Which option best demonstrates a paraphrase?

• A. Copying exact phrases with quotation marks.
• B. Restating information in your own words.
• C. Quoting from the source.
• D. Summarizing main ideas concisely.

Answer: (B)

Paraphrasing means restating information in your own words while keeping the original meaning intact. The best choice is the one that clearly shows this rewording, not the exact wording from the source. Restating in your own words demonstrates you understand the idea well enough to express it differently, which is what paraphrasing is all about.

Copying exact phrases with quotation marks is directly quoting; you’re reproducing the source’s wording, not paraphrasing. Quoting from the source is the same idea—using the original language verbatim. Summarizing main ideas concisely captures the essence in a shortened form, but it’s not the same as paraphrasing, which aims to rephrase the same amount of information in your own wording while preserving the meaning.

So, the option that says restating information in your own words best represents paraphrase. If you paraphrase, remember to attribute the source. For practice, a paraphrase keeps the same meaning as the original but uses different wording and sentence structure.