Precis writing is an indispensable skill for aspirants of CSS, PMS, UPSC, and other competitive exams. Beyond being a mere exam component, it cultivates the ability to read complex content, extract its essence, and present it with clarity and brevity. It challenges candidates to build a comprehensive understanding and linguistic precision, traits essential for administrators, policymakers, and professionals. In this guide, you will learn the common pitfalls to avoid and best practices to embrace in precis writing, preparing you to condense content effectively without losing meaning.
Join CPF Official FB Group – Pakistan’s Most Credible Hub
Join CPF Official Facebook Group – Pakistan’s #1 competitive exam community for CSS, PMS, and more. Get free solved past papers, essays, PDFs, expert guidance, and peer support to level up your preparation.
What is Precis Writing?
Precis writing is the disciplined art of distilling lengthy passages into their essential arguments while preserving meaning, tone, and logical sequence. Unlike a summary, which often lists points, a precis demands refinement, logical flow, and stylistic accuracy. It challenges students to eliminate redundancies, rhetorical questions, and unnecessary examples while keeping the soul of the original passage intact. This skill is tested heavily in civil service examinations like CSS, PMS, and UPSC, where clarity, accuracy, and precision are fundamental.
Why is Precis Writing Important?
- In CSS, PMS, UPSC, and GRE exams, precis writing carries significant marks. Scoring well often determines overall English success.
- Government officers, journalists, and corporate leaders frequently need to present reports concisely.
- In the digital age of short attention spans, concise yet powerful writing is highly valued.
Sir Syed Kazim Ali, through his Extensive English Essay and Precis Course, emphasizes that precis writing is not just a test skill; it is a foundation for professional communication.
Major Don'ts of Precis Writing
Misinterpret the Original Passage
A fundamental error is failing to grasp the author's central argument, tone, or purpose, leading to a precis that distorts the meaning.
Why it's a "Don't": A precis must faithfully mirror the context of the original passage. And misinterpretation signals weak precision of the main ideas and cost marks.
Example: If the passage examines both pros and cons of technology, presenting only criticism distorts the author's nuanced argument.
Here, practice with solved examples from PrecisWritingLet helps aspirants avoid such distortion. With its practice exercises, students learn to retain neutrality and faithfully represent the original passage.
Include Irrelevant Details
Many students mistakenly retain anecdotes, quotations, or illustrations from the passage.
Why it's a "Don't": Including secondary details clutters the precis and weakens its impact.
Example: In a passage about leadership qualities, focusing on an anecdote rather than the qualities themselves dilutes the main idea.
Aspirants can refine this skill through Howtests, which provides guiding blogs and English practices that strengthen the building blocks of precis writing.
Use Quotations or Questions Directly
Reproducing direct quotes or rhetorical questions compromises the originality of the precis.
Why it's a "Don't": A precis must condense and rephrase ideas in your own words.
Example: Instead of copying a leader's direct appeal, a precis should capture its essence as a general assertion.
Shift Tense or Tone
Altering the tense or adopting a tone absent in the original changes the meaning.
Why it's a "Don't": Consistency ensures precision in the precis solution.
Example: A historical narrative written in the past tense must not be rewritten in the present or future tense.
Guidance from CSSPrepForum, with its English material, grammar lessons, and blogs, ensures aspirants understand tone and tense consistency under Sir Kazim's methodology.
Write Without Coherence
Some aspirants focus only on conciseness but ignore the flow and connection between ideas.
Why it's a "Don't": Disjointed sentences lower readability and examiner impression.
Example: A precis that reads like bullet points instead of a logically flowing narrative.
Major Do's of Precis Writing
Capture the Core Idea Accurately
The foremost rule is identifying the passage's central argument.
Why it's a "Do": Without the central idea, the precis loses purpose.
Example: In a text about environmental challenges, the core is human responsibility, not just climate facts.
Use Your Own Words
Paraphrasing reflects understanding and linguistic proficiency.
Why it's a "Do": Examiners evaluate command over language and not the ability to copy.
Example: "Globalization is a double-edged sword" becomes "Globalization proposes opportunities but also creates vulnerabilities."
To be an expert in paraphrasing, aspirants must learn Synonyms and Antonyms from Howtests.
Maintain Proportion
The precis should reduce the original to one-third or one-fourth of its length while keeping the message intact.
