Precis Writing for Govt Exams: Format, Rules and Samples

Introduction

A precis is a short version of a long passage. You keep the main ideas. You remove everything extra. You write it in your own words.

The word comes from French and means cut short. It is pronounced pray-see, and the final s is silent.

Here is the simplest way to understand it. Suppose a friend asks about a three-hour movie. You do not narrate every scene. You give the story in two minutes. That is a precis.

Exams like this topic for one reason. It tests three skills at the same time.

• Reading: can you find the main idea in a long passage?
• Judgement: can you separate the important points from the examples?
• Writing: can you say the same thing in one-third of the words?

Where This Topic Is Asked

Look at the last row carefully. Even if your exam has no writing paper, this skill still earns marks. Finding the main idea is exactly what you do in paragraph completion and inference questions. So no time spent here is wasted.

Now the good news. A precis needs no new ideas, no examples and no opinions of your own. Everything you need is already inside the passage. Your only job is to shorten it correctly. That makes this one of the most scoring topics for a student who is weak in English.

Concept in Simple Words

A precis is a miniature version of the passage. Think of a large map folded into a pocket size. The roads do not change. Only the size does.

A good precis carries four things from the original.

• The main idea, also called the gist of the passage.
• All the essential points, in the same order as the original.
• The author's tone: informative, critical, argumentative or warning.
• The author's stand, even if you personally disagree with it.

Precis, Summary, Paraphrase and Abstract

Students mix up these four words, and exams test the difference.

The One-Third Rule

This is the rule that decides your marks. A precis should be about one-third of the original passage. The maths is simple: divide the original word count by three.

Three practical points about counting words.

• The word count is usually printed at the end of the passage. Divide it by three and you have your target.
• Count every word, including small ones like a, an and the. Most exam guides count them.
• Use the line trick when time is short. Count the words in one full line, then multiply by the number of lines. The figure will be close enough.

If the question prints its own word limit, that limit always wins over the one-third rule. Write your word count at the end of the precis when the instructions allow it. It shows the examiner that you respected the limit.

Precis Writing Rules and Format

The Five Golden Rules

Learn these five first. Almost every mark in this topic comes from them. Together they are called the five golden rules of precis writing.

Step-by-Step Format

Follow these seven steps in order. In the exam, steps 1 to 3 take about five minutes together.

Tone, Tense and Voice Rules

These are the technical rules of a precis. They are easy marks, because they never change from question to question. The core of them is reported speech in the third person.

What to Keep and What to Cut

This table is the heart of the topic. Compression is not random cutting. Some parts of a passage must survive, and some must go.

How to Choose the Title

The title is short, but it is also the first thing that is read. Four rules cover it.

• Keep it to 3 to 6 words. A long title looks like a sentence, and a precis title is not a sentence.
• Name the central idea, not a small detail. If the passage is about water waste at home, the title cannot be about showers alone.
• Use a noun phrase. "The Rising Cost of Food Imports" works. "Food imports are rising fast" does not.
• No full stop at the end, and no question mark unless the passage itself is a debate.

Two more habits help. Write the title after the precis if the idea is not clear at first, because the act of writing usually reveals the main point. And keep it neutral, because a title with an opinion breaks the objectivity rule.

Compression Techniques: How to Save Words

Most students know what to keep. They still cross the word limit, because they do not know how to shorten a sentence. These six techniques solve that.

Practise these two ways. Take any long news sentence and cut it by half without losing meaning. And build your stock of exact words using synonyms and antonyms, because a precise word always replaces three vague ones.

Model Precis 1: Short Passage

Passage (about 150 words)

Most households in Indian cities waste water without noticing it. A tap left running while brushing teeth can send several litres down the drain each morning. Washing a two-wheeler with a bucket uses a fraction of the water needed for a hose, yet the hose remains the popular choice. Long showers, half-loaded washing machines and dripping taps add to the daily loss, and the waste multiplies across thousands of homes in the same locality. Municipal bodies spend heavily to pump, treat and supply this water, so every wasted litre is also a wasted rupee of public money. Awareness campaigns have had limited success because they speak about distant reservoirs rather than daily habits. Experts therefore suggest a simpler approach: fix leaking taps within a week, switch to buckets for washing, and read the household water bill every month. Small corrections at home, repeated in every street, would reduce city water demand far more than any single large project.

Precis (about 50 words)

Title: Everyday Waste of Household Water

City households lose large quantities of water through running taps, hose washing, long showers and leaks, which also wastes the public money spent on supply. Awareness drives fail because they ignore daily habits. Experts therefore recommend quick leak repairs, bucket washing and monthly bill checks as the most effective correction.

