MODULE 2.docx ENGLISH

PROFESSIONAL WRITING SKILLS IN ENGLISH (21EGH28)
Module II
Introduction to a paragraph
A paragraph is a group of related sentences arranged in a logical order to develop one idea. Structurally, a
paragraph consists of a topic sentence, a body, and a conclusion. The topic sentence is the sentence that states the
main idea. The body of a paragraph consists of the sentences that develop and clarify the topic sentence.
The conclusion is a sentence that restates briefly about the topic sentence (but does not repeat it word for word), or
summarises the major points discussed, or ties together the key points covered in the paragraph.
We can think of the paragraph as a wheel with the topic being the hub, the central core around which the whole
wheel (or paragraph) spins.
Ordering paragraphs
Just as the fruit and vegetables in the supermarket pictured above is organised so that shoppers can find what they
are looking for easily, you should plan your paragraph so that your reader can follow your train of thought without
difficulty. The order in which you arrange your ideas is extremely important to the success of your paragraph, as it
will be hard for your reader to understand the point you are trying to make if they are not logically organised.
Making sure your paragraph has coherence—the ideas move smoothly from one to the next—and unity—contains
only ideas that support your topic sentence—will help your reader successfully follow your ideas and arguments.
Skilfully used paragraphs made up of well-planned sentences are aids to clarity for two reasons:
(a) They permit a writer to follow a systematic development of the subject.
(b) They prevent the reader from being subjected to an uninterrupted mass of words that creates confusion and
monotony.
A. What is a topic sentence?

A topic sentence is a statement that introduces the subject to be developed within the paragraph. The rest of the
paragraph accomplishes only one objective: it develops the theme introduced by the topic sentence until all details
pertaining to the theme are clarified. The limits of a paragraph, then, are clearly defined and decisions about
beginning a new paragraph are based upon the question, “Has the subject introduced by the topic sentence been
completely developed?” If so, a new paragraph is begun.
The following paragraph begins with a topic sentence; then explanation and examples are used to develop the
central idea.
Example
Every fraction can be written in decimal form. All decimal forms, however, are not exact equivalents of the
fractions for which they are substituted. Many fractions have exact decimal equivalents.
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For example, 3/4 is equal to 0.75; 4/5 is equal to 8/10, is also equal to 0.80; and 1/40 is equal to 0.025. On the other
hand, other common fractions can be expressed only in approximate decimal numbers. For example, 1/3 can be
approximately expressed as 0.3, 0.33, 0.333, or 0.3333. Each successive approximation is closer to the actual value
of 1/3, but an exact decimal can never be obtained.
B. Parts of a topic sentence

The topic sentence consists of two parts: the subject and the controlling idea.
Subject (S) Controlling idea (CI)
Tells what is to be discussed—the limited topic Tells the writer’s idea about the limited topic, usually
(which is not necessarily the grammatical subject of an opinion or a generalisation expressed in a key word
the sentence). or words.
Example
The subject and the controlling idea are identified in the following topic sentences.
1. Listening serves several functions.
[First: Subject (= grammatical subject)]
[Second: Controlling idea]
2. A lot of sweat and blood is involved in establishing a startup.

[First: Controlling idea]
[Second: Subject (≠ grammatical subject)]
3. A specialisation in Artificial Intelligence can open many doors.

[First: Subject (= grammatical subject)
[Second: Controlling idea]
From the preceding topic sentences, you can see that the subject indicates what the paragraph will talk about while
the controlling idea steers you to a specific direction or clarification of detail on that subject.
Subject Controlling idea
State the controlling idea, however, in such a way that it gives

The subject of your topic sentence must be
you room to talk: include controlling ideas that need
so specific that it is self-evident.
explanation, description, or expansion.
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In this way, every time you want to add a sentence to your

As an inexperienced writer, you should
paragraph you can ask yourself whether this sentence
make the topic sentence the very first
contributes to the clarity of the controlling idea or not.
sentence of your paragraph.
It is in this respect that the topic sentence truly controls the rest of the paragraph. It even dictates, to some extent,
the length of the paragraph because it will force you to eliminate sentences that do not contribute to, describe,
explain, or add a detail to the controlling idea. Finally, the topic sentence will also guide you in concluding your
paragraph, for after you have presented all the details, you are left with no other option but to end it.
Topic sentences have three characteristics:

