How do you paraphrase in IELTS?

Combine two or three techniques: replace some words with accurate synonyms, change a word's form (invest to investment), change the sentence structure (active to passive, or a clause to a noun phrase), and restate numbers (25% to a quarter). Keep technical terms and names unchanged. A single synonym swap on an otherwise copied sentence is not enough.

Can I copy words from the question in IELTS Writing?

You can reuse key terms that have no natural alternative, such as "public transport" or "university". Copying whole phrases or the full question, though, shows the examiner nothing about your own vocabulary and adds words without adding content. Paraphrase the question in your introduction, then write your own sentences.

Should I paraphrase my answers in IELTS Listening?

No. In completion questions, write the exact words you hear, spelled correctly and within the word limit. The questions paraphrase the audio, so you need to recognise paraphrase to find the answer, but the answer itself should be the speaker's word, not your synonym.

How many words should I change when paraphrasing?

There is no set number. Aim to change the structure of the sentence and the words that have natural alternatives, while keeping technical terms, names and numbers accurate. If your version would be recognised as the original sentence with two words swapped, change the structure as well.

Is using synonyms enough for IELTS paraphrasing?

Rarely. Synonyms alone often leave the sentence looking copied, and forced synonyms are a common source of collocation and register errors, which the Lexical Resource descriptors penalise. Combine synonyms with word form and structure changes, and keep any word that has no true equivalent.

Should I paraphrase the question in IELTS Speaking?

Briefly, yes. Echoing the examiner's question word for word sounds rehearsed, while starting your answer with a natural rephrasing shows range and buys a second of thinking time. Keep it short and move straight into your actual answer, with a reason or an example.

Is it okay to use a paraphrasing tool to practise?

It is better not to. Automatic paraphrasers choose dictionary synonyms without checking collocation or register, so they produce sentences that sound unnatural. Studying them trains the kind of word-choice errors that hold Lexical Resource down. Practise the techniques by hand, then get feedback on real answers.

Writing 9 min read· September 2026

IELTS paraphrasing: techniques, examples, and when not to paraphrase

IELTS paraphrasing for Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking: five techniques with examples, what never to change, worked intros and practice exercises.

IELTS paraphrasing means expressing the same meaning in different words, and the test uses it in all four skills. In Writing you paraphrase the question to open your answer. In Reading and Listening the questions paraphrase the text or recording, and recognising that is most of the skill. In Speaking, the official descriptors at Bands 7 and 8 both include "effective use of paraphrase as required". The techniques are simple: synonyms, changing the word form, changing the sentence structure, and restating numbers. The skill is knowing which words to leave alone.

One rule overrides the rest: in completion questions you do not paraphrase. The answer is the exact words from the passage or the recording, within the word limit.

Where paraphrasing matters in each part of IELTS

Paraphrasing by skill
Skill	What you do	Paraphrase your answer?
Listening	Recognise that the question and the audio say the same thing in different words	No. Completion answers are the words you hear
Reading	Recognise paraphrase between questions and passage, especially in True/False/Not Given and matching headings	No. Completion answers are copied from the passage
Writing Task 1	Rewrite the chart description in your introduction	Yes. Copying the prompt shows nothing of your vocabulary
Writing Task 2	Rewrite the question in your introduction; avoid repeating the topic words all essay	Yes
Speaking	Explain a word you cannot remember, and avoid echoing the examiner's question word for word	Yes

Five IELTS paraphrasing techniques, with examples

Good paraphrases usually combine two or three of these. A single synonym swap is the weakest version: the sentence still looks copied.

Word form is the most underused technique and the safest: "invest" becomes "investment" without any risk of choosing the wrong synonym.
Structure changes are what make a paraphrase look written rather than substituted. Moving the cause to the front, or turning a clause into a noun phrase, does more than any synonym.

Paraphrasing techniques
Technique	Original	Paraphrase
1. Synonyms	Many people prefer to live in cities.	A large number of people choose to live in urban areas.
2. Change the word form	The government should invest in public transport.	Government investment in public transport is needed.
3. Active to passive, or back	Governments should ban plastic bags.	Plastic bags should be banned.
4. Change the clause structure	Because housing is expensive, young people live with their parents.	The high cost of housing means that many young people still live with their parents.
5. Restate numbers and quantities	25% of households own a car.	A quarter of households own a car.
Combined	Children who play sport are healthier than those who do not.	Regular physical activity tends to improve young people's health.

What not to change when you paraphrase

Not every word needs replacing, and forcing a synonym is how paraphrasing lowers a score. The Writing descriptors reward "an awareness of style and collocation" at Band 7; a strange synonym is exactly the inappropriacy they penalise.

Technical and specific terms: "internet", "carbon emissions", "university", "public transport" have no good synonym. Keep them.
Names, places and years in Task 1: "the UK" and "2010" stay as they are.
Words that change meaning when swapped: "children" is not "offspring" in an essay about schools, and "old people" is not "ancient people".
Register: "kids" for "children" and "a lot of" for "many" are paraphrases, but informal ones. In an essay they cost more than they gain.
It is fine to repeat a key term once or twice. Changing it every time, to "youngsters", "juveniles" and "the younger generation", reads as a thesaurus exercise.

