphrased: Learning to manage money is a key aspect of adult life.

M ethod Number 3: Change the Form of the Word

There are many different forms of words, including nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Changing the form of a word allows us to paraphrase effectively. Again, don’t just change the form of the word; you also need to check that your changes make grammatical sense. You might need to change the words around it to make the sentence error-free.

Question: Longer life spans and improvements in the health of older people suggest that people over the age of sixty-five can continue to live full and active lives.

Paraphrased by changing word form: Longer life spans and improvements in the health of older people are suggesting that people over the age of sixty-five can continue living full and active lives.

M ethod Number 4: Change from Active to Passive

The passive voice is often used in academic writing and can therefore be used in the IELTS academic writing test. Only verbs with an object can be turned into passive.

Example active sentence: The property developers invested $20 million in the development of the shopping centre.

Example passive sentence: $20 million was invested in the development of shopping centres.

We often use the passive voice in academic writing when we don’t want to say it is our opinion.

Example active: People say that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Example passive: Global warming is said to be caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

How many of these methods should I use?

The four methods can be used independently or together. I advise my students to try and change the grammar (word order and/or word form) and use synonyms. Remember only use the methods you feel 100% comfortable using and ensure your work is error-free.

These paraphrasing methods will only help you in the IELTS exam if you practice using them. Find some example writing questions and try paraphrasing them using these methods. You can use the methods individually and then combine them. Try all of them to see what works for you. If you practice enough, you will begin to see patterns in the questions, and common words and phrases will become easy for you to change.

If you want to see examples of paraphrasing, use Google. Many articles will appear on the same topic if you Google certain keywords. By comparing these, you will be able to see how different writers have expressed the same ideas.

Do you need me to correct your essays and give you feedback on them? Check out our essay correction service .

About Christopher Pell

My name is Christopher Pell and I'm the Managing Director of IELTS Advantage.

I started IELTS Advantage as a simple blog to help 16 students in my class. Several years later, I am very humbled that my VIP Course has been able to help thousands of people around the world to score a Band 7+ in their IELTS tests.

If you need my help with your IELTS preparation, you can send me an email using the contact us page.

IELTS Grammar Guide: Synonyms and Paraphrases

Paraphrases and Synonyms in Reading

Paraphrasing is a very important skill for IELTS exam. Because in the test, almost in all the sections you will face paraphrases. For example, in the reading section, it is very unlikely that you will get the same word both in the question sentence and in the reading passage.

Paraphrases and Synonyms in Listening

In the listening section, you will get around 45 seconds before every audio clip begins. During this time, you already have the question texts with you, and observing the question texts you are trying to predict what you are about to listen. But unfortunately, you are going to listen only a few words that are used in the question paper. Because you will listen mostly paraphrases or synonyms.

Paraphrases and Synonyms in Speaking

If you talk about speaking section, you know you will need to resort to some strategies to impress the examiner. If you don't know synonyms or how to paraphrase, you are in trouble. Because, if you use the same word too frequently, it will sound very irritating to the examiner.

Paraphrases and Synonyms in Writing

Paraphrase has a special importance in writing section, specially in the very first paragraph of your essay. Because in this paragraph, you must write a sentence that will reiterate the question sentence, and this reiteration is simply a paraphrase of the question statement.

This is how you will need paraphrases and synonyms in all areas of IELTS exam. Now let's see how you can develop paraphrasing skill.   

How to paraphrase

There are three most effective strategies that you can use to make paraphrases:

Using synonyms  (words bearing the same meaning)

Changing the form of words

Changing grammatical structure

You should practice all of these approaches for your best preparation.

1. Using synonyms

Synonyms are the different words that have the same meaning. For example, the synonyms of examination is assessment, test etc. This is a very simple strategy. Just replacing with the words that have the same meaning to make a new sentence.

Make sure you use same words as synonyms, not similar words. There is a big difference between the word 'same' and the word 'similar'. Similar means 'close to', whereas 'same' means 'exact'. A 'close to' meaning word will not be a synonym, it has to be an 'exact' meaning word. If you cannot paraphrase with an exact meaning word. the message of the original statement might change. Therefore, use synonyms only when you are 100% sure about the meaning. 

Paraphrase by Synonyms:

Original sentence:  Why do you need to wait for 2 hours for the  test?

Paraphrased sentence:  Why do you need to wait for a couple of hours for the assessment ?

2. Changing the form of words

You know there are so many forms of words like verbs, nouns, adjectives etc. You can make paraphrases by changing these forms as well. But you have to make sure you are not going beyond of grammatical range and accuracy. Whatever the word form you use for paraphrasing, make sure your new sentence is grammatically valid.

For example,

Original sentence:  Popularity of sports varies  in different regions of the world. 

Paraphrased sentence:  Popularity of sports is varied  in different regions of the world. 

3. Changing grammatical structures

This is the vast area of forming paraphrase. If you are confident in grammar, you will love to paraphrase using this strategy. Because there are always so many grammatical options that you can use to construct a beautiful new sentence without changing the meaning of the original sentence. For example,

Reordering clause :

Original sentence: As there is a huge revolution in recent communication technology, people are worried about losing their ethnic identity.

Paraphrased sentence:  People are afraid of losing their ethnic identity as there is a revolutionary development is communication technology.

Active to passive voice

Original sentence:  An international construction giant funded this massive project.

Paraphrased sentence:  This massive project was funded by an international construction giant.

Make sure you navigate through our detailed discussion on,

essential grammar and vocabulary for IELTS.

IELTS Reading: Summarising & Paraphrasing

The brilliant thing with practicing this skill is that it is used in all of the four test types. Summarising information is akin to being able to paraphrase well, and it needs a good level of vocabulary to do so.

With the IELTS exam, you need:

• a wide range of vocabulary
• the ability to understand the meaning of sentences even if you don't know all of the words
• the ability to paraphrase and put a sentence into similar terms but, use other language- this is where synonyms come into play!

When will you need to apply these skills?

• For all of the tasks in the reading paper- they all require you to understand what the text is about, so your range of language is crucial in providing accurate answers.
• For your writing exam, you will need to have clear and accurate expression. You will need to paraphrase in your opening paragraph and use precise vocabulary throughout your writing.
• For your speaking exam, being able to express yourself with ease is of the most importance. Having a good range of vocabulary also means that you avoid being repetitive.
• For your listening exam, vocabulary and synonym skill are key. It will allow you to fill in meaning if you are unsure of what has been said. If you have a good range of lexical resource, then you will be able to pick up meaning.

Sample text

Sample questions

Information about the sample text

You may notice that the sample text isn't an IELTS one. And you may have heard others tell you to only practice with IELT texts alone. And you should be using IELTS materials to practice with.

You also don't need to shut yourself away from other short reading passages that prompt similar skill sets, such as; thinking of and identifying synonyms, paraphrasing, summarising, identifying information, short answer questions, identifying writer's views or ideas.

Exposing yourself to other short form of writing, whether fiction or non fiction, means you are expanding your language skills and increasing your vocabulary. Both being complementary skills for your IELTS exam.

This sample text really tests your breadth of vocabulary. See how in the questions, they aren't asking you to define words but to know enough language that you can spot a similar meaning being created.

Answers for sample text

Summarising and paraphrasing strategies

• Note how many words they ask you to write- if it is just a word, or short phrase then stick to the instructed amount
• Try to understand each paragraph and write a short note of what is being discussed- you want to understand the overall meaning
• Be aware of words that collocate in the sentence as this could help hint to what the answer is
• Be careful with synonyms. You can check if it is correct by replacing the word with the new synonym, if it doesn't change the meaning then its likely to be a fine fit
• Look for language that is similar, not exactly the same. You may miss it if you do the latter.

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IELTS Skills

Paraphrasing, what is paraphrasing, why is paraphrasing important.

• By changing the words
• By changing the order

The best way to paraphrase

• Videos on paraphrasing 

Paraphrasing : “To paraphrase is to include the ideas or information from an original source in your paper by rephrasing those ideas or information in your own words” 1

In other words: Paraphrasing is incorporating the concepts or data from an authentic source in your writing by saying this in another way, while not modifying the original significance.

As you can see above we had an original message, or here a quote from an online source and we changed this quote into our own words. This is paraphrasing, changing the message/words while still keeping the same  meaning.

It’s one of the crucial skills to master for your IELTS. You will need it for

Academic writing task 1

• General Writing task 1
• Writing task 2.
• IELTS speaking
• IELTS reading
• IELTS listening

Have a look at the following parts of the exams and how it’s used.

In your Academic writing task 1 you either get a graph, a process or a map which you need to write about. In your introduction your first sentence should always be a restatement of the task. In other words you need to paraphrase the question . If you just copy exactly what the task says your score will go down.

