Public Service Interpreting

Cardiff Centre for Lifelong Learning

Paraphrasing in PSI

What is a paraphrase?

A paraphrase is a restatement of a text or passage in another form or

other words, often to clarify meaning, i.e. saying the same thing using
different words.

Paraphrasing

 does not match the source word for word;

 involves putting a term from a source into your own words;
 changes the words or phrasing of a term, but retains and fully
communicates the original meaning.

For PS interpreters it is important to practice and develop the skill of

paraphrasing because they will frequently encounter terms that have no
direct translation into other languages.

The paraphrase should be as brief as possible so as not to make the

interpretation much longer than the original.

A paraphrase should not add or leave out anything from the original
meaning.

It is important to understand the difference between a paraphrase and an

explanation. A paraphrase is an alternative way of expressing the same
concept accurately without adding or omitting information contained in
the original term. An explanation adds information that can help to
understand the concept but interpreters should not normally give
explanations as the PS professionals are better qualified to do so.

Paraphrasing is also different from summarising and interpreters should

not normally summarise and if so, with much caution.

The context is very important as a term can have different meanings in

different contexts. The same word can be a noun or a verb. The
paraphrase needs to match to be able to replace the word in that
particular sentence or context.