How to paraphrase the Task 2 question: a worked example

Question: "Some people believe that university education should be free for all students. Others think students should pay for their own studies. Discuss both views and give your own opinion."

Weak introduction: "Some people believe that university education should be free for all students, while others think students should pay for their own studies. I will discuss both views." This is the question with a comma added.

Stronger introduction: "Whether higher education should be funded by the state or by students themselves is widely debated. While some argue that tuition should cost nothing, others feel that those who benefit from a degree should cover its cost. This essay will discuss both positions before arguing that a shared model is the fairest."

What changed: "university education" became "higher education" (synonym); "should be free" became "funded by the state" and "cost nothing" (reframing); the two views were restructured into a "Whether… or…" noun clause; and the last sentence adds a position, which the question asked for. Two sentences of paraphrase plus a thesis is enough. Do not spend five minutes perfecting it.

IELTS writing templates and sentence patterns

Paraphrasing in Writing Task 1

Task 1 prompts follow a fixed pattern, so the paraphrase can be almost mechanical. Prompt: "The line graph below shows the number of international students enrolled at universities in three countries between 2000 and 2020." Paraphrase: "The line graph compares how many overseas students were enrolled at universities in three countries over the twenty years from 2000."

Name the visual accurately. If the prompt says table, do not call it a graph; if it says bar chart, do not call it a line graph.
Follow the introduction with the overview. The paraphrase is one sentence; the overview is what Task Achievement is really judging.

Common Task 1 prompt phrases and alternatives
Prompt says	You can write
shows	illustrates, compares, gives information about
the number of	how many
the proportion of	what percentage of, the share of
between 2000 and 2020	over a twenty-year period, from 2000 to 2020
in three countries	in the UK, Canada and Australia (name them if the chart does)
the amount of money spent on	spending on, expenditure on

Recognising paraphrase in IELTS Reading and Listening

Here the skill runs the other way: the test paraphrases and you have to notice. Question writers rarely use the passage's own words, so hunting for an exact match wastes time and leads you to distractors that do repeat the words.

Underline the key idea of each question, not just its keywords, and listen or read for that idea.
In True/False/Not Given, a paraphrase of the statement means True; a contradiction means False; nothing on the point means Not Given.
Then switch modes for completion answers: write the exact word you heard or read, not your own synonym. A correct meaning in different words can be marked wrong.

How questions paraphrase the text
The question says	The text says	What to notice
The scheme was unpopular with local residents	People living nearby objected to the plan	Synonyms plus a changed structure; still the same claim
Costs rose sharply after 2015	Expenses increased dramatically in the years following 2015	Every content word changed; the meaning did not
Most visitors come from abroad (True/False/Not Given)	The majority of tourists are from overseas	True: a paraphrase, not a different claim
What time does the tour start? (Listening)	"We used to leave at nine, but now we set off at half past"	"Start" became "set off"; the first time given is a distractor

Paraphrasing in IELTS Speaking

In Speaking, paraphrase is how you keep going when a word will not come. The official Lexical Resource descriptor at Bands 7 and 8 includes "effective use of paraphrase as required": the examiner is not expecting you to know every word, but to get round the ones you do not know.

Describe it: "It's a kind of…", "It's the thing you use to…", "It's a bit like… but…".
Explain its purpose or effect: "the people who look after the building at night" for a word like caretaker.
Do not repeat the examiner's question back word for word. "Do you enjoy cooking?" can be answered "I do, actually. Making meals at home is one of the ways I relax", which already uses two paraphrases.
Do not stop to search. A fluent paraphrase is better than a long pause followed by the perfect word.

Should you use a paraphrasing tool?

Not for learning, and never as a model. Automatic paraphrasers swap words for dictionary synonyms without checking collocation or register, so they produce sentences like "The administration ought to finance open conveyance" for "The government should fund public transport". Learning from output like that trains exactly the errors the Band 7 descriptor calls inappropriacies in style and collocation. In the exam you have no tool anyway. Practise the techniques above until they are automatic.

IELTS paraphrasing exercises with answers

Paraphrase each sentence using at least two techniques. Then compare with the suggested answer; yours can be different and still correct.

Practice sentences
Sentence	One possible answer
Many young people spend too much time on social media.	Young people often spend excessive amounts of time on social networking sites.
The number of cars on the roads has increased.	There has been a rise in road traffic.
Some people think that zoos are cruel to animals.	Zoos are considered cruel by some people.
Online shopping is replacing traditional shops.	Traditional retailers are increasingly losing customers to online stores.
The chart shows the percentage of people who used public libraries in 2010 and 2020.	The chart compares what proportion of the population visited public libraries in 2010 and a decade later.
Governments should spend more money on healthcare.	Increased public spending on healthcare is needed.

Practise paraphrasing where it is marked

Paraphrasing improves fastest when you can see whether it worked. On IELTSVega you can write a Task 1 or Task 2 answer and get an instant band score for each criterion, including Lexical Resource, then drill Reading and Listening question types where spotting paraphrase decides the answer.

Writing mistakes that hold people at 6.5