Additionally, your task will include some key words/ key vocabulary which you will need to use throughout your report. Making sure you do not repeat the key words over and over again will ensure your lexical resources score will go up.

The graphs below show how people in a European city reached their office and got back home in 1959 and 2009. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

This means you have to change:

The graphs below show how people in a European city reached their office and got back home in 1959 and 2009.

By paraphrasing the text, using your own words, but still keeping the original meaning.  

Some of the key words you will have to paraphrase will be:

• European city

General writing task 1

In writing task 1 you have to write a letter based on the task you have been given. This letter always has a purpose (the reason why you are writing the letter) mentioned in the question. This purpose will have to be paraphrased in the letter.

You are a college student in an English speaking country. You share a rented apartment with others but want to move to the college accommodation instead.

Write a letter to the teacher in charge of the hostel and explain your intention to move to the college accommodation. In your letter:

– Introduce yourself

– Give reasons why you not happy with current accommodation

– Explain why you think the college accommodation will be better for you

Write at least 150 words.

This is the purpose of your letter and will have to be included and paraphrased:

You want to move to the college accommodation instead … explain your intention to move to the college accommodation.

You will also need to paraphrase some key vocabulary

• Accommodation

Writing task 2

This is an essay writing where they give you a precise question and you will need to write an essay about it. Here again paraphrasing is used in multiple ways:

• Like in Academic writing 1 you will need to start the introduction of your essay by rephrasing the question . Again this is a crucial skill as people should know what your writing is about, which should always be introduced at the beginning.
• Your task will include some key words/ key vocabulary which you will need to use throughout your essay. Making sure you don’t repeat the key vocabulary will be important to improve your lexical resources score.

One of the consequences of improved medical care is that the people are living longer and life expectancy is increasing. Do you think the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

What will need to be paraphrased:

Some of the key words you will use throughout your essay:

• Consequences
• Medical care
• People living longer
• Life expectancy
• Disadvantages

IELTS Speaking

In IELTS speaking you will be asked some questions and you will need to answer them. Here paraphrasing is useful in different ways:

• To buy time for thinking , you can always rephrase the question before answering.
• Like in the writing you can try to use synonyms for the key words from the question , to make sure you do not repeat yourself and again increase your lexical resources.
• When you do not know or remember a word you want to use in your speaking you can try describing the word. This is essential as you do want to keep your fluency up and don’t want to have an awkward silence while you try to think of the word you’re looking for.  This will improve your fluency and coherence score.

“When we were walking on the side of the road where you know the people walk…”  

Here the person didn’t remember the word pavement/sidewalk when speaking. Instead of stopping the conversation the person tried to describe it and just continued talking. This is a far better strategy than just stopping a few second to look for the word.

IELTS Reading

When answering the questions in your IELTS reading, paraphrasing will be necessary, as they will never use the same words from the text into your questions . The questions will always use synonyms or paraphrase parts of the text to say the same thing . If you do not know how to look for similar words or expression in the text you will never find the answer. As a result your reading score will go down as you either waste too much time finding the answer, and/or do not find the answer at all.

IELTS Listening

As with in reading it can happen that you will need to rely on synonyms or similar expressions to find the correct answer . This is particularly true in summary and note completion questions . Where you have some sentences and need to fill in the words from the listening. The words in your completion exercise will have synonyms or different wording, while the word you need to fill in will be the exact one of the listening.

How can we paraphrase

There are essentially 2 ways of paraphrasing. Either you change the word or you change the order of the words. Let’s have a look at how you can change the word first before we look at the order.

Changing the word

The easiest way to change the word is by replacing it with a synonym .

Car: vehicle, automobile, means of transport, jeep, pickup, truck, convertible, race car

The only thing you need to be careful of with synonyms is that you cannot always replace 1 word by another.

Let’s have a look at car again

• There are many cars in our neighborhood.
• There are many vehicles in our neighborhood
• There are many automobiles in our neighborhood
• There are many means of transport in our neighborhood
• There are many jeeps in our neighborhood
• There are many pickups in our neighborhood
• There are many trucks in our neighborhood
• There are many convertibles in our neighborhood
• There are many race cars in our neighborhood

Though car has many synonyms, if you just replace them with any of the synonyms randomly the meaning changes. The only synonym where the meaning stays the same is automobiles. With all the other synonyms the meaning of the sentence changes.

So for example:

The production of cars went up in 2009. The production of pickups went up.

General English writing task 1

My car was damaged in the accident. My race car was damaged in the accident. Unless you really are talking about a race car.

The overproduction of cars is a serious issue. The overproduction of means of transport is an issue .

There are many cars on the roads in my country. There are many jeeps on the roads of my country

If your not good at finding synonyms use a thesaurus . This is the best tool for students to expand their vocabulary. Just type in the word and look at the different synonyms provided. J ust remember to make sure that the meaning stays the same.

Another issue with synonyms are collocations. Certain words go together while others don’t .

Excessive smoking is bad for your health

Heavy smoking is bad for your health

Here the collocations are  heavy or excessive  smoking . In English you cannot say strong smoking or big smoking . For collocations there are no rules. The words go together because that’s how people us the words and always have.

If your not good at collocations then use a collocation dictionary . Again an extremely useful tool to expand and correct your vocabulary use. Just fill in the word and look at the possible collocations.

The final issue with synonyms is that the grammar might change.

Although I mostly agree with the main statement, I personally think there might be some important objections.

Despite mostly agreeing with the main statement, I personally think there might be some important objections

As you can see in the example above changing the linking word changes the grammar.

So, when in doubt , and you are not sure of the correct synonym, collocation or grammar, do not change the word . This means you won’t make mistakes, keeping your score up.

2.Changing the word form

You can also just keep the word but change the word form.

For example

Doing exercise : exercising   noun changes into a verb

Fail: failure   verb into a noun

Riding my bike: cycling  expression into a verb

Unnecessary: not necessary changing the prefix un into not

Underplayed: not paid well again changing the prefix

The same problems as with synonyms apply:

• meaning might change
• grammar definitely changes for example if you change a noun into verb.

Again, if you are not sure about what you are doing don’t do it.

3.Changing the grammar

Active to passive.

One of the other possibilities is changing an active sentence into a passive sentence.

The UK sold 2000 cars in February

2000 cars were sold in the UK

Changing the order

You can also just keep the words but change the order of the words in the sentence, or you could combine 2 separate sentences into 1 more complex sentence.

Changing the order of the causes

When you have multiple clauses in your sentence you can swap the clauses and put the second clause first and the first clause last.

Millions of people every year move to English-speaking countries such as Australia, Britain or America, in order to study at school, college or university.

Why do so many people want to study in English?

Why is English such an important international language?

You should write at least 250 words.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

In order to study at school, college or university, millions of people every year move to English-speaking countries such as Australia, Britain or America

Combining 2 sentence in 1

Another common way to paraphrase is to combine to existing sentences and combine them into 1 sentence with multiple clauses

Some people think that it is important to use leisure time for activities that improve the mind, such as reading and doing word puzzles.

Other people feel that it is important to rest the mind during leisure time.

While some people think it is important to use leisure time for activities that improve the mind, others feel it is more important to rest the mind.

Here just the first and the second are combined to form one more complex sentence. This is for example a good way to show that you can make complex sentences. Just remember to also use some synonyms and not just combine the 2 sentences.

Now, I’m sure you are asking, which is the best way to paraphrase? The best way is to use a combination of the different techniques. You could combine, synonyms with word from and changing the order, or any other technique or combination.  

The most important things to remember are:

• You do not need to change all words. The examiner is not going to check or count how many synonyms you have used, or how you changed the order of the words. All that matters is that it sounds natural and most importantly that it is correct.
• Make the changes you feel most comfortable with. Like mentioned above, correctness is important, so if you are not sure about the correct synonym, word form, spelling, grammar structure, then don’t change it. Only use the techniques you are comfortable with.

Now you know all the techniques the next thing you need to do is practice them.

How to avoid mistakes when paraphrasing 

Have a look at the video on how to avoid making mistakes when paraphrasing. 

How to write an introduction for IELTS Writing Task 2

Have a look at the video on how to write an introduction for IELTS Writing Task 2 and how to use paraphrasing. 

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IELTS Paraphrasing: 4 Proven Tips to Master It

27/03/2024 06:00

Paraphrasing is a crucial skill to master for the IELTS exam. To be honest, it’s a bit of an art form and will serve you well not only in the exam but in any writing that you’ll need to do thereafter.