Model Precis 2: Argument Passage

Passage (about 200 words)

Technology has changed the way Indians learn, earn and receive care. Cheap data and smartphones have carried classroom lessons into villages, allowing a student in a small town to attend a lecture delivered in a metro city. Telemedicine now connects rural patients with specialists, which reduces both travel cost and the crowd at district hospitals. Digital payments have widened the market for small traders, since a weaver in a district town can sell to a customer in another state without a shop or an agent. These gains, however, are unevenly shared. Households without a device or a stable connection are pushed further behind, and the gap between the connected and the unconnected is widening rather than closing. Data misuse and online fraud have grown alongside the convenience, and many first-time users cannot recognise a fraudulent link. Long screen hours are also reducing face-to-face contact, which affects the social skills of children. Automation, meanwhile, threatens routine clerical work, and the workers displaced are rarely the ones who gain new digital jobs. The author concludes that the benefits are real but conditional. Unless access is widened, users are trained and data rules are enforced, technology will deepen existing gaps instead of closing them.

Precis (about 67 words)

Title: The Conditional Gains of Technology

The author notes that affordable devices and data have improved education, healthcare and trade for small towns and villages. However, these gains are uneven. Households without access fall further behind, fraud and data misuse have risen, screen time is weakening social contact, and automation threatens routine jobs. The author therefore concludes that wider access, user training and firm data rules are necessary if technology is to reduce inequality.

Model Precis 3: Policy Passage

Passage (about 180 words)

The banking system in India is changing quickly, and the change is driven largely by technology. New channels have made services faster, but they have also created fresh risks for banks and for those who regulate them. The largest of these concerns is compliance, which means following the laws, rules and codes that apply to a bank, along with its own internal policies. Compliance is not only a legal duty. A bank that treats customers fairly, protects their data and keeps its records honestly builds trust, and trust is the asset on which every bank finally depends. Where compliance is weak, the bank faces penalties, financial loss and damage to its reputation, and a damaged reputation is far harder to repair than a financial loss. A sound system therefore identifies the compliance risk present in every product, process and business line rather than checking documents after an event. The author holds that a strong compliance culture makes a bank disciplined and resilient, and that such banks enjoy steady growth and lasting customer confidence.

Precis (about 60 words)

Title: Compliance in a Changing Banking System

The passage explains that rapid technological change in Indian banking has created new risks, of which compliance is the most serious. Compliance means observing external laws and internal policies, and it protects customer trust. Weak compliance invites penalties, losses and reputational damage. The author argues that identifying risk within every process builds disciplined banks that grow steadily and retain customer confidence.

Notice the pattern in all three models. The precis opens with the main idea, follows the original order, keeps every cause and condition, and closes with the author's conclusion. Passages on economy and policy are common in officer-level papers, so read a few pages of banking awareness notes each week to make such passages feel familiar.

If the Passage Is a Speech, Dialogue or Letter

Sometimes the passage is not plain prose. It may be a speech, a conversation or a letter. The rules do not change, but three extra conversions are needed.

• Convert to reported speech. "I shall review the scheme," said the minister, becomes: the minister stated that he would review the scheme.
• Convert to the third person. Every I, we and you in the original becomes the speaker, the committee, the audience or the reader.
• Drop the wrapper. Greetings, salutations, thanks, applause lines and closing courtesies carry no information, so they never enter a precis. The same content in letter writing would keep them.

One caution for dialogue passages. Report the point each speaker makes, not the back-and-forth. Write "the two officials disagreed on the cost of the project" rather than reproducing four turns of conversation.

The Rhetorical Precis: A Four-Sentence Format

Some exams and interviews ask for a rhetorical precis. It is a shorter form with a fixed four-sentence shape. It reports not only what the author says, but how the author says it.

1. Sentence 1: The author, the title and the main claim. "The author of the passage argues that ______."
2. Sentence 2: How the author develops that claim. "The author supports this by ______."
3. Sentence 3: The purpose of the writing. "The purpose is to ______."
4. Sentence 4: The intended reader and the tone. "The passage addresses ______ in a ______ tone."

Use the normal one-third precis unless the question clearly asks for this format. But keep these four sentences in mind, because they force you to notice the author's stand and tone, which is exactly what a good precis needs.

Twelve-Minute Answer Plan for the Exam Hall

1. Minutes 1 to 3: Read the passage twice. Underline causes, results, conditions and the conclusion.
2. Minute 4: Note four or five points in the margin, in the order of the passage. Note the tone in one word.
3. Minute 5: Fix your word target. Divide the printed word count by three, or use the printed limit.
4. Minutes 6 to 10: Write the title, then one paragraph from your notes, in your own words, with linking words between the points.
5. Minutes 11 and 12: Count the words, then check the three bans: no copying, no opinion, no first person. Fix tense slips and spelling.

Worked Examples: Wrong to Right

Example 1 (copying, the most penalised error)

Sentence: The precis begins: "Most households in Indian cities waste water without noticing it."

