AI WORLD HQSimplify a dense paragraph into plain English with Cohere today
Turn academic or legal jargon into language a 12-year-old could understand — in just a few minutes of work.
This guide was written by AI. It passed automated fact and quality checks; no human editor reviewed it.
You know the feeling: you open a contract, a research paper, or a long email from a lawyer, and the first paragraph looks like a different language. This guide shows you how to use Cohere — an AI writing assistant — to turn that wall of words into something a curious 12-year-old could follow. No coding, no setup headaches. By the end, you'll have a small habit you can use on any tough text you meet.
💡 Tip: tap a step’s number when you finish it — a green tick appears and your browser remembers how far you got.
- A free Cohere account — sign up with an email at Cohere's website.
- A web browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge — any recent one will work).
- One dense paragraph you'd like to simplify — copy it ready to paste. Budget 10–15 minutes total.
Open the Cohere playground
Go to Cohere's website and sign in. After you log in, look for a section labeled Playground or Try it now — it's usually the most prominent button on the dashboard, the place Cohere takes you to test prompts (a prompt is just the instruction and text you give the AI). Click it. A new page opens with a large empty text box near the top and some settings on the side.
If you can't find it, look for a sidebar menu on the left with words like Chat, Playground, or Lab — different Cohere accounts show slightly different navigation, so don't worry if yours is laid out a little differently.
you see a tall empty box labeled something like "Prompt" or "Message" with a button such as Send or Generate below it.
Check the model and settings
Before you type anything, glance at the settings area — usually on the right side or in a small panel above the text box. Look for a model selector; a model is just the specific AI "brain" Cohere uses, and it might say Command, Command R+, or another Cohere name. Leave it on the default unless you have a reason to change it; the default is fine for this task. Also look for a temperature slider if one is visible — temperature controls how creative the response is, with lower meaning more predictable and higher meaning more varied. For simplifying text, the default setting usually works well.
you don't see any red warnings on the screen and the text box is still empty and ready for your input.
Paste your dense paragraph
Now click inside the empty prompt box and paste the paragraph you want simplified. Paste the whole thing — don't summarize it first, because Cohere needs to see exactly what to rewrite. If your paragraph is longer than what fits comfortably on screen, that's fine; just paste it as one block. The free tier usually accepts a full page of typical text in one go. Don't add any instructions yet — just the raw paragraph for now. If you accidentally paste it twice, delete one copy before moving on.
the text appears in the box, the cursor is at the end, and no error message pops up.
Add a clear simplifying instruction
This is the most important step. Click right after the pasted paragraph (or above it in a separate instruction line) and add a clear, plain instruction telling Cohere exactly what you want. Keep it short and direct — something like "Rewrite this so a 12-year-old can understand it" works much better than a vague "make this better". The clearer your instruction, the closer the result will match what you actually want. If you'd rather keep the paragraph separate from the instruction, some Cohere layouts have a small instruction field at the top — use that if you see one.
both the paragraph and your instruction are visible in the prompt area, with the instruction clearly readable.
- Pasting without any instruction. If you just paste a paragraph and hit send, Cohere usually responds with a summary or analysis, not a rewrite. Always add a clear instruction telling it what to do.
- Asking for too many things at once. "Make it shorter, simpler, friendlier, in bullet points, and translate it" gives muddy results. One change per follow-up is much more reliable.
- Trusting the rewrite on high-stakes text. A simpler version of a contract is great for understanding, but it is NOT legally binding. For decisions involving real money, health, or legal rights, read the original carefully or talk to a professional.
- Forgetting to check the meaning. Rewrites can drop small but important details. Skim the side-by-side and make sure no key fact, date, or condition went missing from the plain-English version.
Find one paragraph you've been avoiding — maybe in an email, a Terms of Service page, or a Wikipedia introduction — and run it through Cohere using the six steps above. Five minutes from now, you'll have a version that actually makes sense.
❓ Quick questions
How long does this take?
About 6 minutes — the guide has 6 steps, and you can tick each one off as you go.
Which tool do I need?
This guide uses Cohere — but the approach works very similarly in other AI assistants.
Do I need to prepare anything?
- A free Cohere account — sign up with an email at Cohere's website.
- A web browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge — any recent one will work).
- One dense paragraph you'd like to simplify — copy it ready to paste. Budget 10–15 minutes total.
What mistakes should I avoid?
- Pasting without any instruction. If you just paste a paragraph and hit send, Cohere usually responds with a summary or analysis, not a rewrite. Always add a clear instruction telling it what to do.
- Asking for too many things at once. "Make it shorter, simpler, friendlier, in bullet points, and translate it" gives muddy results. One change per follow-up is much more reliable.
- Trusting the rewrite on high-stakes text. A simpler version of a contract is great for understanding, but it is NOT legally binding. For decisions involving real money, health, or legal rights, read the original carefully or talk to a professional.
- Forgetting to check the meaning. Rewrites can drop small but important details. Skim the side-by-side and make sure no key fact, date, or condition went missing from the plain-English version.
Keep reading
✦ Generated by AI in AI World HQ's automated newsroom, written in plain language. Checked by automated fact and quality gates — no human editor reviewed this guide. Spot a mistake? Use the buttons above.
← Back to all stories