As you know paraphrasing involves rephrasing a sentence or phrase with different words that convey the same meaning. Paraphrasing is essential for both speaking and writing, but it will also help you in the listening and reading tests. Therefore, if you can paraphrase well, you are more likely to earn a higher score.

Additionally, if you practice paraphrasing it will help you better understand the question. That's why I always tell my students to start their writing test answers by paraphrasing the question. It’s key to achieving a high score!

Consider the following use of paraphrasing.

Original : Paraphrasing is one of the most essential skills to learn prior to sitting for your IELTS exam. Now it can be paraphrased like this : Understanding paraphrasing is key before taking the IELTS test.

Notice that the second sentence uses synonyms to change vocabulary such as essential for key and before for prior . I also made changes to the grammar: Paraphrasing is one of the most essential skills to Understanding paraphrasing to convey the same message.

There are three main techniques, plus changing to passive voice to paraphrase sentences in the IELTS exam. While it might be preferable to use all three, often you will find only two are necessary.

Of course, with all of these, you must be 100% in your understanding of the original sentence or phrase and the changes you make. So, let’s look closer at these techniques now.

#1 Synonyms

Synonyms are words or phrases that mean the same as another word or phrase. Take for instance, ‘people’ is a synonym for ‘individuals’, and ‘attractive’ is a synonym for ‘pretty’. This technique replaces words with the same meaning to produce a new sentence.

For example: My bracelet needs repairing. My bangle requires mending.     

  With these three out of four words have been replaced with synonyms to create a new sentence with the same meaning as the first. Notice that all the words have not been replaced, but you should try to replace most of them.

This is probably the most common technique that students use and it is effective. But be mindful that you do not make an error in the meaning of the words you replace.

Social media use is on the rise among teenagers . Social media use is on the rise among young people .

Here you'll see, I changed teenagers to young people to make a point . These are similar words, and teenagers are young people. However, not all young people are teenagers. The term teenagers specifically describe the ages between 13-19 years of age. Young people can also include young adults from 18-30 years old. Therefore, a better word would be adolescents or young people between the ages of 13-19 .

A better way to paraphrase this sentence would be like this: Social media use is on the rise among adolescents .

When you see it like this, you can understand why is so important to only change words you are 100% sure about. If not, you will probably make small mistakes that will greatly affect your score. And I do not want that for you!

# 2 Changing the Word Order

Changing the word order can also be an effective strategy for paraphrasing a sentence, but it must be done carefully. You should not change the word order without considering how it affects the sentence's grammar.

Changing the word order may require adding or subtracting words or changing the form of words.

Remember that you will be evaluated on your ability to create error-free sentences that use a range of grammar structures in the IELTS exam. It's important to follow the 100% rule and not change the word order unless you are 100% completely confident that it's grammatically accurate.

Luckily, there are two easy ways to change the word order in most IELTS questions.

First, if the original sentence contains more than one clause, you can rearrange the order of the clauses.

Question : The diagram below shows the process by which bricks are manufactured for the building industry . Paraphrased : The process by which bricks are manufactured for the building industry is shown in the diagram below.

You can add synonyms in combination with word order change to paraphrase a bit more.

Combination : The method by which bricks are produced for the construction industry is shown in the figure below.

Second, if there is an adjective or noun in the question, you can change the word order by transforming the adjective into a relative clause.

Question : Learning to manage your emotions is one of the key aspects of adult life. Paraphrased : Learning to manage your emotions is a key aspect of adult life.

#3 Changing the Form of the Word

Another effective way to paraphrase is by changing the form of a word. As there are many, many forms of words, including adjectives, adverbs nouns, and verbs…you need to be sure you are using the 100% rule. Do not simply change the form of the word, you must also check that your changes make grammatical sense. To make sure it is an error-free sentence, you may need to change the words around.

Question : The world of work is changing rapidly, and employees cannot depend on having the same job or the same working conditions for life.

Paraphrased by changing word form : The world of work is changing rapidly, and employees cannot depend on the same job or the same work conditions for life.

#4 Bonus Technique: Changing from Active to Passive Voice

In academic writing, we often use the passive voice. Because of this, we can also use it in the IELTS academic writing test. Remember, only verbs with an object can be turned into passive.

Check these examples out: Example active : The property developers invested $75 million in the development of the shopping center. Example passive : $75 million was invested in the development of shopping centers.

Example active : People say that global warming is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Example passive : Global warming is said to be caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Do I need to use all four of these?? Nope. Each of the four techniques can be used alone or combined. I suggest you use synonyms and try to change the grammar (word order and/or word form).

Key tip : only use the technique(s) that you feel 100% comfortable with and can use 100% error-free.

What to do now?

The only way for these paraphrasing techniques to help you on the IELTS exam is to practice using them. See the example questions below and try using the techniques. Try each one and see which works best for you. With enough practice, you can spot patterns in the questions, along with common words and phrases. Being able to do this will make it super simple for you to paraphrase in the IELTS.

Practice example questions for you to paraphrase:

A.    Children who are brought up in families that do not have large amounts of money are better prepared to deal with the problems of adult life than children brought up by wealthy parents. B.    International tourism has brought enormous benefits to many places. C.    Most societies have homeless people. Some people think that the best way to help them is to give them money. D.    Distance learning has many benefits, but there are also drawbacks, and not every learner will be suited to this mode of study.

Good luck! Don’t forget to drop a comment or send me an email to let me know how you are doing with paraphrasing!

If you need some help paraphrasing, join me in the Summer Speaking Series! I'll help you use paraphrasing in speaking and show you how it will help your writing. Check it out here .

How to Paraphrase in IELTS Writing +Exercises

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        Paraphrasing is an essential skill for IELTS writing for task 1 and task 2. Many students often paraphrase inappropriately, over paraphrase , or do not realise some other paraphrasing options available to them. We hope this guide and practice exercises will help you to feel more confident paraphrasing  in your IELTS essays. 

What is paraphrasing and how can we use it well in an IELTS essay?

Paraphrasing is when we restate someone else’s ideas (text or speech) using our own words, while keeping the same meaning. In IELTS essays we need to practice paraphrasing to show flexibility and avoid repeating ourselves.   

We can paraphrase in our IELTS essays by:

✅  Changing the word order

✅  Using synonyms

✅ Changing the word form

Let’s have a look at a task 2 writing question, and look at the different options we have to paraphrase in your introduction using the methods above.

In many countries, schools have major problems with student behaviour. What do you think the causes of this are? What solutions would you suggest?

✅Changing the word order example

Paraphrased = The behaviour of students is a major problem for schools in many countries.

In this example, we have kept exactly the same words, but we have simply changed the word order. This is an effective use of paraphrasing especially if you cannot think of any accurate synonyms or different word forms. 

✅ An example using accurate synonyms

Paraphrased = In a number of nations , schools have  significant difficulties  with student behaviour.

In this example we have kept a similar structure to the question, but we have paraphrased accurately using the synonyms below:

A number of = Many Nations = Countries  Significant = Major  Difficulties = Problems  

✅ Changing the word form example

In many countries, student behaviour can be problematic for schools.

In this example we have changed the word form ‘problem’ (noun) to ‘problematic’ (adjective).

All of these examples show how we can effectivily paraphrase a background statement for the IELTS writing task 2. Of course you can combine these techniques:

Paraphrased = The behaviour of students is often challenging for a number of schools around the world.

The simplist solution is often to change the word order, and then if you feel confident try to use synonyms only if you feel are are accurate . Students we teach often think they need to paraphrase every word, which leads to many mistakes and a reduction in score .

Here is an example of inaccurate paraphrasing:

Of course, this example is exagerrated. However, it illustrates the inaccuarate use of synonyms we commonly see.

Let’s analyse why.

Republics/Countries = Some countries are republics such as ‘The People’s Republic of China’, or ‘The Republic of Ireland’. However, not all countries are republics.

Educational institutions/Schools = ‘An educational institution’ This a very open and broad term which would include universities and colleges. Sometimes we do use the word ‘school’ with universities like ‘The London School of Economics’. However, the word school used alone, nearly always refers to children and not adults.

Crucial/Major = The word ‘major’ shows the degree of something with its opposite being ‘minor’. However, ‘crucial’ has a different meaning and is very similar to the word ‘important’.

Drawbacks/Problems = The word ‘drawback’ is similar to the word ‘disadvantage’, and therefore is not an accuate synonym for the word ‘problem.

Scholars/Students = ‘Scholars’ are specialists within a field of study whereas ‘students’ is a wide term which can include children.

Manners/Behaviour = ‘Manners’ relates to  how  someone’s behaviour is acted out and this is usually in social situations:

‘He has bad table manners’

Behaviour is the general action of an individual.

