Essential English Rephrasing and Phrasal Verbs
English Rephrasing Techniques
- 1. Comparatives: as … as
- The computer is more expensive than the bike.
- The computer isn’t as cheap as the bike.
- The bike isn’t as expensive as the computer.
- 2. Whose: belong
- Whose ring is that?
- Who does that ring belong to?
- 3. Difficulty: difficult
- She had difficulty getting up in the morning.
- She found it difficult to get up in the morning.
- 4. Modals: sure, expect (use Present Perfect for past)
- I’m sure that they saw you.
- They must have seen you.
- 5. Impersonal Passive: say, believe, think
- People say that she is working a lot.
- She is said to be working a lot.
- 6. Superlative:
- I have never seen such a long movie.
- This is the longest movie I have ever seen.
- 7. Concession: although, even though vs. despite, in spite of
- I didn’t call her although I had her phone number.
- I didn’t call her in spite of / despite having her phone number.
- 8. Preference: would prefer vs. would rather
- I would prefer him not to see the film.
- I would rather he didn’t see the film.
- 9. Regret:
- I regret telling them the truth.
- I wish I hadn’t told them the truth.
- I shouldn’t have told them the truth.
- 10. Probability: likely vs. chance
- My brother is likely to win the competition.
- There is a chance of my brother winning the competition.
- 11. Attention: listen to, pay attention to, take notice of
- They never listen to me.
- They never pay (any) attention to me.
- They never take (any) notice of me.
- 12. Necessity: necessary vs. need
- It isn’t necessary that he sleeps so much.
- He doesn’t need to sleep so much.
- 13. Continuity: any more, any longer vs. no longer
- They don’t live in that city any more.
- They no longer live in that city.
- 14. Success: succeed vs. manage
- She succeeded in arriving on time.
- She managed to arrive on time.
- 15. Time: for, since
- I haven’t seen her for 6 months.
- It has been 6 months since I last saw her.
- 16. Quantity: enough vs. too
- They found that house too small to buy.
- That house isn’t big enough for them to buy.
- 17. Reported Speech: imperatives (tell, advise)
- “Don’t give the book to anybody, John!” Julia said.
- Julia told John not to give the book to anybody.
Common Phrasal Verbs
- Go off: expire, explode, or ring (alarm)
- Set off/out: depart
- Put up with: tolerate
- Tell off: scold
- Come up with: invent or think of an idea
- Put off: postpone
- Call off: cancel
- Take up: start a hobby
- Carry out: perform or conduct
- Break down: stop functioning
- Get through: finish something
- Put up: accommodate someone
- Bring about: cause
- Bring up: raise (a child) or mention (a topic)
- Make up: invent
- Look into: investigate
- Turn up / Show up: arrive
- Drop out: leave school
Sample Essay: Cultural Heritage
Most countries spend large sums of money protecting their national heritage. However, there is a strong argument that we should look forward and not backward, spending less money on preserving the past and more on securing our future.
On the one hand, it is important that we remember our heritage. Once it is lost, it is lost forever. Caring for important monuments helps with this. It also attracts tourists, which has an economic benefit for everyone.
On the other hand, governments spend a lot of money on museums and keeping historic sites in good condition when poor people need houses to live in and businesses need better roads for transporting their goods.
Another argument is that by making heritage sites attractive for tourists—for example, by putting on entertainment—we give a very untrue picture of the past and sometimes damage the local environment.
To conclude, while there are strong arguments for not spending too much on preserving the past, I believe it is important to protect the most famous sites for future generations, but it is not realistic to try and save everything. We need to invest in the future too.