Precis Writing: Check Format, Examples & Samples with Answers

Precis Writing

Precis writing is an integral part of various MBA exams & Bank, Government Exams like UPSC, SSC, NABARD, SEBI, SIDBI, SBI PO, etc. It tests your ability to read, understand, and present text in a clear, crisp, and concise manner.

The following article explains precis writing in detail and also provides steps to help you write your own precis:

What is Precis writing?

‘Precis’ (pronounced ‘Preisi’) is an old French word meaning ‘Cut short’. Precis is a concise summary or a miniature version of a passage, which includes all the essential points, mood, and tone of the author, and the main idea or gist of the passage. In short, Precis is a condensed version of a bigger passage.

Why is Precis Writing Helpful?

Writing a precis trains the writer to read passages carefully with concentration. It also helps you develop the skill to distinguish essential and non-essential parts of passages and forces you to pay close attention to what you’re reading.

Precis writing also improves one’s overall writing skills, like the construction of sentences in a logical order, and helps in expressing thoughts concisely, effectively, and clearly, by choosing words carefully.

Steps to Write a Precis

Writing a precis means summarizing a passage by keeping only the important points and main ideas, using your own words. Here’s a simple step by step guide to help you write an effective and well structured precis:

Step 1: Read the Passage Carefully
Start by reading the passage thoroughly. As you read, underline or highlight key points, important facts, and keywords. If you prefer, take notes in the same order as the passage. This helps you stay organized and ensures you don’t miss anything important.

Step 2: Identify the Main Idea and Tone
After your first reading, figure out the central theme or main idea of the passage. Try to understand what the author is trying to say overall. Also, note the tone whether it’s informative, argumentative, critical, or emotional.

Step 3: Re-read and Check Your Notes
Go through the passage again and match it with your notes. This step helps you ensure you haven’t missed any crucial points or misunderstood anything. Update your notes if needed.

Step 4: Decide on a Suitable Title
Give your precis a title that reflects the main idea. You can do this either before or after writing the precis, whichever you find easier.

Step 5: Write the Precis
Now, using your notes, draft the precis in your own words. Keep these guidelines in mind while writing:

• A precis is not just a summary or a collection of selected lines. It must clearly present the main idea and key points of the original passage.
• Avoid unnecessary details and long sentences. Your precis should be brief and to the point.
• Use your own words. Don’t copy-paste from the passage. Express the author’s ideas, facts, and opinions clearly and accurately.
• Make sure the language is simple, clear, and concise.
• If the passage is based on research or a report, mention why it was written or what the purpose behind it was.
• Leave out unimportant or repetitive details.
• Always write a precis in the third person and in reported speech. Use past tense for historical events.
• Be objective. Do not include your personal opinions, judgments, or criticisms.
• Do not use abbreviations or short forms.
• Maintain the same order of ideas and events as in the original passage. It should follow the original sequence logically.
• If any person is mentioned, use their designation (like ‘the president’ or ‘the minister’) instead of names. If that’s not possible, you can use the name.
• The precis should ideally be about one-third the length of the original passage.
• Ensure your precis has a logical flow, with one point leading to the next smoothly.

Step 6: Review and Finalize
After writing, read your precis carefully. Check if you have included all the key points and whether the meaning is clear and easy to follow. Make sure your grammar, spelling, and sentence structure are correct. Also, ensure your precis flows well and maintains the original meaning. Finally, count the number of words and write it in brackets at the end of your precis.

A Good Precis Format | Precis Writing Samples with Answers

A well written precis is a summary that captures the essence of the original passage. It should be brief, accurate, and written in your own words.

• Is Clear, Concise, Coherent, and Precise
• Is written in the precis writer’s own words
• Contains all the essential points, the author’s tone, facts, opinions, thoughts, and the main idea of the original passage
• Is well-knit and makes logical sense and follows a logical order
• Won’t contain details not found in the original passage
• Is well-structured has no language errors and makes a meaningful passage

Precis Samples with Answers

Here’s a sample Precis for your reference:

The Length of a Precis

1. A precis must always be much shorter than the original passage. An ideal precis would not contain more than one-third of the number of words in the original text.

2. Generally, the number of words is given at the end of the paragraph. All you need to do is divide the number by three.

3. Be sure to count all the words in the paragraph. Some guides do not include the articles and prepositions in the count, while most do.

