8 Tips to Rewrite Sentences Effortlessly

Rewriting sentences is one of the best self-editing tips I've used to improve my communication and writing skills. 

It helps me improve content readability and ensures that I’m conveying exactly what I mean to say in my writing. 

If you don't spend time consciously reviewing your writing to improve clarity and fix poorly written sentences, you stand a good chance of confusing your readers.

In this guide, I’ve compiled my eight best tips for rewriting sentences to help you rewrite sentences effortlessly and turn every dull draft into your best work. 

8 ways to rewrite a sentence (with examples)

You can rewrite sentences in different ways depending on context and structure. 

I’ll walk you through eight creative ways to rewrite a sentence, covering multiple formats and writing styles that I personally use.  

Tip 1: Use an AI rewriter tool like Wordtune

I’ve often found it challenging to self-edit my writing. Because when you're deeply involved in your own work, it's easy to overlook mistakes or become blind to areas that need improvement. 

You're so familiar with your own writing style and thought process that it becomes difficult to take a step back and view your work from an outsider's perspective.

That’s when an AI rewriter tool like Wordtune can be your silver bullet. 

With Wordtune, you can contextually rewrite sentences in just one click.

Just add your draft to the Wordtune Editor and select the sentence you want to rewrite. 

Click on the Rewrite button, and voila! 

You’ll find multiple variations of the same sentence, differing in tone, length, word choice, and more factors.

Choose whichever version looks best, or copy different options to compare in more detail.

Tip 2: Use synonyms to avoid repetition 

Repetition is one of the easiest ways to give yourself away as a lazy writer. Savvy readers can easily spot repetitive words, which can be a big turnoff for many. 

And here’s the kicker: even the most seasoned writers are guilty of repetition. 

When you become comfortable with certain words, you tend to use them almost instinctively over and over. You need to spot that when rewriting sentences.

Look out for repetitive words and replace them with relevant synonyms. Here are a few things to remember:

Find and replace 

Use the “find” function (CMD + F on Mac, CTRL + F on PC) and put in a word you suspect you might be repeating a lot. This makes it easy to see how often that word appears and make quick changes. 

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Use Wordtune’s Smart Synonyms

You can quickly find a list of synonyms to replace any word with Wordtune. Just open the browser extension and select the word you want to replace with a synonym. Click on the Wordtune icon to find multiple suggestions. Or you can put your content in the Wordtune editor and repeat the next steps. 

Consider the context

 Ask yourself, “Does this sentence emphasize the point I’m trying to make?” If you want to sound more emphatic, use a stronger verb/adjective.

❌ “Adding hashtags is a good way to gain more social media followers.” 

✅ “Adding hashtags is an effective way to gain more social media followers.”

Make sure it sounds natural

Don’t replace every word with fancy synonyms your readers don’t understand. Use terms that sound natural and fit the tone of your writing. Plus, make these sentences easy for people to read and get your point.

I always read my writing aloud to see how each sentence flows. If it sounds awkward, clunky, or boring, I know I need to replace a few words with better synonyms. ‍

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Tip 3: Convert passive into active voice

A golden rule of good writing: always write in an active voice. 

Passive voice sentences are often hard to read and don’t resonate well with readers. 

Here are some examples that explain how active voice sounds more direct than passive voice:

Kaleigh Moore, a freelance writer for eCommerce SaaS businesses and a retail journalist at Forbes, emphasizes the importance of reducing passive voice. She also shares a few quick hacks for identifying and rewriting passive sentences.

The first step in learning how to write in an active voice is reviewing your work and highlighting passive sentences. You can quickly identify a passive sentence if it includes the word "was” or a past-tense verb (ending in “-ed”) followed by “by.”

Once you’ve spotted all sentences in passive voice, rewrite them in active voice for higher readability.

Wordtune can help you with that. Select a passive voice sentence and hit rewrite to get multiple options in active voice. 

Here’s an example of how it works: 

Tip 4: Cut the fluff

Regardless of the type of content you’re writing, brevity is key. 

The quicker you convey your point, the more readable your content is.

That’s why Erica Schneider stresses that every word and sentence should give readers something new. Erica is a content creator with expertise in editing over 3 million words in her past role as the Head of Content at a SaaS marketing agency.

So, how exactly do you rewrite sentences to fluff-proof your writing? Here are my go-to tips for cutting down wordiness:

Cut back on adverbs

Adverbs define how, in what way, when, where, or to what extent something happened—and they’re writers’ favorite part of speech. Removing adverbs can help in trimming sentences to make them more concise.

❌ “They quietly spoke to their friend.” 

✅ “They whispered to their friend.”

Avoid repeating words

This circles back to tip #2 but is worth repeating in the context of adverbs. Writers often use double adverbs, where the second one doesn’t add anything solid to your sentence. You can delete such instances to avoid repetition.

❌ “The food was tasty and quite delicious.” 

✅ “The food was tasty.”

Use AI to remove fluff‍

They say “killing your darlings” is easier said than done. If you struggle to edit your work and cut down filler sentences objectively, AI tools like Wordtune can do the heavy lifting.

