Rephrasing
Strategies for Clear
Communication
Review
• Strategies we’ve learned so far for the final
group discussion:
(1) Checking Comprehension
(2) Asking For Clarification
Last Week
• Last week, we looked at asking for
clarification as a strategy for avoiding
misunderstandings.
• When we ask for clarification we followed
three steps:
Step (1) Interrupt
Step (2) State the problem.
Step (3) Ask speaker to clarify.
Last Week
• Step (1) We interrupted the speaker.
I’m sorry.
Excuse me.
Hang on a minute.
Just a minute.
Wait a minute.
Last Week
• Step 2: We stated the problem:
• If you didn’t hear:
I didn’t catch that.
I didn’t hear you
I didn’t hear what you said.
I missed that.
Last Week
• If you didn’t understand
I don’t follow you.
I don’t understand.
I didn’t understand that.
I don’t get it.
I’m not clear.
You lost me.
Last Week
• Step 3: We asked the speaker to clarify.
You can ask the speaker to clarify everything
again:
Can you repeat that?
Can you say that again?
Can you explain that again?
Can you rephrase that?
Can you clarify that for me?
You can ask your partner to clarify details:
He did what?
He went where?
He left when?
He did it because why?
He talked to who?
This Week
• We are going to look at another good strategy
for maintaining clear communication:
Rephrasing What You Say
Rephrasing means ‘to say something again.’
When you rephrase, you say what you said
again but you change the way you say it.
Rephrasing will help your partner understand
you because it gives your partner a second
chance to catch your drift.
• We usually rephrase in two steps (though
adding comprehension check is also a good
option):
Step 1: Indicate You Are About to Rephrase
Step 2: Rephrase
Step 3 Optional: Check Comprehension
Step 1: Indicate You
Are About to Rephrase
Indicating you are about to rephrase is an
important step. It allows your partner to
prepare for what you are about to say. You can
use the following phrases:
In other words, . .
To put it another way . . .
What I am saying is . . .
What I am trying to say is . . .
What I mean is . . .
• You can also use phrases like the following,
which are a little more formal:
Let me rephrase that.
Let me explain that another way.
Let me explain that again.
Let me put that (to you) differently.
Let me put that another way.
Step 2: Rephrase
Exactly what the title says! Rephrase what you
said. But here are some things that can help
you simplify your argument.
(1) Change/simplify Vocabulary
(2) Change/simply Sentence Structure
Changing Structure:
Negative to Positive
• Some things you can do to change structure is
to change form negative sentences to positive
sentences.
Smoking is not allowed in the bathrooms.

Smoking is prohibited in the bathrooms.
Changing Structure:
Passive to Active
• You can also change passive voice sentences
to active voice sentences.
Stronger laws are needed to reduce the crime
rate.
We need tougher laws to cut down the
amount of crime.
Changing Structure:
Stripping Modals
and Difficult Tenses
• Among ESL learners the nuance of modals is
often difficult to understand. We can strip
them from sentences when we rephrase:
He could have committed the crime.

Maybe, he did it.
Here’s an example rephrasal:
Exercise
Complete the rephrasal writing exercise on
the handout.
In the next hour we will practice rephrasing in
a communication activity.