4. It is time-consuming to count the words in the time given for all segments in the descriptive paper in the exams, so an approximation would be okay until the summary is less than one-third of the original text.

Quick tip: You can count the words in one line and then multiply the count with the number of lines in the paragraph to get a fairly accurate number of words.

Approach for Precis Writing

To write a good precis, read the passage given in question carefully. It is advisable to read the passage multiple times and thoroughly understand the paragraph. After you finished reading the passage, think of a suitable title for your precis. While you write a precis, follow a logical sequence of events as given in the original passage. Avoid phrases like “In my opinion”, “In my view” etc. 

The precis should be written in past tense and indirect speech. Use easily understandable language. 

Ask yourself questions like

1. What is the basic theme of the passage?
2. Which are the most important points in the passage?
3. Which are the points that I can eliminate?

A good practice would be to make a rough note of these points.

Precis Writing Example 1

1. Read the passage carefully and write a summary of the same in your own words.
   No paraphrasing/rephrasing is allowed.

Nigeria spends about US $22 billion every year buying food from other countries. Its biggest food imports are wheat, sugar and fish. Rice is another major import, costing around US $1.65 billion. Most of Nigeria’s rice comes from Thailand and India, and experts expect Nigeria to be the world’s second-largest rice importer after China in 2019.

One reason rice is so popular is that Nigeria’s cities are growing quickly. When people move to towns and look for cheap, filling meals, they choose rice. Older grains like sorghum and millet are now less common because rice is easier to cook and fits anyone’s budget.

In late 2018, Nigeria’s government said it would stop importing rice altogether to save money. But this plan is not realistic. Nigeria does not grow enough rice to meet its own needs. Farmers face bad weather, little training and little government help. To change this, the government must put more money and support into rice farming.

Precis Writing Answer

Nigeria and its Import of Rice

There are reasons for the high demand for rice in Nigeria, which makes it to import $1.65 billion worth of rice out of a total $22 billion food imports each year and is predicted to become world’s second-largest importer of rice after China in 2019. Rapid urbanization, cheapness and nutritional value are some of the reasons for its high demand. The choice of rice is because of its convenience and easiness to prepare. 

The Government is putting a blanket ban on rice imports as announced towards the end of 2018 in order to save money. But the plan is unrealistic by design since Nigeria’s agricultural sector is not prepared to meet its rice demand. On top of that, Nigeria is battling other factors too of natural and climatic nature, dearth of funding and farmers’ training. To solve these problems, the Government should invest in rice farmers aggressively. 

Precis Writing Example 2

2. Read the passage carefully and write a summary of the same in your own words.
No paraphrasing/rephrasing is allowed.

Recently, the National Health Authority (NHA) and the All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) have announced a partnership through a memorandum of understanding (MoU). This partnership aims to provide healthcare services to around 10 million truck drivers under the Ayushman Bharat (AB)-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY). The NHA and the AITWA will work together in order to identify truck drivers and employees of transport companies who are eligible for the scheme. The Common Service Centres (CSCs), which comes under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will work toward facilitating the verification of drivers using the NHA’s Beneficiary Identification System. This collaboration will help thousands of eligible families access in-patient care for serious illnesses at a nationwide network of 19,002 government and private hospitals empanelled under the PM-JAY. After the verification, the eligible drivers can get their AB PM-JAY e-cards at the nearest AITWA Highway Hero Centres. In the first phase, a pilot project will be conducted at key locations under the AITWA and the AB PM-JAY. This will be expanded to other towns across the country. Eligible drivers and employees of different transport companies will be able to avail themselves of the benefits after getting the PM-JAY cards. NHA officials will work closely with the teams of the AITWA and the CSCs to conduct the drive to identify beneficiaries.
Title: Healthcare Services for Truck Drivers under Ayushman Bharat

Summary:
To identify and provide healthcare services to 10 million truck drivers employees of transport companies under the AB PM-JAY, the NHA and AITWA announced a partnership through a MoU. In-patient care will be accessible to thousands of eligible families at around 19,002 government and private hospitals. The first phase aims to conduct a pilot project at key locations. The eligible drivers can obtain their AB PM-JAY e-cards at the nearest AITWA Highway Hero Centres and avail the benefits after their verification using NHA’s Beneficiary Identification System is done by the CSCs.

We hope the above tips help you write better precis. We wish you all the very best!

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