How to write a summary: Procedures and rules on the web-site for teachers and learners of English as a secondary language from a German point of view

Table of Contents How to write a summary: procedures and rules HOMEPAGE back to
Summary writing: principles go on to
Summary: Functions

How to write a summary: Procedures and rules

Procedures: How to prepare for a summary

1. Understand the text.
2. Underline the sentences which are important for the summary.
3. Divide the text into paragraphs.
4. Find headings for the different paragraphs.
5. Write down key-words (not more than 20) which are important for the
    summary.
6. Learn the vocabulary and the structures you need for the summary
7. If necessary transform direct speech into reported speech - only if there is
    an important idea or fact in it.
8. Write the summary in your own words using conjunctions, relative clauses
    or participle constructions.

1. Don't start before you have finished reading and
understanding the text.

2. Don't panic at all - if you know what to write you will find that
you can write it down quickly.

3. Be accurate, never change the meaning of the original.

Rules: How to write a summary

Find important facts, statements and ideas
Leave all statistics, dates and names, quotations, details and comparisons, examples, opinions, and decorating expressions unless they are important for the understanding of the text.
Cut the original text to one third.
The summary is usually written in the present tense.
But past events may be reported in the past, future events may be reported in the future.
Statements or questions which were made in the past may be reported in the past tense or the past perfect.
Statements and questions which were made in the past but concern the future may be reported in the conditional.

Table of Contents How to write a summary: procedures and rules HOMEPAGE back to
Summary writing:
principles go on to
Summary: Functions