‘He has a very irresponsible behaviour towards investing’

Paraphrasing Exercises for IELTS Writing

Have a look at these background statements which are taken from task 2 questions:

Exercise 1.1

There are lots of different styles of music in the world today.

How could you finish the sentence below to get the same meaning?

The world today______________________

The world today has lots of different styles of music.

Exercise 1.2

The world today has ____________ different styles of music.

Which two quantifiers below could replace ‘lots of’?

✅ a large number of      ✅ many

Quantifiers are quite easy to paraphrase. Please try our exercises on quantifiers in the main menu to become familiar with different options.

Exercise 1.3

The world today has a large number of __________ styles of music.

Which word could replace ‘ different’?

✅ diverse   

‘Diverse’ could be used. However, be aware that it is not an exact synonym for ‘different’

These two colours are ‘different’  🔵 🟡    . They are not ‘diverse’.

This picture has a lot of diverse colour:

We use diverse when there is a lot of variety.

• “She likes diverse music” • “Italy has a lot of diverse food”

Unless you are 100% certain that the synonym is correct and suitable, do not use them, otherwise it you will lose marks.

Exercise 1.4

There isn’t an exact synonym for the word ‘music’, but how could we change these words?

‘styles of music’

Try to change the form of the word ‘music’ into an adjective. Then, how could you say ‘styles of music’ differently?

✅ ‘musical styles’

These are just a few other options. There are plenty more variations.

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📖 IELTS Writing Guide

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IELTS Writing Task 2: Paraphrasing Practice

IELTS writing task 2 paraphrasing practice exercise. To get a good mark in IELTS writing task 2 for the criterion of vocabulary, you need to be able to paraphrase. The exercise below is a chance for you to practice your paraphrasing skills.

The answers for this exercise have now been posted below. No more writing should be posted for this lesson. But you can still learn from completing the exercise on your own and checking your writing with the answers provided.

Paraphrase the words in this paragraph using the words in the box below. Only paraphrase a word if you are sure it is appropriate to do so.

Many people, when driving their cars, go over the speed limit in city centers. As a way of solving this, the government should put more speed cameras on major streets to put people off  speeding. If this is done, more people who speed will be caught and this problem will eventually be solved.

Paraphrasing Options

You do not need to use all the words. You must decide which words to use and which words not to use.

town         an answer            the law           install         motorway         stop        humans         put away         authorities               exceed               deter  from         directly          riding        ought to            key             by doing this            arrested       vehicles               resolved             citizens            large            caught red handed             speed prevention             increasing       urban

Answers and Advice

Please see the answers given below:

Many people, when driving their cars, exceed  the speed limit in urban centers . As a way of solving this, the authorities ought to install more speed cameras on major streets to deter people from  speeding. By doing this , more people who speed will be caught and this problem will eventually be resolved .

Common Mistakes and Explanations

• Collocation: drive a car, not ride a car. We use the verb “ride” with bicycles.
• A town is not a city.  You can write “city center” or “urban center”. A town is much smaller and this essay is not about small towns and villages.
• The government can usually be paraphrased with the word “authorities”.
• The word “should” can be paraphrased as “ought to”. This is a common paraphrase.
• If you are writing about setting up or putting up equipment, you can use the word “install”.
• “to deter” is used to put people off committing a crime or an offence. It is actually a better word to use than “put off” for formal essay writing.
• “By doing this” and “As a way of solving this” both have the same meaning in this context. You can’t write “As an answer for solving this” – it isn’t correct English even though the meaning is the same.
• “people” are people. We rare use the word “citizen” in an essay about transport. However, it would be acceptable to use it in the second sentence which refers to the government.
• “people” cannot be paraphrased as “humans” except in one context – please watch the video below to learn. Any student making this mistake is not studying effectively. The video below explains this very clearly so you should not be making this mistake.
• “caught red handed” must be written as it is shown. You can never write “caught red”. There are three words in this idiom. However, this expression is mainly for theft or other crimes in which a person is caught face to face by the police. It can’t be used for speed offences caught by camera.
• “vehicles” is used when we don’t know what type of transport is being written about or when we refer to different types. This essay is about cars only which means you can’t use the word “vehicle”.
• This paragraph is about “streets”. This is not the same as a “motorway”. A motorway is a very large road outside a city which contains two or three lines in both directions for heavy traffic.

Results and Advice

• If you had one mistakes, it is acceptable for band 7 or 8.
• If you have two or three mistakes, it is around band 6.
• More Mistakes = Lower Score
• You need to learn both the use and meaning of a word.
• Don’t aim for range until you can achieve accuracy.
• When you learn a noun or verb, learn the full collocation.
• When you learn a word, learn when you can and cannot use it.
• When you learn an idiom, learn if the words can be changed or not.

Best Writing Posted:

Well done to Esmaeil Bahmyari ! You wrote very well indeed but don’t avoid using the word “people”, it is the correct and most appropriate word to use for this essay. You have the potential to well with your level of English.

To all other students, I hope you learn to be careful when paraphrasing. Try to avoid making errors. You can see that a band score 9 student does not paraphrase continuously.

I hope you benefited from this lesson. I will put similar lessons up in the future if you found it useful.

Video: Paraphrasing Tips

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Dear liz here is my paragraph Many people, when they on the road , go against the law and exceeded the speed limit in urban areas. To resolved this problem, the authories ought to put more cameras to deter from the increase of people driving above the speed allowed. By doing this, the problem will be solved throughly and it can also ensure the citizens safety

There are some issues with grammar. I highlight a few below: 1. when they on the road = when they are on the road (don’t miss the verb) 2. go against the law = break the law (vocab issue) 3. to resolved this problem = to resolve this problem 4. to deter from the increase of people driving above the speed limit = to deter people from driving above the speed limit Review each error and make a note about what grammar mistake you are making so that you can focus on this type of error correction in the future. More errors = lower band score

Most people drive their vehicles over the maximum speed limit in city centers. As a solution, the governmet should implement more speed cameras on main streets in order to hinder individuals from speeding. Consequently, more people who drive off the limit will be captured and eventually this will lead to solving the issue.

Majority of people, while driving their cars in city centers, exceed their speed limit. To tackle this problem, the government need to mount lots of speed cameras on the main streets to scare, and capture people driving beyond the speed limits, which in turn puts an end to the problem.

I don’t usually comment because I don’t offer feedback, but I will say “good but be careful of your language”: 1. The majority of people 2. the government need S 3. to scare = to deter 4. to deter people from driving over the speed limit Take more time thinking about your language to avoid getting a lower score.

Many people when driving their vehicles exceed the speed limit in city centers. As a way of resolving this, the authorities should install more speed cameras on major streets to deter people from speeding. By doing this, more people who speeds will be caught and eventually this problem will be resolved.

The authorities ought to install more cameras in urban centers to prevent the exceeding the speed limit by a large number of drivers. By doing this the authorities will manage to resolve the problem and deter motorists from speeding.

Hello Liz, Greetings from Cameroon and thank you for the tips it’s really help me. I would like to know what’s appropriate concerning the writing section American or British english for example the word center (American) and centre (British) which form is correct ? Thanks a bunch.

You can find your answer on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-help-faq/ . Look at question 5 of the test info section and review all other sections.

Lot of peaple go over the speed when they are driving in the urban cities. So govenment thoght putting more camaras in the street can be cought the person who drive more speed and they think problem will be resolved eventualy.

Establishing more speed monitoring systems such as speed cameras would be integral for the authorities, since more people are getting over the speed limits while driving. As more violators will be caught if more monitoring exhibits, less and less people will be willing to cross the limits.

Exceeding speed limits while driving is commonly seen in city centres. The government installing more speed cameras on the streets can be seen as a solution to this problem. This will ensure that more violators are punished and will prevent over speeding in urban areas.

Sometimes drivers exceed legal speed in towns. Because of the possible dangers, authorities should install more control cameras in the streets. Preventing predicted consequences could happen by arresting citizens who do not respect speed limits.

the people, when driving vehicles exceed the speed limit in urban centers, Authorities resolved this by installing speed cameras on streets to deter drivers from the law. By doing this, a large number of people have been arrested and this can be a good solution for this problem.

Most residents may ignore limitation of speed and surpass it. One way to defeat this problem is that governments should impose a limitation on speed. This goal having been achieved by checking speed with cameras at the road of cities.

Majority of drivers nowadays go beyond the implemented speed limits inside premises of cities, hence, it is expected that the ruling body should install speed cameras on major streets to demotivate such act and eventually solving the current issue.

Over speeding while driving is considered a problematic issue mostly in city centres. It is often suggested that in order to solve this issue, authorities should install more speed cameras on major streets to catch offender drivers and decrease over speeding in urban areas.

