Using Your Own Words
Rephrasing information from the text without quoting. Demonstrates genuine understanding of the passage.
What is Using Your Own Words?
“Use your own words” questions test whether you truly understand what the text is saying, rather than just copying phrases from it. You need to express the same meaning but with different vocabulary.
This is a skill that comes up often in 11+ English papers and is worth practising regularly.
Step-by-Step Method
Find the relevant section in the text
Locate the part of the passage that contains the answer.
Identify the key words
Pick out the important words that carry the meaning.
Think of synonyms for each key word
Replace each important word with one that means the same thing.
Restructure the sentence if possible
Change the sentence structure as well as the vocabulary to make it truly your own.
Check the meaning is the same
Read your version and the original. Do they mean the same thing? If not, adjust.
Worked Examples
Text: “The ancient castle loomed above the tiny village.” Rephrase in your own words.
Working
- Key words: ancient = old, castle = fortress, loomed = towered, tiny = small, village = settlement.
- Rephrase the structure as well as the words.
Text: “She was reluctant to embark on the perilous journey.” Rephrase in your own words.
Working
- reluctant = unwilling, embark on = begin, perilous = dangerous, journey = trip.
Text: “The children were elated when the snow began to fall.” Rephrase in your own words.
Working
- elated = very happy/excited, began to fall = started falling.
Common Mistakes
Just copying the text word for word.
You must change the vocabulary. If the question says “use your own words”, quoting will lose marks.
Changing only one word and keeping the rest the same.
Change as many key words as you can, and try to change the sentence structure too.
Changing the meaning while trying to rephrase.
Your version must mean the same thing as the original. Check by comparing them.
Top Tips
- Build your vocabulary by reading widely – the more synonyms you know, the easier this becomes.
- Focus on changing the KEY words (nouns, verbs, adjectives), not the small connecting words (the, a, and).
- It is fine to keep some simple words the same (like “the” or “was”) – the examiner wants you to rephrase the important words.
- Practise by picking sentences from a book and rewriting them in different words.
Ready to practise?
Put these techniques into action with our free practice papers.
Practise English Questions