Trap: The line is short, clear and exactly on the main idea, so it feels like a perfect opening. It is copied word for word from the passage, and a precis is marked on your own words.

Correct Answer: City households lose large quantities of water without realising it.

Rule in Simple Words: Borrow the meaning, never the sentence. Change the words, keep the sense.

Example 2 (opinion added)

Sentence: This wastage is shameful and the government must impose heavy fines at once.

Trap: The sentence sounds strong and concerned, and students believe it shows involvement. The passage never said this, so it is your opinion, and a precis must stay neutral.

Correct Answer: Experts recommend quick leak repairs, bucket washing and monthly bill checks.

Rule in Simple Words: Report what the author says. Your own view has no place in a precis.

Example 3 (dropping a condition)

Sentence: Technology has improved education, healthcare and trade across the country.

Trap: Every word here is true and taken from the passage, so it looks safe. The author had added a condition, that these gains hold only where access exists, and dropping it changes a careful claim into a wrong one.

Correct Answer: Technology has improved education, healthcare and trade, but only for households that have devices and connectivity.

Rule in Simple Words: Never drop a cause, a result or a condition. Those three carry the meaning.

Example 4 (first person)

Sentence: As we all know, we waste a lot of water in our homes every day.

Trap: This is how we speak, so it slips out under exam pressure. It breaks two rules at once: first person, and a phrase that adds nothing.

Correct Answer: Households waste water daily through ordinary habits.

Rule in Simple Words: Third person only. Cut phrases like as we all know, which use words and carry no facts.

Example 5 (weak title)

Sentence: Title: About Water

Trap: It is short and it is related to the passage, so it feels acceptable. It names the subject but not the idea, and the examiner cannot tell whether you found the central point.

Correct Answer: Title: Everyday Waste of Household Water

Rule in Simple Words: A title states the central idea in 3 to 6 words, as a noun phrase.

Example 6 (wrong length)

Sentence: A 180-word precis written for a 300-word passage.

Trap: Every point is present and nothing is copied, so the content looks complete. At 60 per cent of the original it is a summary, not a precis, and the length rule is checked directly.

Correct Answer: Cut it to about 100 words using the compression techniques: one word for a phrase, a general term for a list, and no empty openers.

Rule in Simple Words: Divide the original by three. Then stay inside a small margin around that figure.

Example 7 (bullets and abbreviations)

Sentence: Three points: 1. Tech helps edu & health, 2. Digital divide etc., 3. Govt. must act.

Trap: Bullets look organised and save time, and short forms save words. Both are banned in a precis, so the form marks go even if the content is right.

Correct Answer: One connected paragraph, with full words: technology, education, health, government.

Rule in Simple Words: One paragraph, full words, no numbering and no symbols.

Example 8 (quotation kept as it is)

Sentence: The chairman said, "We will review the policy next year."

Trap: The quotation is accurate, so it feels like faithful reporting. A precis uses reported speech, so quotation marks and direct words must both go.

Correct Answer: The chairman stated that the policy would be reviewed the following year.

Rule in Simple Words: Convert every quotation into indirect speech. Change the tense and drop the marks.

Common Traps Students Fall Into

These are the habits that most often cost marks. Each one is a common trap, not a silly mistake, and each has a one-line fix. Several of them are also tested in the objective paper, so read this list alongside error spotting practice.

• Wrong: "I feel the author is correct." Correct: "The author holds that the policy is effective." — A precis reports, it never judges.
• Wrong: "As per my knowledge, prices rose." Correct: "According to the passage, prices rose." — Your knowledge is not the source. The passage is.
• Wrong: "The author discusses about the water crisis." Correct: "The author discusses the water crisis." — Discuss already carries the meaning of "about".
• Wrong: "The final conclusion of the passage is clear." Correct: "The conclusion of the passage is clear." — A conclusion is already final, so one word is enough.
• Wrong: "The report gives the past history of the scheme." Correct: "The report gives the history of the scheme." — History is always past.
• Wrong: "The minister said that he will revert back soon." Correct: "The minister stated that he would reply soon." — Revert back repeats itself, and reported speech needs would.
• Wrong: "Etc. and other things were also mentioned." Correct: "Related measures were also mentioned." — No abbreviations, and no vague fillers.
• Wrong: "One of my point is about cost." Correct: "One of the points concerns cost." — One of always takes a plural noun, and a precis avoids my.
• Wrong: "The author is having a critical tone." Correct: "The author adopts a critical tone." — Have for a state is not used in the continuous form.
• Wrong: Writing the precis in the same order as your notes, when the notes were jumbled. Correct: Follow the order of the original passage. — Sequence carries logic, and changing it loses marks.
• Wrong: Adding a fresh example of your own to explain a point. Correct: State the point only. — Anything not in the passage cannot enter the precis.