A large number of people exceed their speed limit while driving their cars. One possible solution to resolve this issue could be that the higher authorities should install more speed detection devices, especially on main roads to slow down people’s driving speed. By doing this, humans can be caught red-handed, and finally, the issue would be minimized.

I trust you are doing well. I wrote my test yesterday and I’d like to thank you immensely for the wealth of knowledge and information on this website and in particular, your Ideas for IELTS Essay book. I purchased it 5 days before my actual test and had to burn the midnight candle to go through all the topics. It was indeed an invaluable resource.

My task 2 topic : some people think that there is less communication between family members these days compared to the last few years. Do you agree/disagree. Give your opinion.

Task 1 topic: You just got an international job, write a letter to your former boss/ex-employer requesting for a reference letter.

A tip for everbody- on test day, I’d advise you tackle the task 2 essay first because it carries more marks and the time moves INCREDIBLY FAST!

Good luck with your results 🙂

Owing to the problem, those who drive cars over the limit at high speed in city centers, which is usually a rushy area. Despite a warning by the government, people considered it a casual way of driving, whereas putting more cameras is the most effective solution in consequences by which speedy drivers can be caught very easily.

Lot of people, cross the speed limit while driving their cars in urban centers. One of the way to solve this issue is that authorities should install more speed cameras on major streets to deter people from over speeding. With the help of this, more people exceeding the speed will be caught and this problem eventually will get resolved.

Personally I think “cross the speed limit” is not correct, it should be “exceed the speed limit”. Moreover, “to speed” means move quickly; so no need to use “over speeding”. The word “issue” is not appropriate in this paragraph, I suppose. Maybe “bad situation” is a better one, or just keep the word “problem”. 🙂

An attempt to solve speeding problems in downtown areas it is expected from the authorities to install an additional number of speed cameras on the most significant streets which, if done correctly will result in higher number of speed offenders to be captured and a gradual solution to this problem.

It would mean a lot if Miss Liz (or anyone) can point out any error if there’s any.

Two possible paraphrases I have managed to come up with:

1. Government should install many surveillance devices to discourage speeding automobiles since there are high number of people who cross the speed limit at the central town. Perhaps, this would enable law enforcement bring down those in speed violation and at the end put a full stop for this problem.

2. Towards solving the problem of speeding vehicle, the government should installing several surveillance devices, which acts as a harbinger of the consequences, because there are several people who have drove their automobiles over the speed limit in the central town. Implementing this, enables law enforcement to bring down those in violation, and at the end put an end to this problem.

Citizens,when driving their cars,go over the speed limit in city centers,In other way of solving this, the authorities should put more speed cameras on major streets for speed prevention and this issue will eventually be solved.

More often, many citizens while driving their car through the city, exceed the speed limits. To have a check over, speed cameras should be installed on the major streets of the cities. By doing so, the speed limits of the cars will be regulated, as the cameras would catch the rash drivers red handed.

I have just started surfing around, on your website and I am aiming for 7.5 band score of writing section in time period of 3 months (I got TOEFL IBT few year ago). This is really brilliant how you explained the answer for this example. Can I find more of this example somewhere? I am also wondering if there exists ”writing task correction” service available on your website which students can buy? .

I’m glad this was helpful 🙂 You can use the red menu bar to find what you need on this site. This site contains over 300 pages of free lessons, tips etc. Sorry, I don’t offer a marking service. I only offer Advanced Writing Task 2 lessons as extra: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

Most people while driving in city centers exceeds the permitted limit for speed.This issue can be addressed by installing speed cameras on most popular streets to inhibit provocation .This will enable the authorities to capture evidence and penalize the violators of the law.

I need feedback .

Thank you Liz, your materials are helpful

this is mine. hope you correct me.

people often break the speed limit when driving their in the centre of a city. as an attempt to solve this. the ministry should install more trafic enforcement camera on the main street, to prevent people from speeding. if everything is set up. this will rise the number of people who get caught when they speed up. And this problem will be solved.

thank your for readding

Hello Liz, Kindly let me know, these four Linking word have same meaning “Due to, Owing to, By the virtue of, On account of. For instance, I must go to office today due to short of attendance.

Regards Khan

We don’t use “by virtue of” any more. Otherwise, they have the same meaning – but this doesn’t mean you can use them in the same way. Always review how the grammar structure changes.

Speeding while driving cars, which has become a problem in the city centres, can be curtailed by using speed cameras on motorways. By the installation of cameras, the people who exceed the speed limit will be caught. This will ultimately help authorities to resolve this problem.

While some “Commentators” believe…., other “analysts” defend the idea.

Is Using Commentators and Analysts in spite of People correct? Are they accurate synonyms of people?

It is not normal to use such language in IELTS essays. I would avoid it. The opinions are from people – not analysts. And the word “commentators” is an inappropriate word to use. There are many words you can paraphrase in your essay- the word “people” isn’t usually one of them. Please watch the video above again which explains about being more careful with paraphrasing.

Ought to exceeding the speed limit in urban cities by large number of drivers, the government can maintain this issue by installing cameras in main roads as a result, people who doing this can be arrested, which in turn this problem can be gradually solved.

Usally in city areas, people drive their car faster han in village areas. The government can solve this problem by installing more speed cameras on the major streets. Realizing that that the drivers are being constantly monitored, they will start driving slowly eventually.

Increasing number of people speed up their cars while driving in city centers. To overcome this problem, authorities ought to install speed cameras on major streets to keep drivers under the speeding limit. By doing this, overspeeding drivers will be caught and this problem will eventually be resolved.

Most of the people are exceeding their speed limits while driving their vehicles. As a result, the local authorities should take charge to shut down the rash drivers by keeping speed sensors and cameras in the major areas. If they accomplished the above idea ,then we can see the reduction in this problem .

These days, numerous shows related to the crime are broadcasted on the television. As a consequence lot of violence taking place giving birth to numerous criminal activities. Therefore, it is said that such a program should not be telecast. I strongly agree with this statement and will discuss in upcoming paragraphs.

First and foremost, nowadays, the most people more time to spend in mass media. It is responsible for framing through a human process. Therefore, it should be banned. Mostly young ones follow serials on television and its effects adversely on their mindset. For instance, in India, there is a program called Crime Patrol which talks about the different crimes and how those crimes are committed by criminals. Definitely, after watching this kind of telecast, the youngster may become delinquent, feeling that they would also appear on television if they do something of that sort.

Furthermore, some people instead of considering such serial as the part of an awareness program. programs grasp various ways and misuse them getting templated result in diverting them towards the path of crime. Although, it is a source whichever provided with a solution by watched shows. People adopt certain techniques and strategies come out of various problems an encounter ever in life. Yet, it is a total time wasting because of this type of show just a part of the entertainment. Overall, I strongly agree with this statement these programs should be stopped, it is less fruitful and more drawbacks. Moreover, it does not provide a particular knowledge of awareness.

I tried practice on writing tasks. But there is grammatical errors, plz guide me. How to improve it.

Your problem relates to your English language, not your exam skills. This means you need an English language website or a local teacher. Google online to find English language websites.

Many driver have tendency to do overspeeding in urban center while driving car. it is thought by some people that key way to overcome this is to install more speed cameras on major street by government. This will certainly result in catching more overspeeding drivers.

Urban drivers,overspeed their cars in city centers.To solve it, officials have to keep an eye on them through installing speed cameras on main streets to keep them under speed limit.This way whoever will speedup their cars will be arrested and problem will be resolved.

Majority of people, while driving cars, Saturate the speed limit in urban centre. To overcome this problem management should install possible number of speed cameras on streets.

mostly people living in the urban arease drive carelessly beying the exceeding limits. to overcome this problem, authorities should take control by putting some laws and rules like speed camers over the main areas of the town. if it is to be done than the law breakers can be eaily caught red handed and peope will automatically follow the rules.

liz can u check my parapharse sentence.. i am writing again and again but u r not replying me plz reply me

I do not offer a marking service.

We have to paraphrase in General IELTS essay as well. I am asking this because in one of the video you said that this is for academic. Kindly clear my doubt.

There is no difference between the GT and Academic writing task 2 techniques. You write the essays in exactly the same way. If you want to learn more about essay writing for IELTS, purchase my advanced lessons: https://elizabethferguson.podia.com/

Hi Liz Your lessons are very helpful Please can “the amount of meat” be paraphrased as “the quantity of meat” ?

Yes, that’s fine 🙂

Hi liz, please can we use individuals as a synonym for people.

Synonyms must be used in the right context and in the right way. Individuals is certainly a synonym that can be used, but you must learn when and how to use it.

