Rewordify.com is live!

Rewordify.com is now live!

Rewordify.com helps you:

• read faster
• understand more
• learn more words a new way
• reduce reading frustration
• become a better reader!

Learn more on our video channel, our quick summary, or on the many posts on this blog!

View the print ads

We just produced two great print ads. Click on the pictures to download the .PDF

We welcome your feedback

Please tell us about any suggestions you might have so we can improve the site. Use our feedback page, or post a message on this blog.

For media outlets

Thank you in advance for mentioning this site in your publication, blog, or article.

To help ensure a good experience for your readers, please send us a brief note beforehand if you're going to mention this site on a medium that has significant readership, so we can proactively bring more servers online to handle the spike in traffic. Please include the approximate readership of your publication, blog, etc., and the approximate date and time when your article will be published.

Thanks a lot for helping Rewordify.com work like lightning for everyone.

The basics

If you don't like to read, read this:

• Rewordify.com makes reading easier.
• It works on web pages, or on text you copy-paste (or type) in.
• It looks up all the hard words and replaces them with easier ones.
• You'll understand a lot more of what you read, a lot faster.
• No dictionary needed.
• It's free and it works on any computer, tablet, or phone with no app to buy.

 

If you're a teacher or parent:

• Rewordify.com is a new way to learn more words and become a better reader.
• The site breaks down the barriers to reading by making reading easier.
• More reading=better reader.
• Dictionary definitions are confusing for many readers; this site allows for learning without the frustration of dictionary lookups.
• It works by "rewording" (simplifying) hard words and phrases into easy ones.
• When you start using it, the easier words are highlighted. Hover the mouse (or tap, for tablets) over the easier word to see the original hard word.
• You can change the site so it only highlights the hard words but doesn't reword them. Mouse-hover (or tap) over the highlighting to see the easier word.
• You can make lots of other changes to how the site works to match the reader's learning style and personal preference.
• It works on most web pages or any text you type or copy-paste in.
• There's a great selection of classic literature that you can choose from to get started.
• Read this to learn more.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Rewordify.com is a great new way to understand more of what you read, but you should see it as another tool on your toolbelt rather than a magical way to help you understand every single thing you read (because it can't do that).

Here are some advantages and disadvantages to using Rewordify.com versus dictionaries.

Rewordify.com

 

Advantages:

• Very fast: long, complex text is greatly simplified within a second or two (exact speed may vary)
• Parts of speech and verb tenses maintained: Rewordify.com attempts to replace adjectives with adjectives, nouns with nouns, past tense verbs with past tense verbs, etc. 
• Phrases are simplified: Rewordify.com looks for huge numbers of short expressions and phrases and simplifies them
• Context-based translation: Rewordify.com attempts to simplify words based on how they're used in a sentence
• User-adjustable: you can customize the way the site works to fit your learning style
• Sentence structure: original authors' sentence and paragraph structure is not changed, to help familiarize you with different writing styles

Disadvantages:

• Limited reference source: Rewordify.com does not explain or translate huge numbers of medical, legal, philosophical, political, artistic, and science terms, historical events, and so on. If a term can't be easily explained or reworded into a small number of words, it's left alone.
• Possible strange output: Rewordify.com may reword difficult language into expressions that are strangely-worded and unclear. (This is the case with all computer-based translation.)
• Oversimplification: In an effort to be simple, Rewordify.com can strip out some of the beauty and shades of meaning within language. 

 

Dictionaries

 

Advantages:

• Excellent reference source: Dictionaries can define or explain almost every word in English
• Detailed word information: Dictionaries provide word origins, pronunciation guides, other forms of words, synonyms, and lots of other information

Disadvantages

• Time consuming to use: You must look up words one at a time
• Confusing definitions: Dictionaries often define difficult words with difficult words, and define words in terms of themselves
• Misleading definitions: When you look up a form of a word (like combatively), dictionaries almost always return the definition of the root of the word (like combative), which can be confusing. For example, this might make you think that the following sentence is OK: "The angry student was usually combatively every morning."

Summary

If you want a fast way to make language simpler, use Rewordify.com. If you want more detailed knowledge about words, use a dictionary. They're both important tools to help you become a better reader!

A ladder in your computer

Rewordify.com makes it easier for you to read by "rewording" (or simplifying) a huge number of English words and phrases.

Put in a web URL or copy-paste some text, and you almost instantly get a simplified version.

Rewordify.com can help you understand more, but it can't explain absolutely everything. There are lots of words and terms that can't be simplified easily, so you still have to read and learn. For example, how could you simplify the term World War II into a few words?

Rewordify.com is a computer program, not a human brain. It can only reword words and short phrases into simple ones. It can't change around whole sentences, explain to you what things really mean, fix bad spelling and grammar, or take the place of a teacher.

The site is like a ladder; it helps you reach higher things, but you still have to climb the ladder and reach.

Happy reading and happy learning!

This post has more details about this issue.

The "Print" view can help

Are you trying to rewordify a web page that doesn't look right or doesn't rewordify properly? Or, is the article you want to rewordify on multiple pages, and you'd like to rewordify it all at once?

Here's what to do: Bring up the web page on a separate tab or window. Then, look to see if there's a "Print" symbol on the web page, or the words "printer version," or something like that. Click that link, and the article should display in a much simpler way.

