Summary and Paraphrase: Condense Versus Rewrite
What the examiner tests
Summary and paraphrase check whether you can restate meaning without copying. A summary condenses the main ideas; a paraphrase rewrites a passage at similar length, preserving all key points and emphasis. The exam rewards accuracy, own wording and control of length.
Core rules
- Find the topic and main idea first; distinguish main claims from examples, illustrations and repetition.
- Summary: omit examples and minor detail, keep the logical order, use third person and an objective tone, add no opinion. A common target is about one-third of the original.
- Paraphrase: keep the full content, sentence by sentence, but change vocabulary and sentence structure. Do not alter the writer's attitude or strength of claim.
- Preserve contrast, cause, condition and concession: 'although', 'because', 'if', 'unless' carry meaning.
- Use synonyms that fit the context, not the first dictionary meaning.
- Do not quote long phrases unless a term has no substitute.
Worked example
Original: 'Although the town had built a new bridge, the old ferry survived because farmers trusted it more than the highway.' Summary: 'The old ferry continued despite a new bridge because farmers preferred it.' Paraphrase: 'Even after the town constructed a new bridge, the old ferry remained in use, since farmers had greater confidence in it than in the road.' The summary keeps the contrast and cause but compresses; the paraphrase keeps the concessive structure and full sense. Both avoid copying the original wording.
Traps
Copying phrases; adding personal opinion; making a summary too long; making a paraphrase too short; dropping the 'although' contrast; changing 'farmers trusted it' into 'farmers liked it' when trust is the point; writing a comment instead of a summary.