While driving in the busy parts of city, many people drive their cars at such speed which is usually well above the authorized speed limit. To encounter, authorities must install more speed cameras to monitor the drivers effectively. Consequently, more violators will be be caught that will eventually resolve the issue of over speeding.

Over-speeding is a major problem in cities as many drivers tend to drive above the allowed speed limits. A possible solution to this problem is the installation of surveillance cameras on the highways in order to apprehend offenders. This will deter people from over-speeding and will eventually solve the problem on the long run.

I read the list of uncountable nouns. Isn’t tea is the countable noun? I am confused. Regards Sonia.

No, it is uncountable. You can have “a cup of tea”. When people say “would you like a tea?”, it is informal and the full meaning is “would you like a cup of tea?”.

my l/r/w was on 2/12/2017. A true false not given question was: The railway company owns 18,000 wagons. In the passage it was just mentioned in “all 18,000 wagons are washed every 28 days”. as it was not mentioned that the company owns it or if they are on lease. I answered Not Given. your views please

For this question, you need to refer to the whole paragraph or at least the five or six sentences surrounding that statement. It is common in IELTS that your answer will not be found in one sentence only and references might be made in other sentences.

Morning Liz,what is the difference between highways and motorways. Also,kindly check if highways is acceptable for my paraphrasing: Authorities ought to install speed cameras on the major roads because majority of the people tend to over speed along the main highways. Placing these cameras would make offenders caught,and thus resolving the issue

There difference is US English and UK English. For writing, you need to choose one only. For speaking, it is fine to have a mixed accent as long as pronunciation is easy to understand.

Several people, drive above the stipulated speed limit when driving their vehicles.As a method of combating this,there should be more speed cameras installed on major streets to stop people over speeding.More people will be apprehended when this takes effect and thus leads to an end to over speeding.

Citizen mostly exceed speed limits while riding their personal vehicle in the motorways. This can be put to end, by installing surveillance / monitoring camera in major streets and some other strategic locations where over-speeding can be monitored and noticed by the authority.

Wao. Have realized my mistakes.

To combat the problem of overspeeding in city centres, government should install more surveillance cameras on big streets, which will help to catch offenders and alleviate the menace.

In order to restrict people from driving cars above the speed limit, the government should impose strict rules such as installing speed cameras on busy streets which will be an incentive to overcome the consequences of speedy cars.

Hey, Liz I have paraphrased the above question as- In order to avoid over-speeding, which is very common in city centers, the Government has decided to install more speed cameras to qualify people from over-speeding. The authorities believe that after the installation of speed cameras the problem will be abated and in my opinion, the Government will get the desired results and the problem will be resolved.

Thanks Liz, informative and good for learning and introspection!

Hi Liz. I enjoyed watching your lessons and the same time I learn a lot about the Ielts exam. Actually my exam is on 14 October 2017. Im a little bit nervous. Writing essay task1 and task2 is the hardest part. Any advise please. Thank you.

hi liz, My name is Vishwas from India, My question is, is there any prescribed structure for IELTS task 2 writing part which guarantee the high band. please reply. Thanking you in anticipation.

No. Most essays will have either two body paragraphs or three. But it depends on your main points and what you want to say. The examiner is marking you on logic – so organise logically.

Thanks Liz. Tomorrow is my LRW pray for me

Thanku liz for such paraphrasing practice.please upload more such videos. Thanks.

Thank you ma’am for this lesson.I have really learnt a lot today.

Its a wonderful exercise , would you be kind enough to provide more exercises like this or share any link , where I can do more practice.

Sure, I’ll try to put more lessons like this up. Thanks for letting me know it was useful 🙂

Yes please do it…so usefu. Thank you

Hello Liz, I watched your video “how to write introduction” and have a question. If we are asked ” discuss this view and give your own opinion”, background statement and thesis statement in our introduction is the same ?

Yes, it’s the same technique. Paraphrase the essay question for the background and write your opinion as the thesis.

Hai mam, during speaking test , if I can’ t hear or understand the question, requesting for repeating the question may affect my score..??

It won’t affect your score. It is fine to say “Could you repeat that, please”.

Hi Liz, can I use highways for major streets? Thanks

You will need to check in a dictionary. It is American and I’m British.

Hello, liz im adithya should we write both “BACK GROUND STMT” and “THESIS STMT” in the introduction or any one is enough ?

Watch this free video lesson about writing introductions: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-how-to-write-an-introduction/

Hello Liz, I am sadiya, Can you please check my errors in below writing task 2. so that I can rectify my mistakes. i will be thankfull

The relative importance of main aim of advertising the various product on television to attract teenagers has been targeted should be prohibited. which can not be fully agreed, has now become more controversial. The substantial influence of the different advertisements of various products included in different categories has sparked the controversy over the potential impact of this advertising trend in this recent years.it can be argued that it has some advantages on advertisements, but it has some drawbacks as well. This essay will elaborate both the positive and negative impact of advertisements resembling two sides of the single coin. Which usually runs in parallel and then will lead’s to the logical conclusion. At the outset, there are numerous ways to benefit the young children. The most conspicuous one is advertisements of various products which are used in daily life to improve the health as well standard of living according to status. Firstly, coming to improve or save the economic cost by spending on the product which is worth full in daily life. Like some branded products helpful in the kitchen with latest options as the technology has been fully developed. ex: which reduces the time spent in the kitchen for cooking, watching utensil, cleaning floors. Secondly, various health conscious product is known which help of advertisement, to cure the various minor diseases like cough syrup, pain reliefs painkillers, and healthy shakes so on.Thirdly, advertisements are beneficial to choose the good and cost effective product at less cost. The fourth one, the people are getting educated with these various adds in various ways, one of them is to maintain their personality lifestyle modification. Finally, people are knowing their rights to select the product and getting educated about the product before they are going to buy it,Products working status and its benefits has been compared with another. nevertheless, there remain some disadvantages, which can certainly, overwhelm the potential influence of advertisement on teenagers. But the most alarming one lies in the fact that the children are getting affected with advertisements via improper adds before their mindset has not well developed. There may chance of learning bad habits changing their social lifestyle.ex; smoking, chewing gutka, and other than this learning bad habits. Secondly, few adds are not proper for teenaged children like naked adds, getting addicted to television. from what has been discussed above it can be concluded that the impact of the advertising on children 70% is around beneficial and remaining 30% can be well handled by educating the children regarding good thing like having the proper diet, lifestyle modifications, learning how to improve the economic cost, learn the consumer rights.

Sorry, I don’t comment on writing. Make sure your introduction is only two sentences long. See the videos on this page to learn: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Hi Liz! Thank you for your videos. They’re very informative. I need your help though. Could you check if what I did was correct??

Q: Prevention is better than cure. Do you agree or disagree that out of the country’s health budget, a large proportion should be diverted from treatment to spending on health education and preventive measures.

A: The eradication of diseases is the focus of many countries in terms of health. However, disease prevention through health education is the lesser concern. In my view, the government should equally support both of these programs in terms of finances to create a better and healthier community.

This is my introduction. it took me almost 10 mins to formulate this one. What do you think??

What is the maximum limit of words for both task and can i use persnl words..?

Your answers are on this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/

Can you please post more lessons of this kind. thank you.

I am a student of Ielts. now i want to sit for exam but my hand writing is not up to mark i have problem on Grammer and spelling, what will i do?

https://ieltsliz.com/liz-notice-2015-2016/

Hi Liz, Thanks very much for all your ielts tip,they are very useful. I just checked my results now and i got the required bands listening-7.5,Reading-8.0,Writing-7.0,Speaking-8.5. Once again thank you very much. Beatrice

Overall band score 8 – excellent!! A very good score which you should be proud of. I hope you can now go forward with confidence and achieve your future goals. Thanks for letting me know 🙂 Liz

Hllo liz I have required a great practice material, for improve my band score. My target was to achieve minimum 7 band score overall. But, i scored only 5.5 band as on 27 june, 2015. S- 5 L-5.5 R- 6 W- 4.5 now i again fill my exam that will be on 8 oct. so now i want want to attain best score. I really thankful to you, if you give me some help to attain my goal.

All my lessons and tips are on this blog. To get band score 7, you will need to develop your level of English. Students getting around band 5 in speaking and writing are making too many mistakes to be awarded band 6. You now have just under 3 months to improve your English language. Go to google and look for English language websites. All the best Liz

Thanks a lot for the great tips and lessons. I just got my result and I was able to increase my writing score to 6.5. However, I need to score minimum 7 in writing, so I will give it another try as soon as possible.

Best regards.

Hi Teacher,

My name is Santhosh and I would like to improve my writing skills very much to attain a band score of 7+. First of all, I would like to thank you very much that, your online videos were very helpful for me.

