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Introduction to RAG and Knowledge Assistants

Unit 05.02: Quoting, paraphrasing, and losing the thread

Paraphrase makes answers readable. It also compresses, and compression is exactly where a qualifier goes missing.

Where the qualifier goes

A source sentence often carries a scope limit - for individual plans only, within the first 30 days, for orders placed online. A quote preserves it by construction. A paraphrase preserves it only if the paraphrase happens to keep it.

The example below checks three renderings of one source sentence against the qualifier that matters.

SOURCE
  "Refunds are allowed within 7 days of purchase, for individual plans only."

RENDERING       TEXT                                          KEEPS THE LIMIT?
quote           "...within 7 days of purchase, for
                 individual plans only."                       yes
faithful        Individual plans can be refunded within
                7 days.                                        yes
overreach       Refunds are always available within 7 days.    NO

The third is shorter, cleaner, more quotable, and turns a bounded policy into
an unconditional promise. Both paraphrases would cite the same chunk.

The faithful paraphrase keeps "individual plans." The overreaching one drops it and turns a bounded policy into an unconditional promise: "refunds are always available within 7 days." That sentence is shorter, cleaner, more quotable, and wrong.

Note that both paraphrases would cite the same chunk, and both would pass a check that merely asks whether a citation exists. Distinguishing them needs a comparison against the cited text - the check built in Module 7.

The mistake this prevents

The mistake is optimising answers for brevity without asking which words carry the constraint. When a qualifier bounds liability, scope or eligibility, quote the sentence. Readability is worth less than the sentence being true.

Takeaway

Quote when the qualifier carries the risk; paraphrase when it does not. The failure mode of paraphrase is not distortion of the main claim - it is quiet loss of the limit attached to it.