To restate an idea safely, find the strength words in the original and make sure your version keeps the same level. Changing the vocabulary is easy. Keeping the certainty and the quantity the same is what the task checks.
This lesson belongs to sentence building and paraphrase and builds on the care with meaning in replacing a repeated noun with clear reference.
Which words carry strength?
Most paraphrase errors come from a small set of words. Learn the ladders below and keep your version on the same step.
| Idea | Weaker | Middle | Stronger |
|---|---|---|---|
| quantity | a few, some | many, most | almost all, all |
| frequency | rarely, sometimes | often, usually | almost always, always |
| possibility | might, may, could | is likely to | will, must |
| importance | useful, helpful | important | essential, vital |
| number | hardly anyone | fewer than half | nearly everyone |
Words on the same step can replace each other. Words on different steps cannot.
Worked example
Paraphrase: Almost all the students found the new timetable confusing.
Step 1, underline strength. Almost all is the quantity, at the high end of the ladder, and confusing is the judgment.
Step 2, choose replacements at the same level. Almost all can become the great majority of or nearly every. Confusing can become hard to follow.
Step 3, rebuild the sentence. Nearly every student found the new timetable hard to follow.
Step 4, check against the original. Quantity: nearly every equals almost all. Judgment: hard to follow is close to confusing. Subject and object are unchanged.
A weaker sentence would be Some students found the timetable confusing. It is fluent, but it says something different.
The mistake to watch for
Mistaken answer: The scheme might reduce traffic. → The scheme will reduce traffic.
Might is possible. Will is certain. The writer has promised more than the source did.
The same happens in reverse. The law must be changed becoming The law could be changed turns a demand into an option.
Reading more than the text says is the most common strength error, so when the original hedges, hedge too. A simple correction is to keep the strength word, or move to another word on the same step of the ladder.
Check yourself
1. Which keeps the strength of The scheme might reduce traffic? (a) will reduce, (b) could reduce, (c) must reduce.
Show answer
(b). Might and could are both low possibility. Will and must are far stronger.
2. Paraphrase with the same force: It is essential to book early.
Show answer
Booking early is vital. Vital and essential are both at the high end of the importance ladder. It is a good idea to book early would be weaker.
3. Which version of Few people attended the meeting changes the meaning? (a) Hardly anyone came to the meeting. (b) Not everyone attended the meeting.
Show answer
(b). Not everyone could mean almost everyone came, so it is much weaker than few. Version (a) keeps the same low quantity.
Where this leads next
Paraphrase often needs a different word form, so go to using word families in the correct grammatical role. The mixed sentence practice set has questions on strength, and the summary selection and paraphrase studio lets you try your own sentences.
Learners often find strength the hardest part to hear in a second language. Our online one-to-one English as a Second Language tuition lets a teacher compare your version and the source together, sentence by sentence.