What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is the process of rephrasing another person's words into one's own words. It is used to break down complex ideas or to restate a quote in a clearer, easier to understand way. The goal of paraphrasing is to express the same meaning as the original quote or text, but in different words.

Paraphrasing can be used to improve communication and writing skills. When we paraphrase someone else's words, we have to break down the meaning of their words so that we can highlight certain points or arguments. This helps us better understand what someone else has said and allows us to add our own insights and perspective into the conversation. Additionally, it often helps us find new ways of expressing our own thoughts by seeing it from a new perspective.

But it should be noted that one must properly cite any language that they use from another source when paraphrasing, even if it's tweaked slightly from the original language. Not only does this demonstrate respect for the original source material, but it also provides proper credit for their ideas and conclusions regarding an issue. Too often, people forget the importance of giving recognition where due and accidentally take too much credit for ideas not their own - which has legal consequences depending on degree of plagiarism in extreme cases.

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