Why it's a "Do": It tests conciseness and discipline.
Example: From a 300-word passage, aim for 100 words capturing essence, not bulk.
To learn these conciseness techniques, learn core English rules from Howtests' 45 Years Idioms and many other techniques in book form, which train aspirants to write within word limits while keeping arguments intact.
Follow Logical Order
Ideas must be arranged in the same sequence as the original passage.
Why it's a "Do": It ensures clarity and prevents distortion.
Example: If the passage moves from causes to effects, so must the precis.
This rule is extensively taught in Sir Kazim's courses on CSSPrepForum, where students practice with progressive difficulty levels to refine flow and order.
Polish Language and Grammar
Correct punctuation, grammar, and transitions to create an elegant precis.
Why it's a "Do": Examiners reward precision and fluency.
Example: Transitional phrases like therefore, hence, and in contrast enhance coherence in the precis solution.
The writing blogs and grammar rules available on CSSPrepForum in its Writing Aid portion, written specifically by Sir Syed Kazim Ali, ensure that aspirants polish their English skills beyond precis writing.
Key Examiner Expectations in CSS, PMS, PCS, UPSC, and All Competitive Exams' Precis Writing
- Accurate reflection of the original meaning.
- Conciseness without loss of original context of the passage.
- Proper grammar and punctuation.
- Concise sentence structure.
- Appropriate title formulation.
Sir Syed Kazim Ali often reminds aspirants that examiners award marks not just for compression but for clarity, logic, and faithfulness to meaning.
How to Become an Expert in Precis Writing
1-Daily Reading Practice
Read multiple opinions and editorials from Howtests' editorials portion, Foreign Affairs, The Economist, The Atlantic, The Philosophical Review, or other philosophers' writings like Seyyed Hossein Nasr books or academic journals to understand the core theme of the text and sharpen precision skills.
2-Timed Practice
Use Howtests to simulate exam conditions.
3-Writing Blogs & Grammar Mastery
Learn rules and improve style with resources on CSSPrepForum from Sir Syed Kazim Ali Notes.
4-Specialized Training
Enrol in Sir Kazim's Extensive English Essay and Precis Course for expert feedback.
5-Focused Exercises
Practice step-by-step logical flow of practice passages, designed exclusively by Sir Syed Kazim Ali on PrecisWritingLet for English learners of all ages, regardless of their background, to learn precis writing smartly and effectively.
- Easy Precis Practice for Beginner Students
- Advanced Precis Practice for Competitive Aspirants & International Students
- CSS Solved Precis
- PMS Solved Precis
- PCS Solved Precis
- UPSC Solved Precis
By combining consistent practice with expert-guided resources, anyone, from beginners to advanced aspirants, can master precis writing as both an academic requirement and a lifelong communication skill.
Precis writing is both an art and a discipline. It trains the mind to think critically, condense effectively, and present faithfully. For aspirants of competitive exams, it is not only a scoring tool but also a test of clarity, accuracy, and maturity. Resources like CSSPrepForum, Howtests, and PrecisWritingLet provide systemic learning, solved examples, and timed practice, making the journey from beginner to master achievable. Thus, by following the dos and avoiding the don'ts, every student, whether a beginner, graduate, or advanced aspirant or international student, can master precis writing and excel in examinations and beyond.
Looking Precis Writing: Your Compass to Clarity and Precision
Learning precis writing is like discovering the art of distilling oceans into a single drop, capturing the depth without losing the essence. Whether you are a beginner taking your first steps, a graduate polishing academic skill, or an advanced learner preparing for CSS, PMS, UPSC, GRE, or GMAT, precis writing becomes your compass in the vast sea of words. Even international English learners can steer this journey with structured rules, practical examples, and expert-tested strategies. These resources act as the map and lantern, guiding you to write concise, impactful precis solutions that shine in both academic and professional arenas.
- Precis Writing: A Complete Guide with Examples for CSS, PMS, UPSC Exams
- Precis Writing Essentials: How to Write High-Scoring Precis for Competitive Exams
- How to Write a Perfect Precis: Proven Dos for Civil Service Aspirants
- The Don’ts of Precis Writing: What You’re Doing Wrong
- Use of Tense, Person, and Voice in Precis Writing
