Précis writing principles

English (Précis and Composition) · Précis and composition skills. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.

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The idea

A précis is a short, accurate restatement of a passage in your own words. It gives the writer's argument and nothing else. The accepted length is about one third of the original.

A précis keeps the central idea, the main supporting points, the conclusion and the order of thought. It leaves out examples, illustrations, repetition, quotations, figures of speech and minor details. It adds nothing: no comment, no opinion, no fact from outside the passage.

It is written as one connected piece of prose in the third person and in indirect speech, with a short title that expresses the central idea. The best one-sentence summary of a passage is the option that holds the main point and its chief reason, without a small detail and without anything new.

Rules to remember

Length: about one third of the original, so a passage of 300 words gives a précis of about 100 words.
Read the whole passage first to find the central idea; then mark the main points; then write.
Use your own words as far as possible; do not lift whole sentences.
Third person and indirect speech: no I, we or you, and no direct quotations.
Keep the tenses consistent: narrative and reported speech go into the past tense; general truths and statements about the present stay in the present tense.
Leave out examples, illustrations, repetition, anecdotes and ornament.
No personal opinion or comment, and no new information. Give a short title that states the central idea.

Common mistake

Candidates add their own opinion or a closing comment, or they copy the first lines and cut the rest. A précis covers the whole passage in proportion and says only what the writer said.

Worked example

Towns once bought their water from carriers who filled skins at the river. Piped supply ended that trade, but it did more: clean water at a tap cut disease sharply, and the hours saved from carrying went into school and paid work. Which is the best one-sentence summary? A Water carriers lost their trade. B Piped water improved health and freed time as well as replacing the carriers. C Governments ought to build more pipelines. D Water was once carried in skins.

The central idea follows but it did more: piped water brought wider gains.
The two gains are less disease and time for school and work.
A and D each give one early detail. C is an opinion that the passage never states.
B holds the main point and both gains in the order of the passage.

Answer: B.

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