Paraphrasing for IELTS: 5 Techniques with Examples

Paraphrasing means expressing the same meaning with different words. It is one of the most useful skills in IELTS because it appears everywhere:

• Writing: your introduction must paraphrase the question, and copied words are not counted.
• Reading and Listening: questions paraphrase the text, so you must recognise the same idea in new words.
• Speaking: paraphrasing the examiner's question shows lexical resource.

Technique 1: synonyms (carefully)

Replace key words with words of the same meaning in that context.

• children → young people, kids (informal)
• important → essential, vital, crucial
• problem → issue, challenge

⚠️ Not every "synonym" works in every sentence. Big problem → large problem is unnatural; major problem or serious problem is correct. When unsure, keep the original word and change the structure instead.

Technique 2: change the word form

Turn a verb into a noun, an adjective into an adverb, and so on.

• Prices increased rapidly. → There was a rapid increase in prices.
• Many people are unemployed. → Unemployment affects many people.
• It is important to save energy. → Saving energy is of great importance.

Technique 3: change the word order

• Many people now work from home. → Working from home is now common for many people.
• Cities with good public transport have less traffic. → Traffic is lighter in cities where public transport is good.

Technique 4: active ↔ passive

• Governments should ban plastic bags. → Plastic bags should be banned.
• The chart shows the number of visitors. → The number of visitors is shown in the chart.

Technique 5: change the clause structure

• Because the population is growing, cities need more housing. → The growing population means that cities need more housing.
• Although it is expensive, it is worth it. → Despite the cost, it is worth it.

Putting it together: a Task 2 introduction

Question: Some people think that children should start learning a foreign language at primary school rather than secondary school.

Paraphrase: It is sometimes argued that foreign language education should begin in the early years of schooling instead of being delayed until secondary level.

Techniques used: some people think → it is sometimes argued (structure); children should start learning → foreign language education should begin (word form); primary school → the early years of schooling (synonym phrase).

Paraphrasing in Reading: what to expect

Passage says	Question says
The scheme was abandoned after two years.	The project was stopped.
Few residents supported the idea.	Most local people were against the plan.
Costs were higher than anticipated.	The project was more expensive than expected.

Training yourself to notice these pairs makes True/False/Not Given and matching headings much easier.

Practice

Paraphrase these sentences using at least two techniques each:

1. Many young people use social media every day.
2. The government should spend more money on hospitals.
3. Tourism has increased a lot in the last ten years.

Possible answers:

1. Social media is used daily by a large proportion of young people.
2. Greater investment in hospitals should be made by the state. (or: More public funding should be allocated to hospitals.)
3. There has been a significant rise in tourism over the past decade.

FAQ

Can I just change every word to a synonym?

No. That often creates unnatural or incorrect English. Combine techniques, and keep technical words (such as carbon dioxide) unchanged.

How long should my paraphrased introduction be?

One or two sentences. The introduction only needs to show the topic and your position.

Build your range of synonyms with our vocabulary flashcards and vocabulary by topic.