You can use the Shorten prompt to remove unnecessary words and give you multiple options to choose from.

❌ “Customer marketing focuses on keeping your existing customers happy and satisfied in order to increase retention and win customer loyalty” 

✅ “Customer marketing increases customer retention and loyalty by keeping your existing customers happy.”

Tip 5: Add sensory language

Sensory language brings your ideas to life. It helps readers imagine what you’re talking about and creates a more immersive experience. 

Instead of simply explaining a concept or talking about an activity, you create a more vivid image for readers using sensory words to describe this concept/activity. 

You can use descriptive words to convey the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touches related to your idea.

❌ “I ordered a slice of cake.” 

✅ “I ordered a slice of decadent chocolate cake.”

Here’s a quick cheat sheet of sensory words you can use to make sentences more engaging:

But before you use this tip, remember to decide which senses you want to appeal to in your content. Think of what you want your audience to feel when they see your content or copy.

For example, if you’re writing about coffee, you can target the sense of smell and taste. And if you’re talking about a hotel, focus on the sense of sight and touch to make a strong impression on readers.‍

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Tip 6: Mix up different tones of voice

Writing in the same tone from start to finish is the same as a news reporter presenting the news with an expressionless, poker face. There’s no emotion to reel in your audience. 

You can rewrite sentences to change your tone of voice at multiple points in the draft. For example, you can open the introduction in a serious tone, write the first subheading in a revelatory tone, add more sections in a humorous tone, and so on. 

Use your creativity to effectively shift the tone across the draft and create a more intriguing reader experience. Wordtune can help change the tone from casual to formal to playful or any other tone you want to write in. 

Here’s an example where I wrote a serious sentence and asked Wordtune to rewrite it in a funny tone. The output is exactly what I’d expected—playful and full of personality.

Tip 7: Break up run-on sentences

A run-on sentence includes two (or more) sentences that can stand alone. It’s difficult to read and confuse readers about the actual point you want to make. Plus, they are naturally too wordy. 

So, it’s best to spot these run-on sentences and rewrite them for better clarity. You can:

• Add a semicolon or an em dash (—)
• Use a period to split the sentences into two
• Bridge the two points together with a conjunction

This is another place where reading your content aloud will help big time. You can easily recognize which sentences need editing during this exercise.

❌ “I would like to arrange a meeting I’m unavailable until next Monday.” 

✅ “I would like to arrange a meeting, but I’m unavailable until next Monday.”

Tip 8: Create a rhythm with sentences 

Good writing has a rhythm to it. You can create this rhythm by varying the sentence length to give readers a neat balance of short and long sentences.

Another good tip when rewriting sentences is to check your draft’s rhythm and whether sentences flow seamlessly from one paragraph to another. 

You have to discuss how well your draft flows from one idea to another without sounding dull or monotonous.

And that’s where you can mix up the sentence length to hold and retain readers’ attention. Wordtune can come in handy in the process. You can ask Wordtune to shorten or expand any sentence and pick options in varied lengths for the perfect rhythm. 

4 common errors to watch out for while rewriting sentences

Rewriting sentences isn’t exactly a walk in the park. You have to carefully go through your whole draft and find sentences worth rewriting. This can all go south if you commit these four grave mistakes:

Working with a narrow focus

Rewriting sentences isn’t just about changing words and revamping the sentence structure. You’re set up for disappointment if you do this exercise unidirectionally without considering other critical quality factors like readability, accuracy, clarity, and more.

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Over-editing and overthinking

‍While your goal is to be concise and clear, you can’t go down a rabbit hole trying to perfect your draft. Spending hours rewriting every other sentence using different permutations and combinations can eat up too much of your time.

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Losing the original insight‍

One of the most common mistakes when rewriting sentences is changing the actual message you want to deliver. You might end up saying something totally different than what you intended. 

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Using forced language

If you’re refining your draft in a hurry, you might end up with a poor choice of words. It’ll make your message sound un-natural and too forced to be believable. 

Take your drafts from meh to wow

Polishing up a draft is as simple as creatively rewriting a few sentences. But knowing what and how to rewrite a sentence can be tricky. 

That’s why I’ve shared my eight best practices to rewrite sentences like a pro. You’ll only become better and better at this with practice, and Wordtune can be your editing sidekick to fine-tune your drafts. 

It’s not just about rewriting sentences. It’s a versatile tool to enhance your writing with an improved tone, better word choice, creative suggestions, and a lot more.

Sign up for free to try it today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does it mean to rewrite a sentence? 

Rewriting a sentence involves editing its structure or word choice while retaining its original meaning. Rewriting can make sentences more reader-friendly and impactful. 

How can you tell if a sentence needs to be rewritten?

You might consider rewriting a sentence if it’s too long or feels awkward/unclear when you read it aloud. You could also rewrite sentences that use repeated words, passive voice, and too many adverbs. 

Can rewriting sentences improve writing skills?

Rewriting improves writing skills by teaching you to think about the structure of your sentences and the words you use. Editing sentences can help you spot redundant words, passive voice, and run-on sentences. With practice, this helps you become a better writer.