I took IELTS GT exam for 3 times to get a band score of 7+ in each modules and below are the score that I got:

L8, S7, R6.5, W5 L7, S7, R6, W6.5 L7, S6.5, R6, W6.5.

As you can see my writing is not upto the mark. Kindly provide an effective method to reach my goal and also I would like to do some practice exercise for planning and paraphrasing also, the link provided for paraphrasing practice is not available.

Thanks, Santhosh.

All lessons are listed on this blog. I don’t have extra lessons. All the best Liz

Thank you teacher,

While going through all the lesson’s and writing topics that you had provided in the website, I think it is sufficient enough for practice.

Thanks for providing good materials for the exam.

Thanks Santhosh

Hi, Liz. First of all, I would like to thank you for all of the amazing resources you have created. I watched many of your video lessons and used them to prepare for my IELTS Academic test. I got my results this week and they were: Listening 6.5, Reading 8, Writing 6.5, and Speaking 9. I’ve got nothing to complain about the Listening part because I got distracted during the first track and didn’t hear the exact words and also because I also had trouble with another conversation about giving directions in a building. I’m not good at giving and getting directions. Not even in my native language, so I know I must work on that. However, I am puzzled at my writing score. I am pretty sure I made no grammar nor spelling mistakes. I felt I did well on Writing Task 2 but perhaps my graph analysis was rather simple. I’ve read about other examinees complaining about having a hard time to score higher than 6.5 in the writing section. Any thoughts on this? What would you suggest to improve this score? Thanks.

Thanks a lot, Liz. I just emailed you my writing samples.

Hello liz…. M planning to appear fr ielts in the coming 2 weeks, the only problem I feel with me is with speaking part…. I have no problem with speaking English or framing sentences but then I use the word umm… aa…. Quite often while thinking about the next sentence which I can say… Will that affect my bands??

Yes, that will affect your score for the criterion of fluency. However, it won’t affect your score for grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation. All the best Liz

I want to check my writing mam could you please provide any link for that to caliculate. Because I don’t have any idea about my standard in writing english.

Try this page: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2-band-scores-5-to-8/ All the best Liz

Thank you so much mam

Hello Liz, I have one question for you. Currently, just I am preparing my self to take IELTS exam in the first week of August. Always I wonder on time management. So, to manage my time in relation to my experience, what if I do the written exam in the following order. 1. Listening 2. Writing 3. Reading Thank you for your consideration, and I eagerly awaits your response. Kind regards,

Don’t change the order of doing the skills. In fact, I’m not sure that you can. The time management is during the skill. For example, sticking with only 20 minutes for each reading passage and spending no more than 20 mins on writing task 1. All the best Liz

Large no of people while driving their cars overshoot the speed limit in city centres. To avoid this , governent should place extra cameras on major streets . This will ensure that people who overshoot would be caught .

hi liz teacher ,thank you so much to teach us beneficial points i really confuse in paraphrases but i learn alot of things from your lessons

I’m glad the lessons are useful 🙂 Liz

mam,i am very weak in task 2. Becoz,when i strat essay to cofuse, what i write

You will need to develop ideas for topics, learn how to organise ideas and also improve your level of English. In your message above, you made two spelling mistakes and also grammar mistakes. This means, to get over band 5, you will need to be able to write more accurately. Here’s a link to my writing lessons: https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-writing-task-2/ . For English will need either a teacher or to find a website to help you. You can google that. All the best Liz

A number of people exceed the speed limit, while they are crossing in the urban areas. To solve this problem the authorities have to install speed cameras in main junctions To deter people from speeding. By doing this, many people who are driving crazily will be coughed and the problem will disappear.

This lesson is now closed. You will find the answer above in the lesson. Liz

Thank you Liz for your valuable instructions. I doubted in using “citizens” , but at last I used it. Regards

You did really well. 50% of your writing is based on your grammar and vocabulary. That means you will do well in those criteria. You should focus now on coherence & cohesion and task response. Good luck Liz

hello Liz my name is Anna :-Certain individuals used to exceed their vehicles speed limit in urban centers.Futhermore,authorities ought to overcome the issue by increasing the quantity of cameras on main streets to deter drivers from speeding.As a result ,people will stop to drive fast and the problem will be resolved completely.

A lot of car drivers exceed in speed when riding their vehicles in urban centers, going over the mandatory limits. One way to face this issue could be an increase in number of speed cameras installed by authorities in the main streets. By doing this, citizens will be deterred from driving too fast by the risk of being caught handed out and, consequently, the problem will probably be solved.

Increasing number of people exceed the speed limit while driving in city centers. The only key to the problem is to install speed cameras on major streets by the government deterring people from speeding. By doing this, speed can be prevented and those who break the law will be caught red handed.

Many citizens, when driving their vehicles, exceed the speed limit in urban areas. In order to resolving this, the authorities should install speed cameras in motorways to deter from speeding. By doing this, more individuals who speed will be arrested and this issue will be solved.

Can you tell me please, if it is correct. Thank you.

I will post the answer at 5pm UK time. Liz

It’s almost 7 pm UK time

The answers have been posted. Please look above in the lesson. Thanks Liz

Many people, when driving cars, exceed the speed limit in city centers. To stop this, the government authorities should put more speed cameras on major streets to put people off speeding. If this is done, more people who speed will be caught red handed and this problem will eventually resolved.

A large number of people,when riding their vehicles,exceeds the speed limit in city centres. As a way of speed prevention, authorities should install more cameras on major streets to deter from speeding.By doing this,more people who speed will be arrested and this problem will directlly be resolved

Some people exceed the speed limit while driving their vehicle in town centers. In order to resolve the problem, authorities ought to install large number of speedy cameras on motorways to prevent from increasing speed as by catching citizen red handed on cameras that in consequent deter directly the motor speed in urban areas.

Many citizens, when riding their vehicles, exceed the speed limit in city centers. As an answer for this, the authorities ought to install more speed prevention cameras on motorways, to deter people from speeding. By doing this more humans who put the law away will directly be arrested and this problem will eventually be resolved.

An increasing number of people riding their vehicles in urban areas, exceed the speed limit. As an answer to speed prevention, the authorities ought to install more speed cameras on motorways to deter people from speeding. By doing this, more people who speed will be arrested and the problem will be resolved.

Large number of peopl, when driving their car, exceed speed limit in urban centers. In order to resolve this, authorities ought to install more speed cameras on motorway to deter them from speeding. Doing this, citizens who speed will be arrested and the problem will eventually be solved.

Please read my paragraph and advice. Thanks Meenakshi

Some people exceed the speed limit while driving in the town.To deter citizens from speeding, authorities ought to install more cameras on the motorways.By doing this, more people will be caught red handed which will eventually resolve this problem.

I will post my answer for all students at 5pm UK time. All the best Liz

A big number of drivers break the admitted legal speed when they are driving in urban areas. As a solution for this problem, the authorities should install surveillance cameras on main streets to deter drivers using exceed speed. By doing that, a large number of citizen would be caught red handed and this issue finally be resolved.

A large number of people, when driving their vehicles,exceed the speed limit in urban centers .As an answer of this ,the authorities ought to install more speed camers on motor ways to deter citizens from speeding.By doing this ,more citizens who speed will arrested and this problem will be resolved directly

Many citizens in urban areas exceed their speed limit when driving their vehicles.The authorities ought to install more speed cameras on motorway to deter from speeding.By doing this, humans who caught red will be directly handed to authorities to resolve this problem.

Many citizens in exceed their speed limit when driving their vehicles.The authorities ought to install more speed cameras on motorway to deter from speeding.By doing this,humans who caught red will be directly handed to authorities to resolve this problem.

In town, when people driving their cars, exceed the speed limit in city centers. Inorder to solve this,authorities should install more speed cameras on major roads to put people off speeding. By doing this, more people who speed will be caugth and the problem will eventually be solved.

Large number of citizens in urban areas exceed their speed limits when driving. As a way of prevention the authorities ought to install more speed cameras on motorways to reduce citizens from speeding.By doing this, citizens who speed will be put away and situation solved .

Owing,this problem many citizens while riding a vehicals in the urban aerea they exceeds the speed,There are number of solution to handle this situation.motor way officials should install some extra speed catching camera in street,by taking this step many people would go off the speed either,panalies or punished in the large number city.finally,this way could be overcome the problem/situation.

Hope for comments.

You must use the words given in the box. Don’t change the paragraph in any other way. Liz

In urban areas, many citizens exceed the speed limit when riding their cars. To deter from this problem, the authorities are ought to put more speed cameras on major motorways to put humans off speeding. By doing this, more people , who drive speedly will be caught red handed and finally this problem will be resolved.

