Origin of the word Precis :
The word “précis” (not Precis, but we actually got used to type it in this way.. so no issues....you should pronounce it as pray-see) is cognate to the word “precise” coming from a Latin word meaning “to cut.” It has been variously referred to as abbreviation’, ‘subtraction’, ‘abstract’, ‘summary’, and ‘condensation’. A precis, then, is a cut version of the original, retaining the main ideas and omitting all or most of the examples and secondary ideas.
What is Précis Writing ?
As we discussed in the above paragraph we can simply say, A precis is a Short Summary. It is not a paraphrase, which merely says in different and simpler words exactly what the passage being paraphrased has to say. A paraphrase may be as long as the passage itself whereas a precis rarely is more than one-third the length of the original selection and may be only one-fourth as long (for bank exams' descriptive section, its advisible to limit your precis to the 1/3rd of the given paragraph.
A precis gives only the "heart" of a passage. It omits repetition and such details as examples, illustrations and adjectives unless they are of unusual importance.
A precis is written entirely in the words of the person writing it, not in the words of the original selection. Avoid the temptation of lifting long phrases and whole sentences from the original. It wont help you. And in fact it may lessen your good impression and may lead to less score in the exam.
As we've already mentioned above, a precis is written from the point of the author whose work is being summarized. Don't begin with such expressions as "The paragraph means" or "The author says".. etc... Just begin as though you were summarizing your own writing.
Now lets have a look at some basic rules you should follow in order to write a good precis.
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