“Précis (संक्षेपण) Writing means just seizing the essential points of a story and putting them together in clear and readable shape.” says Guy N. Peacock
Précis is to be written in 1/3 words of the original passage or paragraph in your own words. You are suggested to pour the author’s thought not yours in the précis without any unnecessary trimmings.
Before you learn the art of précis, learn the methods of compressing sentences. The following methods are well marked:
Compression by Vocabulary
(A) One Word Substitutions
- ‘An animal which lives in water’ can be said as ‘Aquatic’
- ‘A letter that does not bear the name of the writer’ can be said as ‘Anonymous’
- ‘One who works in the same department or office’ can be said as ‘Colleague’
(B) Phrase Substitution
- ‘A cry in wilder’ can be said as ‘Futile cry’
- ‘By hook or by crook’ can be said as ‘Anyhow’
- ‘By fits and starts’ can be said as ‘Frequently’
Compressing by synthesizing sentences
| SENTENCES | SYNTHESIZED SENTENCES |
| He saw a tiger. He shot it. Two terrorists entered the mosque. They started spreading bullets at the congregation. They killed ten of them. They injured many of them. | Seeing a tiger, he shot it. Entering the mosque, two terrorists started spreading bullets at the congregation killing ten and injuring many of them. |
Compression by Omission
| Circumlocution | Compression |
| He has gone to a land from where no traveller returns. The sage of Sabarmati was killed by Nathu Ram Godse. He walked away in a very hasty manner. The face of lovely Rita is as charming as the shining moon. | He has died. Nathu ram Godse killed Mahatma Gandhi. He walked away hastily. Rita is very beautiful |
