IELTS synonyms and paraphrasing: five methods and the traps

A candidate rewrites “The number of cars increased” as “The quantity of automobiles escalated” and feels cleverer. The reader hears two odd word choices, and the sentence is worse. Paraphrasing is the skill of keeping the meaning while changing the words, and the synonym is the weakest of the tools for it. This guide shows why paraphrasing matters in each skill, five methods that work, the pairs that fail, and two worked examples. For word choice by task, see the Writing vocabulary guide.

Why paraphrasing matters in each skill

Writing. IELTS.org’s Academic Writing format page says Task 1 asks you to describe, summarise or explain the information in your own words. Language copied from the prompt is not your own language, and the band 4 wording on this site’s Writing explorer lists reusing the prompt’s nouns because nothing else is available as a trap. The same page describes Task 2 as a point of view, argument or problem to respond to, and an introduction that restates the question shows the reader you have understood it.

Speaking. Paraphrase keeps you talking. If a word will not come, say what it does: “the thing you use to carry papers” gets you past the gap. It also stops you repeating the same word in every sentence. The linking words for Speaking guide covers the joins, and the answer on slang covers register.

Reading and Listening. This is a study habit, not an official rule. Questions often say in other words what the passage or the recording says, so the useful skill is spotting the same meaning in different words. The site’s True/False/Not Given guide treats paraphrase as the rule for that question type, and the matching headings guide explains why matching keywords alone misleads. Practising your own paraphrases trains the eye for theirs.

Five methods

Each method below uses invented sentences. Combine two or three, since one small change often looks like copying.

1. Synonym. Replace a word with one of the same meaning that fits the sentence.

“Many people support the plan.” becomes “A large number of citizens back the proposal.”

2. Word form. Change the part of speech, which forces the rest of the sentence to change too.

“Cities are growing quickly.” becomes “There is rapid growth in cities.”

“Students who attend regularly do better.” becomes “Regular attendance leads to better results.”

3. Voice. Move from active to passive or back, when the passive suits the emphasis. The passive voice guide covers when it reads naturally.

“The council built a new library in 2015.” becomes “A new library was built by the council in 2015.”

4. Word order and structure. Reorder the clauses, or turn a sentence into a different shape.

“Although the town is small, it has a busy market.” becomes “The town has a busy market despite its small size.”

5. Generalising or specifying. Move up or down a level of detail, but never change the claim.

“Dogs and cats” becomes “household pets”. Going the other way, “vehicles” becomes “cars and lorries” only if the original really meant those two.

Generalising is the safest method when you have no good synonym. “Young people who are about to begin work” can become “school leavers” or “new entrants to the labour market”, depending on exactly what is meant.

Fifteen question words and their traps

Task 2 questions reuse a small set of words. The table gives a safe alternative and a trap for each. “Safe” means safe in the usual sense, so check the partner words of any choice.

Two pairs in the table are classic mix-ups of form, not meaning: “rise” and “raise”, and “affect” and “effect”. A synonym that is the wrong part of speech breaks the grammar as well as the sense.

Why a thesaurus swap fails

A thesaurus lists words that overlap in meaning. It does not list the part that does not overlap, which is what matters. Three things go wrong.

• No exact synonym. “Big” and “large” are close, but “big mistake” is natural and “large mistake” is not. “Large” fits “a large number”, and “big” does not.
• Collocation. The partner word decides whether a swap fits. “Severe shortage” is natural, and “harsh shortage” is not. The collocations guide explains the five types.
• Register and strength. “Collapse” is not “fall”, “demolish” is not “reduce”, and “kids” is not “children”. The band 6 wording on this site lists a thesaurus word swapped in for a plain one that was already right, and “utilise” where “use” was needed, as traps.

The rule that follows is simple. Use a swap only when you have seen the new word in a sentence like yours, in a learner’s dictionary or reliable text. If you cannot confirm it, keep the plain word and change the structure instead, using methods 2 to 5.

Worked example: Task 1

An invented prompt: “The line graph shows the number of visitors to a city museum and a city library between 2010 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features.”

Introduction, version one, mostly vocabulary:

“The line chart illustrates how many people went to a municipal museum and library from 2010 to 2020.”

What changed: “shows” became “illustrates” (synonym), “the number of visitors” became “how many people went” (word form and structure), “city” became “municipal” (synonym), and the dates became a different preposition pair.

Introduction, version two, mostly structure:

“Attendance at a city museum and a city library between 2010 and 2020 is compared in the line graph.”

What changed: a noun replaced the idea of visitors (“attendance”, word form), the time phrase moved inside the subject (order), and the sentence became passive (voice). “City” stayed, because “municipal” is not essential and “city” has no better partner here.

Both are acceptable. Version one risks a stiff word, and version two keeps simple vocabulary. The Task 1 guide covers what follows the introduction.

Worked example: Task 2

An invented question: “Some people think that young children should learn a foreign language at school. To what extent do you agree or disagree?”

Version one, mostly vocabulary:

“It is sometimes argued that primary pupils ought to study another language in the classroom. This essay agrees to a large extent.”

What changed: “some people think” became “it is sometimes argued” (structure), “young children” became “primary pupils” (specifying, which is fine only if the question means school age), “learn” became “study”, and “foreign” became “another”.

Version two, mostly structure:

“The idea that a foreign language belongs in the early school years has support, and I largely share that view.”

What changed: the whole proposition became a noun phrase, “should learn” became “belongs in” (generalising), and the position was stated in a second clause.

Check each version against the original. If “young children” meant pre-school age, then “primary pupils” changed the claim, and the paraphrase has failed even though every word is correct. Meaning comes first.

How to practise

1. Take a sentence from any article you read. Write it five ways, one for each method, and say which method each used.
2. For each synonym you used, look the word up in a learner’s dictionary and read one example sentence.
3. Keep a short notebook of safe pairs, with the trap beside each, as in the table above.
4. Paraphrase one real Task 1 prompt and one Task 2 question each week, and read them aloud. If either sounds odd, simplify.
5. When you read, notice how a heading, a question or a summary restates the text, and note the method.

IELTS publishes no list of synonyms or paraphrases, so the dictionary and your own ear are the check.