A good precis
• Retains all essential points
• Is brief, simple and to the point
• Is a theme of passage in your own words
• Is such that a person without refering to the original can understand it
Do’s
• It is in your own words
• It should be in the same tense as the original.
• Use indirect speech.
• Use third person.
For example, I used not to wander can be wriiten as, xyz says that he used not to wander.
• It should be one third if the no: of words is not prescribed.
• It must have a title; though, it might’nt have been asked.
• Indicate no: of words at the end of the precis. (on the right side below the end point)
• Mode and tone should be of the original.
• Use one word substitutions for being laconic.
• Use linking devices, such as : so, though, ergo etc.
Dont’s
• No abbreviations and contractions.
• No un-necessary long sentences.
• You can lift words or phrases from the original, but not a complete sentence.
• Don’t use figures of speech, repitation and the word “I”.
• Don’t give interpretations, examples, comments, stories, and introductory remarks.
• Don’t give any idea out of the original.
Title
• Should be in your own words or borrowed from the original.
• Title shouldn’t be a complete sentence.
• Title may be found in the original’s key sentence.
• It can be theme of the original or a proverb.
• Title shouldn’t exceed 6 words.
• Title should not form a quesion.
• Title of the precis should not contain verb.

Few confusions solved through short examples
Original: O! my love is like red rose.
Precis: the lover said that his honey is very beautiful.

Original: I see a lily on thy brow, and on thy cheek, a fading rose.
Precis: writer told his lover that her forehead was pale and her cheeks were losing bloom and glow.

Original: If by some magic, you could be granted one quick wish, perhaps you might wish to be popular. You can’t maintain popularity.
Precis: popularity is almost universally wished but it is not easy to maintain it.

Original: I, vividly, recall my first visit, as a boy of twelve, to a big town. I had hardly been outside the confines of the village where I was born and I had met and talked to no more than a few hundred people. I was astonished to see the town.
Precis: As a young boy, the writer had not moved outside from his native village and became surprise to view the city.
Note: in examples of this kind, if the name of the writer is mentioned, put the name as: As a young boy, XYZ had not.......
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