Memory Tricks and Formulas

1. CCCO: the four marks of a good precis

CCCO stands for Concise, Clear, Complete, Objective. Remember Chai Comes Colder Otherwise. Concise means one-third. Clear means simple language. Complete means no missing point. Objective means no opinion.

2. Divide by 3, then check

The length rule is arithmetic, not judgement. Divide the original count by 3 and write that number at the top of your rough space. Every sentence you write must fit inside that budget.

3. Keep CRC, cut ERQ

CRC means Causes, Results, Conditions, and all three must stay. ERQ means Examples, Repetitions, Quotations, and all three must go. This single pair of acronyms answers the question "what should I remove".

4. The NO-5 bans

Before you submit, check five bans: no copying, no opinion, no first person, no bullets, no abbreviations. Weak-English students who check only these five move up several marks, because these are exactly what examiners look for first.

5. TTT: the three technical rules

TTT means Third person, Tense correct, Title present. Remember Three Trains Together. These three are free marks, because they never change from question to question.

6. One word beats three

Whenever you cross the word limit, hunt for phrases you can replace with one word. A person who has no home becomes homeless. The place where trains stop becomes a station. Every swap saves 3 to 8 words.

7. The 3-6 title rule

Keep the title between 3 and 6 words, as a noun phrase, with no full stop. If your title has a verb and reads like a sentence, cut it down.

8. Read it as a stranger

The final test takes ten seconds. Read your precis as if you had never seen the passage. If it still makes complete sense on its own, it is a good precis. If a reader would ask "which scheme?" or "why?", a key point is missing.

Exam Patterns and High-Yield Facts

Frequently Confused Pairs

Repeating Question Patterns

• Economy and policy passages are the most common in officer-level papers: inflation, imports, digital payments, financial inclusion, regulation and compliance.
• Social issue passages come next: education access, health services, urban migration, water and waste, women in the workforce.
• Technology passages are frequent, and they usually follow a benefits-then-risks structure. Keep both halves in the precis.
• Balanced argument passages present two sides and end with a condition. The condition in the last line is almost always a marked point.
• Data-heavy passages carry several figures. Keep only the figures the argument depends on, and drop the rest.
• Instruction lines to read carefully: "in about 100 words", "in your own words", "no paraphrasing allowed" and "give a suitable title". Each of these lines carries marks of its own.

Exam-Wise Focus

• Bank and insurance officer exams: Precis is one question inside a short, typed descriptive paper. Prepare it together with email writing and situation analysis, and confirm the current pattern from the official notification.
• Regulatory and financial institution exams: The writing paper is long, and the passage is usually dense policy prose. Practise on economic editorials rather than simple general passages.
• UPSC and defence exams: Precis sits beside comprehension and essay in the language paper. Handwriting speed and word counting both matter, so practise on paper as well as on a computer.
• State PSC mains and judiciary: Word limits are printed and enforced. Practise cutting the same passage to 100 words, then to 70, so you can hit any limit.
• MBA and written ability tests: The passage is short and the time is tight. The four-sentence rhetorical structure is useful here.
• Objective papers of SSC and railway exams: No precis question, but the same skill drives comprehension, para jumbles and inference questions, so treat this topic as reading practice.

Practice Set: Write These This Week

Reading this article once will not build the skill. Writing eight precis will. For each passage below, take an editorial or a study article of about 300 words, then write a 100-word precis with a title in 12 minutes.

1. A passage on rising food prices and their effect on household budgets.
2. A passage on digital payments in small towns, with benefits and risks.
3. A passage on the shortage of teachers in government schools.
4. A passage on water scarcity in a fast-growing city.
5. A passage on the pressure of examinations on school students.
6. A passage on renewable energy targets and the cost of transition.
7. A passage on the working conditions of gig and delivery workers.
8. A passage on financial literacy among first-time bank customers.

After each precis, check only five things.

1. Is there a title of 3 to 6 words?
2. Is the length within a small margin of one-third?
3. Is every sentence in your own words?
4. Is it fully third person, with no opinion?
5. Are all the causes, results and conditions still present?

Then test the objective side with the free English MCQ quizzes, and if your exam has a typed descriptive paper, build speed on the typing test page so counting and typing never eat into your thinking time.

One-Liners for Quick Revision

Precis writing rewards daily reading more than any other writing topic, because you cannot compress a passage you did not understand. So read one editorial every morning and write a 60-word precis of it, and strengthen the grammar that examiners notice most through subject-verb agreement and punctuation rules. Editorials also double as current affairs revision, so pair the habit with daily current affairs reading and attempt a full paper from the mock test archive before the exam. If you are not sure whether your paper has a descriptive section at all, check it first in the exam-wise syllabus hub, and browse the wider topic-wise English notes for the remaining writing formats.