A paraphrase has to change two things — the words and the sentence structure — while leaving the meaning, the scope, and the author’s level of certainty exactly where you found them. Pick a source sentence, cover it with your hand, and type the idea in your own sentence. The bench then shows you what you borrowed without meaning to.
Choose a sentence to paraphrase
The original
Your paraphrase 0 words
The method that actually works.
Read until you understand it, then cover the original.
Say the idea aloud, in your words, to an imaginary coworker.
Type what you said — without looking back.
Now look, and check three things: borrowed runs, drifted meaning, dropped hedges.
What you actually wrote
Your sentence appears here with three kinds of highlighting the moment you start typing.
Borrowed run — the author’s words in the author’s orderSame word, your sentenceTerm of art — keep it