In this post: The words on my blacklist and what I use instead, three levels of paraphrasing the prompt, how to learn synonyms, and practice exercises with answers.
Paraphrasing · 3 parts
- 1. The principle and synonym tables
- 2. "See A as B", openings, adverbs
- 3. Blacklist, practice and exercises (you are here)
✦ In this post
7. My blacklist: words I stopped using, and why
The fourth general rule in my notes is the “blacklist”. The original list was: a myriad of / overwhelm / dwellers / nowadays (which I was spelling “nowsaday” at the time) / based on the aforementioned / the former / the latter. I added a few more later. For each one below, I explain why it is on the list and what I use instead.
| Blacklisted | Why I avoid it (my analysis) | Use instead |
|---|---|---|
| a myriad of | ① I often misspelled it (myraid, mysaid). ② It is quite literary, so “a myriad of factors” sounds exaggerated. ③ I even wrote the wrong collocation “a myriad of years”. | numerous, an array of, a wide range of, several |
| overwhelm | It means “to overpower” or “to make someone feel unable to cope”, and it goes with emotions or people: be overwhelmed by work. “The disadvantages totally overwhelm the advantages” is not a natural way to compare pros and cons. | outweigh, surpass, exceed |
| dwellers | City dwellers does exist, but it is rather formal and literary. I often used dwellers on its own to mean “residents”, which reads awkwardly. | residents, inhabitants, citizens |
| nowadays | ① I often misspelled it (nowsaday, nowaday). ② Many prompts already contain nowadays, so copying it isn’t paraphrasing. ③ Overused, it sounds conversational. | currently, in recent years, these days, in contemporary society |
| based on the aforementioned | I ended every conclusion with “In conclusion, based on the aforementioned, …”. It is long, stiff and adds no information. | Just write In conclusion, … |
| the former / the latter | The reader has to look back to work out which is which. This is especially confusing in an introduction before the ideas are clearly set up. I also used them after sentences where both views were long, and the reader simply couldn’t match them up. | Repeat the key noun: I support building houses in rural areas. |
| a couple of | Conversational, and literally it means “two”, so it is imprecise. | several, a few, numerous |
| is a hot issue | Too conversational, not formal enough (opening of Task 21). | has received considerable public attention |
| with time progressing | Not something a native speaker would say. | as time passes, over time |
| superiorities | Not the same as advantages. | advantages, merits, strengths |
| gain … payment | Unnatural collocation. | receive a salary, be paid, be compensated |
A real example of the former / the latter
Whereas some people look upon science as something used to mainly benefit human beings, others refer to all other factors as equally important. As for my perception, I am opposed to the former, …
A reader can still follow this one. But in my Arts & Education essay, both views were long, and I ended with “I am opposed to the latter“; the reader had to go back two lines to find out what I was against. The fix is simple:
Example: I disagree that arts funding should be reduced in order to increase spending on education.
8. In practice: three levels of paraphrasing the prompt
Paraphrasing is used most often in the first sentence, where you restate the prompt. I break this into three levels, from easiest to hardest. The bottom line first: always do level 1, do level 2 only when you are confident, and treat level 3 as a bonus that is also the easiest to get wrong.
| Level | Method | Example from my essays | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| ① Change the words | Replace the keywords in the prompt with synonyms | Prompt: many people choose to be self-employed, rather than work for a company → a number of people run their own businesses instead of working for corporations (Task 23) | A clean swap; the meaning is unchanged. |
| ② Change the structure | Change the word class, switch between active and passive, or turn it into a comparison | Prompt about some countries having more young adults than older people → In some nations, the proportion of young adults is bigger than that of the older generation (Task 45) | Proportion and that of turn it into a comparison; larger or higher would sound more natural than bigger. |
| ③ Change the angle | Describe the same thing through a broader concept or its result | Prompt about phones and computers making people lose the ability to communicate face to face → the frequent usage of electronic devices keeps individuals from developing their interpersonal skills (Task 35) | Interpersonal skills covers “face-to-face communication” concisely and accurately. |
Traps I fell into when paraphrasing prompts
| What the prompt meant | What I wrote | Problem |
|---|---|---|
| rural people (people living in the countryside) | the number of populations in the suburban areas is decreasing (Task 6) | Suburban means on the edge of a city, not the countryside. Safe swaps for rural are the countryside and rural areas. Also, you can’t say “number of populations”. |
| cooking and eating at home | cooking and eating in our place (Task 20) | “In our place” is very conversational. Just write at home or home-cooked meals. |
| owning a home rather than renting | purchasing a dwelling is considered extremely significant instead of leasing one (Task 41, notes version) | Dwelling is correct but very formal, and putting instead of at the end makes it unclear what it modifies. Example: In many countries, people regard owning a home as far more important than renting one. |
The first example deserves special attention. In Task 6, and in another essay on whether new houses should be built in cities or the countryside, I replaced rural with suburban both times. In my first language, everyday words for “suburbs” and “countryside” often overlap, but in English suburban refers to the residential areas around a city, which is not the same thing as the rural areas in the prompt. This is the classic case of “don’t force a word you’re not sure about”: one careless swap changes the meaning of the prompt, and that can cost you not just LR but Task Response as well.
