Rewriting Essay Sentences for Better Flow

Tested prompts for rewrite sentences for essay compared across 5 leading AI models.

BEST BY JUDGE SCORE Claude Opus 4.7 8/10

The prompt we tested

You are an expert academic editor specializing in essay writing. Rewrite the following sentences to improve clarity, flow, and academic tone while preserving the original meaning.

Rules:
Rewrite each sentence using varied sentence structure, precise vocabulary, and smooth transitions suitable for a formal essay. Eliminate redundancy, passive voice where unnecessary, and informal phrasing. Keep the rewritten version roughly the same length as the original and maintain the author's intended meaning.

Sentences to rewrite:
Social media is a thing that has changed how people talk to each other a lot. It has made it so people can connect with others from all over the world, but it also has some bad effects on mental health. Many studies have shown that using it too much can make people feel lonely and anxious.

Provide the rewritten version, followed by a brief note explaining the key improvements made.

Model comparison

ModelQualityCostLatencyTokens
Claude Opus 4.7 8 $0.0385 8.0s 291 / 455
Claude Haiku 4.5 7 $0.0017 4.3s 192 / 297
GPT-5.4 7 $0.0022 5.3s 172 / 115
Gemini 2.5 Pro 7 $0.0007 20.5s 171 / 88
Grok 4.1 Fast Reasoning 8 $0.0001 7.6s 320 / 101

Outputs

Claude Opus 4.7 8/10
**Rewritten Version:**

Social media has profoundly transformed the way people communicate with one another. While it enables individuals to forge connections across the globe, it also exerts detrimental effects on mental health. Numerous studies indicate that excessive use can heighten feelings of loneliness and anxiety.

**Key Improvements:**

1. **Elevated vocabulary:** Vague phrases such as "is a thing that has changed" and "a lot" were replaced with precise academic diction ("has profoundly transformed"), while "bad effects" became "detrimental effects" and "make people feel" was refined to "heighten feelings of."

2. **Varied sentence structure:** The repetitive "it has" and "it also" openings were eliminated in favor of a subordinate clause ("While it enables…") that creates contrast and improves flow.

3. **Smoother transitions:** The conjunction "While" establishes a clearer logical relationship between social media's benefits and drawbacks than the original "but."

4. **Formal tone:** Colloquial phrasing ("talk to each other," "made it so," "using it too much") was replaced with formal equivalents ("communicate with one another," "enables," "excessive use").

5. **Concision:** Redundancies such as "made it so people can connect with others" were tightened to "enables individuals to forge connections," preserving meaning while sharpening the prose.
Judge notes: The rewrite and explanations are clean and accurate, but "forge connections" is a mild cliché in academic writing, and the output is otherwise production-ready with only marginal room for refinement.
Claude Haiku 4.5 7/10
# Rewritten Version

Social media has fundamentally transformed interpersonal communication by enabling global connectivity; however, this technological advancement carries significant implications for mental health. Extensive research demonstrates that excessive social media use correlates with increased loneliness and anxiety among users.

---

# Key Improvements

**Clarity & Precision:**
- Replaced vague "thing that has changed...a lot" with the specific verb "transformed"
- Changed "connect with others from all over the world" to the more concise "enabling global connectivity"

**Academic Tone:**
- Eliminated informal phrasing ("a thing," "has made it so")
- Substituted "bad effects" with the precise term "implications"
- Used "correlates with" instead of the colloquial "can make people feel"

**Flow & Structure:**
- Combined three sentences into two using a semicolon and dependent clause, creating smoother progression
- Added transitional language ("however") to better signal the contrast between benefits and drawbacks
- Upgraded "Many studies have shown" to "Extensive research demonstrates" for stronger academic authority

**Eliminated Redundancy:**
- Removed repetitive use of "has/have" constructions
- Consolidated overlapping ideas about global connection and mental health effects

The rewritten version maintains the original meaning while adhering to formal academic conventions.
Judge notes: The rewrite condenses three sentences into two, technically violating the "roughly the same length" rule, and "implications" is vaguer than the original's explicit "bad effects on mental health," slightly losing specificity.
GPT-5.4 7/10
Social media has significantly transformed the way people communicate. It enables individuals to connect with others across the globe, yet it also poses certain risks to mental health. Numerous studies have shown that excessive use can contribute to feelings of loneliness and anxiety.

**Brief note:**  
I improved clarity and academic tone by replacing informal phrases such as “is a thing that has changed” and “bad effects” with more precise language like “has significantly transformed” and “poses certain risks.” I also enhanced flow by using smoother transitions and more concise sentence structure while preserving the original meaning.
Judge notes: The rewrite is clean and functional, but "poses certain risks to mental health" is somewhat vague and generic compared to what a demanding academic editor could achieve, and the explanatory note is superficial rather than insightful.
Gemini 2.5 Pro 7/10
Here is the rewritten version:

The advent of social media has profoundly transformed interpersonal communication. While these platforms facilitate global connectivity on an unprecedented scale, they also present significant risks to mental well-being. Indeed, a growing body of research indicates that excessive engagement with social media correlates with heightened feelings of loneliness and anxiety.

***

### Note on Improvements:

*   **Precise Vocabulary:** Informal phrases like "a thing that has changed
Judge notes: The rewrite is competent and clearly improved, but the explanation is truncated mid-sentence, which is a production-ready failure that prevents a higher score.
Grok 4.1 Fast Reasoning 8/10
Social media has profoundly transformed interpersonal communication. Although it enables connections across the globe, it also exerts detrimental effects on mental health. Empirical studies consistently demonstrate that excessive use fosters loneliness and anxiety.

**Key improvements:** Replaced colloquial phrases (e.g., "a thing that has changed...a lot," "made it so," "bad effects") with precise academic vocabulary; introduced varied sentence structures and a smooth concessive transition ("although") for enhanced flow; eliminated redundancy and informal tone while preserving original length and meaning.
Judge notes: The rewrite is clean and accurate, but "profoundly transformed interpersonal communication" is a slightly overused academic cliché, and the explanation note, while useful, could be tightened.

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