Hi…. am from india. When i write the phase 2 in writing. .. it takes lot of time to complete the essay… And my vocabulary is ok i think. ..

The large number of citizens exceed their speed while driving their vehicles in the urban areas. To this problem be resolved,the authorities ought to install more speed cameras on main routes and motorways to make them reduce their speed.By doing this,more people, who drive speedly, will be caught red handed and finally this issue will be tackled.

Many citizens, when driving their vehicles, exceed the speed limit in urban areas. As a way of solving this, the authorities ought to install more speed cameras on major streets to deter citizens from speeding. By doing this, more citizens who speed will be caught and this problem will eventually be resolved.

Hello Teacher, In essay i write one introduction and thesis statement two body paraghraph and conclusion.is it ok?

The thesis statement is part of the introduction – it is not separate. Please watch my video about writing an introduction. The rest of the paragraph structure is fine. Liz

Yes,teacher it is. After introduction i could write only two paragraph and conclusion,in my test.

Thanks teacher forbreply. Regards.

That’s right. Although it is possible to have three body paragraphs. It depends on the number of main points you have. Liz

Many citizens, when driving their vehicles, exceed the speed limit in urban areas. As a way of speed prevention, the authorities ought to install more speed cameras on main motorways to deter people from speeding. By doing this, more citizens who speed will be caught red handed and this problem will eventually be resolved.

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IELTS paraphrasing practice

Exercises on paraphrasing the task question..

Updated: Oct 20th 2021

In the last paraphrasing exercise here we looked at paraphrasing a part of a body paragraph. Here is a useful blog post on How to paraphrase in IELTS writing.

Paraphrasing is an important skill to practice in IELTS and is necessary for the writing tasks. If you can paraphrase well it shows that you have a wide range of vocabulary and this goes toward getting a high band score in Lexical resource.

Key points about paraphrasing

In the introduction of your essay the first thing you should do is paraphrase the topic question by using synonyms or changing the word-formation. I f you just copy the original question you will lose points .

A good technique is to change the form of the words by using: a verb, gerund, adjective or noun . Look at the examples below.

People increasingly access the news online these days rather than buying newspapers and magazines to find out what is going on in the world. There is an increase in people accessing the news online these days rather than buying newspapers and magazines to find out what is going on in the world.

I have changed two words above from Adverb+ verb in sentence 1, to noun phrase + gerund and re-ordered the sentence slightly. Using this technique you need to be confident with your grammar if you decide to change the word-formation.

You have to be careful when using synonyms though, click here to see a lesson about learning new words and the dangers of synonyms.

Let’s Practice Paraphrasing

This task is a problem-solution essay. Choose words from the list and try paraphrasing it. You do not need to paraphrase the instruction words. Check my answer when you have finished.

Practice it first before checking my answer.

My answer. (two variations)

a) People residing in large urban areas have to deal with a lot of issues in their day to day lives.

B) there are a number of issues that people living in cities have to cope with in their everyday lives..

I did not use the word ‘citizens ‘as it doesn’t fit well, the word ‘people’ is hard to paraphrase so I kept it.

Some words cannot be used here such as ‘ suburbs’  or  ‘towns’  there is a difference in meaning to ‘cities’. Also the word ‘huge’ doesn’t feel right here so I didn’t use it.

Remember that not every word has to be paraphrased , there is no black and white answer to paraphrasing, it depends on your vocabulary and how you can use synonyms correctly. Make sure the meaning stays the same or you will lose marks.

Let’s try another one

Try it yourself before checking my answer.

a) The Internet, which is a huge source of knowledge, has created opportunities for people worldwide to study.

B) the worldwide web is a massive source of information and has given people all over the world the ability to study..

Some words do not go well here such as ‘ folks’ which is too informal and ‘humankind’ which does not sound right in this situation.

The words ‘data’ and ‘know-how’ just do not match well here and could change the meaning slightly.

Again, I have kept the word ‘people’ as this is hard to paraphrase.

Any questions? , comment below.

Do you need help with your writing? Take a look at the Writing Correction Service here.

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How to paraphrase and boost your IELTS Writing Score

If you want to score well for your IELTS Writing test, then you need to learn and master the art of paraphrasing! You’ll be able to show that you understand the idea enough to write in your own words. Here’s how to start paraphrasing like a boss!

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Whether you are sitting for the General Training or Academic writing test, the IELTS Writing part of the test is a challenge that many students struggle to score well in. 

With two different types of tasks with unique demands for each of them, you’ll need to put your best foot forward to ace the test to achieve an overall band score you desire. 

The IELTS Writing test assesses your ability to write not just for clarity and cohesion but for variation as well. 

Therefore you need to develop the skill of paraphrasing, which is simply rewriting a sentence using different words for greater clarity. It shows to the examiner that you have understood the source and idea enough to write it in your own words. 

And in this article, we will be going through six tips and tactics you can employ to help you master the art of paraphrasing to score better in your written test! 

Learning to paraphrase effectively: Six things to do

1. start using synonyms.

Synonyms are different words that hold the same meaning. For example, ‘money’ is a synonym of ‘cash’ or ‘funds’ while ‘lethargic’ is a synonym of ‘tired’ or ‘drained’. 

By using synonyms, you can effectively replace a series of words with others without changing the core meaning of the sentence. You need to use words that have the same meaning and not just something similar, which can be penalised during the examination. 

 Take the sentence: 

‘We are heading to Disneyland for a well-deserved holiday’ 

You can easily replace it with: 

‘We are travelling to Disney for our hard-earned vacation’ 

The key here is to ensure the meaning isn’t changed and you should only use words that you are entirely sure about to score well without the risk of being marked down. 

2. Changing the word order

Another essential paraphrasing skill you’ll need is to change the word order of a sentence. This means adding in a word, omitting a word or changing the word itself. 

Take the sentence: 

“We are famished and would like to quickly head to the Chinese Restaurant for dinner.” 

You can change the word order: 

“We are rushing towards the Chinese restaurant for dinner because we are famished.” 

When changing the word order, you need to ensure the sentence makes grammatical sense as well as being error-free. You can also combine this with using synonyms to make your paraphrasing even more effective. 

3. Changing word forms

A great way to paraphrase sentences is to change the form of the word. To do this, we can interchangeably swap nouns into verbs or verbs into adjectives. 

For example: 

“Many children are terrified of entering the spooky house alone during Halloween.” 

You can paraphrase the sentence by changing the word form of ‘entering’, ‘terrified’, ‘spooky’ and ‘alone’. 

“Many children are not brave enough to enter the frightful-looking house by themselves during Halloween.” 

By changing word forms, you are showcasing your versatility in the English language as well as your depth of vocabulary, helping you to score better in your Writing test. 

4. Change from active to passive voice

Because the IELTS Writing test involves writing a discursive essay and discussing various viewpoints, understanding how to switch between active to passive voice is a valuable skill. 

This can be easily done by identifying the sentence’s direct object and placing it at the beginning of the sentence, removing the action and then changing the verb’s form.  

“Most of the students are reading the magazines.” 

You can rewrite this sentence into the passive voice by placing ‘magazine’ at the beginning of the sentence and removing the action of reading and changing its form. 

“The magazines are being read by most of the students.” 

5. Changing sentence structure

Another effective way to paraphrase is to change the structure of the sentence without losing its core meaning. 

“Many students struggle in their tests because they do not put in the hard work and practice enough.” 

You can see that there are two clauses ‘many students struggle in their tests’ and the second being ‘because they do not put in the hard work and practice enough.’ 

All you need to do is to swap the order and change a few word forms to make it flow more naturally. 

“Not working hard and practicing enough are the main reasons why students struggle in their tests.” 

The meaning of the sentence is not lost but the structure has changed. 

6. Start paraphrasing with sample tests

The best way to start paraphrasing is to practice on the sample tests themselves! 

This will allow you to not just practice your skills on static sentences but allows you to master the art of paraphrasing.  

By writing under a time limit with real sample test topics, you’ll quickly understand how to paraphrase your own words as well as the information provided. This will accelerate your progress by leaps and bounds. 

You can access a wide range of our sample IELTS Writing tests here to start paraphrasing today! 

Prepare for the IELTS Writing test with IDP today

Preparing early for your IELTS Writing test is critical to success, especially if you are honing your paraphrasing skills. 

There are many forms of paraphrasing and they should all be used in conjunction for your writing to flow well and be fluid. 

Early preparation allows you to get familiar with the format with ample practice to help you gain confidence on test day and attain the band score you desire! 

Take the time to go through our resources and prepare yourself better with our wide range of sample tests at your disposal! 

And once you are prepared and ready, you can book your IELTS test here ! 

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