9. How to learn and use synonyms
1. Make synonym cards: one set per card
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Meaning (in your own words or language) | to reduce (a burden) |
| Basic word | reduce |
| Alternatives + collocations | alleviate a burden, mitigate a problem / the impact, ease the pressure |
| A sentence I actually wrote | the help from the elderly can undoubtedly alleviate their burden as well as the expenditure on babysitters |
| Confidence | ★★★ (sure) / ★★ (seen it but never used it) / ★ (not sure; don’t use it in the exam yet) |
The key field is the collocation. If you only learn “alleviate = reduce”, you can easily write something odd like “alleviate the number of cars”. If you learn “alleviate a burden”, you won’t misuse it.
2. The “three at most” rule
For each set of synonyms, learn at most the three you are most confident about; it is enough just to recognise the rest. In the exam, what matters is being able to recall a word and use it correctly, not how many you have memorised. In the end, the sets I really relied on were roughly essential / crucial, numerous / a wide range of, tackle / address and outweigh / surpass.
3. Scan for repeated words after writing
- When you finish an essay, circle every content word (noun, verb, adjective) that appears three or more times.
- For each circled word, replace just one occurrence, not all of them.
- Only choose replacements from the ★★★ words on your synonym cards.
- Read it through once more to check the meaning hasn’t changed and the collocations are right.
4. How to check collocations
When I’m not sure whether a word can be used a certain way, I look up example sentences in an English–English dictionary to see which words it usually appears with. If I can’t find any similar usage in the examples, I don’t use it. This habit helped me weed out a lot of “fancy words” that were really direct translations from my first language.
10. Practice exercises (with answers)
Exercise A: choose the more natural option
- The (merits / superiorities) of free public transport outweigh its drawbacks.
- Older people can (alleviate / decrease) the burden of childcare for working parents.
- Most (residents / dwellers) of big cities live in apartments.
- The disadvantages of this policy (overwhelm / outweigh) its advantages.
- Advertising has (a plethora of / a myriad of years) effects on consumers.
Show answers
- merits: superiorities does not mean advantages.
- alleviate: alleviate a burden is a fixed collocation; decrease more often goes with quantities.
- residents: dwellers is formal and literary.
- outweigh: use outweigh to compare advantages and disadvantages.
- a plethora of (or the simpler numerous): “a myriad of years” is a wrong collocation.
Exercise B: rewrite using “see A as B”
- Some people think university education is the only way to succeed. (use view)
- Many young people use social media as their main way of getting the news. (use treat)
- I think this is a positive development. (use consider)
Show answers
- Some people view university education as the only route to success.
- Many young people treat social media as their main source of news.
- I consider this a positive development.
Exercise C: make this background sentence more natural
Undoubtedly, with time progressing, the number of people who work from home has been becoming more and more.
Show answers
Suggested rewrites:
In recent years, the number of people who work from home has increased considerably.
Or: As time passes, working from home has become increasingly common.
Three changes: ① with time progressing → in recent years / as time passes; ② has been becoming → has increased; ③ number collocates with increase, not with more and more.
One last reminder: the purpose of paraphrasing is to avoid repetition and make your meaning more precise, not to make your essay look difficult. During the period when my writing went from 6.5 to 7, my vocabulary actually became simpler. I was just using it more accurately.
Further reading
- IELTS preparation notes: overview (in Chinese)
- Tutor review, Ali: streamlining my essay structure from 400 to 300 words (in Chinese)
- How to check your IELTS sub-scores (in Chinese)
- The Best Free IELTS Websites and Tools: What I Actually Used
This is the last part of “Paraphrasing”. To start again, go back to Part 1.
IELTS Notes in English · Writing Language (post 2 of 4)
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✦ Target Your Future
Some days you practise for hours and the score still does not move. I hope these notes remind you that the setbacks are part of the road: every recording you replayed, every essay you rewrote and every sentence you finally dared to say is progress you have already made.
I wrote this down so the next person can take fewer detours. You do not have to follow my method exactly. Find a rhythm that works for you, rest when you need to, and come back for the next small step.
I hope what you take away is more than a number on a score report: a little more confidence in yourself, and the courage to step a bit closer to the world.
— Ting
← Back to IELTS notes in English
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