This is Lesson 6 of the Paraphrase Writing e-course, the final activity in this e-course. In this lesson, you will paraphrase sentences by removing words and replacing them with their definitions. Here is an example.
The judge’s verdict surprised everyone in the courtroom.
The judge’s final decision surprised everyone in the courtroom.
This is an easy example. We put the definition in the sentence and no other changes were needed.
Sometimes, you have to change the sentence to make the definition work properly. Watch out for prepositions, for instance. Here is an example.
Parents opposed to after-school programs should not have to pay for these services if their children do not attend those classes.
Parents against after-school programs should not have to pay for these services if their children do not attend those classes.
In the first sentence, the key words are ‘opposed to.’ In the second sentence, we replaced the key words with ‘against.’ Notice that we don’t need the preposition ‘to’ in the second sentence. That is an example of the details you need to watch out for when paraphrasing with meanings.
You can download the paraphrase worksheet here. But first, spend time with the dictionary to learn these words and phrases.
Download the worksheets here. It is a three-page activity sheet (A4 page size) with suggested answers at the back.
Thank you so much for the wonderfully organized lessons on “paraphrasing!” This will help my students a lot!
You are welcome and thanks for the kind words.
My ESL GED class loved these worksheets. Thank you so much.
Glad to hear your students liked the worksheets. Thanks for the note.
Words can’t thank you enough, because I have learned so much from your lessons.
Thank you for such effective step-by-step paraphrasing lessons!