- Bad & Better Examples
🗣️ In Your Own Words Generator: When to Use It?
- This paraphrasing tool will be there for you whenever you wish to refer to someone else’s opinion without quoting it word for word.
- It allows you to say it faster or more precisely, with more passion or wit or tact, or any other kind of change you want.
- The software helps to demonstrate that you understand the text well enough to retell or summarize it. It is indispensable for writing papers, as an indirect quote always includes more information than a direct one. Besides, teachers often assign a text summary to check how the students understood it.
- You can use it to diversify your text and see how it might look in an altered form. This feature can be handy for international students whose vocabulary is limited.
- When the text is too complicated, and you cannot get the point, use the tool to paraphrase it more clearly. The same feature is helpful when you need to transmit an author’s words in your voice.
- In Your Own Words Generator can adapt a study material to a new purpose or find a new meaning.
- It can also be used to restate a thesis statement and use in the concluding section. You’ll have to do that in all your essays.
📝 Write in Your Own Words to Avoid Plagiarism
Plagiarism is always unethical and sometimes even illegal. Submission of a plagiarized paper will undermine your reputation. Even if nothing wrong happens and you are given a second chance, the teacher will scrutinize your work next time. Or, you can be sued for a plagiarized piece if you are a professional writer. Here’s what you can do to avoid any problems with copyright:
| Paraphrase the text | You can do that manually or using In Your Own Words generator on this page. Rewording without plagiarizing requires patience and creativity. Eliminate as many similar words as possible and change the structure. But remember that even paraphrased, another person’s idea doesn’t become yours. The good idea is to accelerate the process using a free rephraser tool. Warning: when misused, paraphrasing can count as plagiarism. Cite the source appropriately! |
| Credit the author | As mentioned above, including a reference to the source can save you from many problems with authorship rights. Identify the author’s name and work title according to the chosen citation style. |
| Check your work for plagiarism | You’ll be surprised how many phrases are typical of your research subject area. You’ll use them as your own language after reading into the topic for a couple of days. Unfortunately, 5+ words in a row count for plagiarism. Pass your text through an online plagiarism checker to eliminate such instances. |
| Quote the source | If you decide to include another person’s words verbatim, you shall put them in quotation marks and add the source to your bibliography list. |
| Include your ideas | Your work shouldn’t look like a quilt sued of other researchers’ articles (if it is not a theoretical part of a Master’s thesis). Be brave enough to generate your hypotheses and include them in writing. Your professor will appreciate your creativity. |
Bad & Better Examples of Paraphrasing
Working on an academic paper, you stand on the shoulders of other researchers. You need to incorporate their works into your text correctly to avoid plagiarism. But switching some words with synonyms is not enough. Look at the following examples of rewording to know how you are supposed to do that. The original passage was written by Robert D. Putnam and is available on page 7 of his classic book Making Democracy Work.
Original Passage
The Italian regional experiment was tailor-made for a comparative study of the dynamics and ecology of institutional development. Just as a botanist might study plant development by measuring the growth of genetically identical seeds sown in different plots, so a student of government performance might examine the fate of these new organizations, formally identical, in their diverse social and economic and cultural and political settings.
Bad Example of Paraphrasing
The regional experiment was tailor-made to conduct a comparative study between the dynamics and ecology of the development of institutions. Like a botanist studies plant growth by measuring the development of genetically identical seeds in different plots, a government performance student examines the evolution of these organizations, which used to be equal, in different social, economic, political, and cultural settings.
Here, we deleted words and changed the others with synonyms. In the case of “growth” and “development,” the nouns have been swapped. It is not enough to count as good paraphrasing.
Good Example of Paraphrasing
The researchers developed an experiment on the regional experiment in Italy. It aimed to compare the dynamics of institutional development in this country. Putnam (1993) draws a parallel between a botanist’s study of plant development and a student’s analysis of the evolution of the newly-created organizations. In particular, the botanist compares genetically identical seeds planted in different plots, and the student of government performance traces the development of similar institutions in various social, economic, cultural, and political settings.
This example grouped and rearranged some information. And most importantly, it contains a reference.
🔤 How to Use Synonyms When Writing in Your Own Words?
A synonym is a word the meaning of which is close to another word. When several words or phrases mean the same thing, we call them synonymous.
We use synonyms of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and other parts of speech without thinking. They come in all parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and so on.
There are dictionaries of synonyms called thesauruses. We’ll give you three examples in the section below. And now, let’s explore where and how synonyms should be used.
The style, genre, and subject matter dictate the choice of synonyms, but they are used everywhere.
For instance, compare the same sentences written in different styles.
| 👔 Formal | WWII brought robust industrial and scientific development to all the participating countries. |
| 🎀 Fictional | The war came, and all those who didn’t bring their lives to the altar of peace dedicated them to industry and science. |
It would help if you also considered your audience. What is their age? Do they have enough background knowledge to understand the synonyms you used? Here are another two samples, and now the difference is in the readers’ age.
| 👨 For adults | The government creates a legislation system that is aimed at ensuring public security and the smooth cooperation of institutions. |
| 🧒 For youngsters | The government creates rules to keep people safe and help them work together. |
Moreover, synonyms can make any statement more or less complete, readable, or detailed. At the end of the sentence, note how the introduction of an antonym makes the phrase more informative.
| ✂️ A shorter version | The government provides for domestic tranquility. |
| 🛣️ A longer version | The government guarantees and provides the necessary basis for domestic and international tranquility. |
Where to Find Synonyms?
- Thesausus.com offers the best visualization by highlighting the most relevant synonyms. Besides, antonyms are also available to check. It can be helpful when you change the sentence structure and need the opposite word.
- Merriam-Webster is the most user-friendly variant that contains lots of additional information (etymology, context, etc.). Browse through almost 300 thousand synonyms and related idiomatic phrases.
- Synonym.com is another suitable variant to reword a sentence. It provides rhymes to all words and suggests the most famous quotes exemplifying your inquiry. Besides, the website will help you learn English as a second language. It features a language learning system based on scientifically proven strategies.
Updated: May 17th, 2024
🔗 References
- How to Avoid Plagiarism: 5 Easy Methods | Grammarly
- How to Avoid Plagiarism – Citing Sources – UCLA Library
- Synonyms for words commonly used in academic writing
- Formal and academic pieces of writing – Macmillan Dictionary
- Avoiding Plagiarism – Paraphrasing | Academic Integrity at MIT