It's easy to highlight the text in that simpler version. Copy-paste (CTRL-C, CTRL-V) the text from the article into the bottom box of the Rewordify.com web page and click "Rewordify text."

Poetry suggestion

Rewordify.com automatically changes difficult words to easy ones and highlights the easy ones. If you mouse-over (or tap) the easy highlighted word, the original difficult word appears.

When reading poetry, you might think about changing the highlighting on the Settings page to "reverse loud," "reverse quiet," or "reverse silent." These settings show all the original words, highlighting the hard ones (except for "reverse silent", which doesn't highlight anything). When you mouse-over (or tap) the highlighted word, an easier word appears.

These settings keep the original rhyming and beat of the poem visible, so the beauty of these things are more obvious as you read.

This is only a suggestion. Try out all the highlighting settings and set them to the way you want, so you learn more words in the way that works best for you.

Why read? High speed!

Let's say that you wanted to read Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

That novel has about 160,000 words. About 7,500 of them are difficult. Let's assume that out of 7,500 words, there are 750 unique difficult words.

So as you read the book, you'd have to stop reading about 750 times to look up words in the dictionary.

If it took you ten seconds to look up each one, it would take you 7500 seconds, which equals more than two solid hours.

Then, you'd have to spend more time figuring out which of the multiple dictionary definitions were appropriate for the particular use of that word, and go back to the story and try to figure out what the sentence means.

Rewordify.com can do all of that in about five seconds. No, really. We're not kidding. Five seconds.

So, you can read the easier-to-understand, rewordified version of Oliver Twist now, or hundreds and hundreds of other simplified versions of classic literature.

Happy reading!

Smarter than a dictionary

Rewordify.com is a smarter choice when you need to understand what you're reading.

It knows context

Rewordify.com understands how a word is being used. It has the intelligence to know when a word should be left alone and when it should be simplified.

Original sentence	Rewordify.com output
The young scientist lobbies for stronger anti-pollution laws whenever she can.	The young scientist tries to convince lawmakers about stronger anti-pollution laws whenever she can.
The lobbies of the new hotels in town are fancier than ever.	[no change]
Going to college will afford them many new opportunities.	Going to college will give them many new opportunities.
He cannot afford to buy a new car right now.	[no change]
The strong wind will hamper his efforts to paint his house.	The strong wind will interfere with/slow down his efforts to paint his house.
Put all your dirty clothes in the hamper before you go to bed.	[no change]

It knows parts of speech and verb tense

Rewordify.com knows the part of speech and verb tense of difficult words. When it rewordifies a difficult word, it maintains the part of speech and verb tense, so the sentence is clear.

Original sentence	Rewordify.com output
The child is afflicted with the flu.	The child is sick with the flu.
The flu is afflicting millions of people right now.	The flu is sickening millions of people right now.
Every year, the flu afflicts huge numbers of people.	Every year, the flu sickens huge numbers of people.
She surpassed her wildest dreams.	She went past her wildest dreams.
She is surpassing her wildest dreams.	She is going past her wildest dreams.
They have surpassed their wildest dreams.	They have gone past their wildest dreams.
Chris always surpasses her wildest dreams.	Chris always goes past her wildest dreams.
We plan to surpass our wildest dreams.	We plan to go past our wildest dreams.
He plans to advocate for the rights of his son.	He plans to fight for the rights of his son.
He is an advocate for those who have been treated wrongly.	He is a strong supporter for those who have been treated wrongly.

It provides simple, easy replacement words

When Rewordify.com simplifies a word, it does just that: it makes it easy to understand. It never uses other difficult words, or any form of the original difficult word, in the simplified version.

Difficult word	Rewordify.com output	Online dictionary1
vehemence	forcefulness	The quality of being vehement; ardor; fervor.
calamitous	terrible	Causing or involving calamity.
flamboyant	showy	Tending to attract attention because of their exuberance, confidence, and stylishness.
misrepresentations	lies	Misleading falsehoods.
remonstrances	objections/criticisms	A forcefully reproachful protest.
salutation	greeting	A word or phrase serving as the prefatory greeting in a letter or speech.
interdict	forbid (by law)	To prohibit or place under an ecclesiastical or legal sanction.

Try using Rewordify.com right now, and actually understand what you read.

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¹ All examples taken from either www.dictionary.com, www.thefreedictionary.com, or Google's define: function.

Lower-literacy readers and your writing

The Rewordify.com Reading Level can help you broaden the audience of your writing.

Every time Rewordify.com simplifies text, it gives a Reading Level of from 1 (easiest) to 10 (hardest). If you want your writing to be understood by the broadest possible audience, strive for a Reading Level of 1 (broadly accessible).

If you're a writer, you might be surprised at the level of word simplicity needed to achieve a Reading Level of 1. But you must remember, you're a writer! You already have a high literacy level. You may be unknowingly creating reading that's too difficult for a large number of readers.

For example, most articles on news web pages are at a Reading Level of 3 to 5. In almost all cases, this writing can be simplified so that it gets a Reading Level of 1 without substantially changing the meaning or the beauty of the written page. By doing so, more people will clearly understand what you write.