(1) they are among the most general sentences in a paragraph,
(2) they introduce an idea developed throughout the paragraph, and
(3) they can function as a one-sentence summary of the entire paragraph.
Find the topic sentence, and you have found the main idea of the paragraph.
Topic sentences can and do appear anywhere in a paragraph. However, particularly in textbooks, they are likely to
be the first or second sentence in a paragraph.
Paragraphs
A sentence is the expression of a single thought, but a group of sentences expressing several thoughts may be used
to discuss a certain topic. This group of sentences is called a paragraph. Just as a sentence should contain only one
idea, so a paragraph should express one topic only.
Thus when a written summary of a paragraph has to be made it is necessary to be able to recognise the main topic.
Once this has been done, it will be seen that the rest of the paragraph is an enlargement or development of the main
topic to illustrate or make it more impressive.
Example A
Read these three paragraphs from Leigh Hunt’s essay on “A Few Thoughts on Sleep”.
The most complete and healthy sleep that can be taken in the day is in the summer-time, out in the field. There
is perhaps no solitary sensation so exquisite as that of slumbering on the grass or hay, shaded from the hot sun
by a tree, with the consciousness of a fresh light air running through the wide atmosphere, and the sky
stretching overhead upon all sides. Earth and heaven, and a placid humanity seem to have the creation to
themselves. There is nothing between the slumberer and the naked and glad innocence of nature.
Next to this, but at a long interval, the most relishing snatch of slumber out of bed is the one which a tired
person takes before he retires for the night, while lingering in the sitting room. The consciousness of being very
sleepy and of having the power to go to bed immediately gives zest to the unwillingness to move. Sometimes
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he sits nodding in his chair; but the sudden and leaden jerks of the head, to which a state of great sleepiness
renders him liable, are generally too painful for so luxurious a moment; and he gets into a more legitimate
posture, sitting sideways with his head on the chairback or throwing his legs up at once on another chair and
half reclining. It is curious, however, to find how long an inconvenient posture will be borne for the sake of a
foretaste of repose.
Speaking of the painful positions into which a sleepy lounger will get himself, it is amusing to think of the
more fantastic attitudes that so often take place in bed.
Analysis
You will notice that in the first paragraph there is a sentence which announces the topic of the paragraph—“The
most complete and healthy sleep that can be taken in the day is in the summertime, out in the field.” The rest of the
paragraph is devoted to a discussion of this part of the subject. Usually this topic or key sentence is at the beginning
of the paragraph where the writer can give prominence to it, but there are occasions when this is not so, and you
must be on the lookout for them.
In the second paragraph the words “Next to this,” refer to the subject of the preceding paragraph and so serve as a
connecting link between it and the topic sentence of the second paragraph which is, “the most relishing snatch of
slumber out of bed is the one which a tired person takes before he retires for the night, while lingering in the sitting
room.” You will note that the remainder of the second paragraph is merely an amplification of the topic, remarking
on the zest given “by the consciousness of being very sleepy”, etc., the postures assumed and their uncomfortable
nature.
The opening words of the third paragraph are a link with the topic of the second, and the words “it is amusing to
think…” begin the topic of the new paragraph.
Thus, when summarising paragraphs, you should bear clearly in mind that there are three features to look for before
you begin your summary; they are (i) the link phrase, (ii) the topic sentence, (iii) the discussion of the topic.
This will enable you to pick out what is essential from what is merely illustrative in a paragraph. When you can
easily pick out the key sentence of a paragraph, you will have less difficulty in summarising the paragraph itself.
Example B
If, however, a man writes a diary which he feels sure that nobody will ever see except himself, he is probably
perfectly truthful. There is no motive for being otherwise. He is not ashamed of recording his actions, good or bad,
just as they happened. So down it all goes, as in the diary of Samuel Pepys, which he wrote in a cypher that nobody
would take the trouble to read. I know no other diary to be compared with it.
The topic sentence is the first one. When writing your summary, you need not keep to the exact words of the
sentence, however, particularly if you can express the thought more briefly.
Note this summary of the main topic:

Provided a person is confident his diary will be read by only himself, it will probably be truthful.
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Here the key sentence has been expressed in eighteen words, whereas there are twenty-three words in the original.
You will notice that the next two sentences are merely amplifications of the key sentence in that they tell us no new
topic. The last two sentences simply illustrate the truth of the idea contained in the key sentence, but still do not add
a new subject to the paragraph. These sentences, however, have a bearing on the main topic, and parts of them
would have to be included in a summary of the paragraph.
Example C
Of all the fruits of the year, I give my vote to the orange. In the first place, it is a perennial—if not in actual fact, at
least in the greengrocer’s shop. On the days when dessert is a name given to a handful of chocolates and a little
preserved ginger, when macédoine de fruits is the title bestowed on two prunes and a piece of rhubarb, then the
orange, however sour, comes nobly to the rescue; and on those other days of plenty when cherries and strawberries
and raspberries and gooseberries riot together upon the table, the orange, sweeter than ever, is still there to hold its
own. Bread and butter, beef and mutton, eggs and bacon, are not more necessary to an ordered existence than the
orange.
Golden Fruit: A. A. MILNE
Here the key sentence is obviously the first. Milne however, goes on to tell us why he gives pride of place to the
orange. Firstly, it is because it is a perennial in our greengrocers’ shops (fruit and vegetable shop); secondly,
because it is always a good standby for dessert, and thirdly, because it can hold its own with other seasonal fruit.
Lastly, he rounds off his paragraph with a statement as to the necessity of the orange in our everyday diet.
A summary of the paragraph should read as follows:
Milne gives the orange pre-eminence over other fruits because it is always in the shops, is a good standby for
dessert, can hold its own with other seasonal fruit, and is necessary to our staple diet.
Self-contained paragraph
A self-contained paragraph is one that is complete in itself. It has a topic sentence, a body, and a conclusion.
Sample: Self-contained paragraph
Topic
[Running your own business] offers [several advantages.]
sentence
First of all, you do not answer to a boss; therefore, you can set your own working hours.
Second, you decide how much money you want to make—a decision you cannot make if you
Body
work for someone else. The best part of all is that you will be doing what you want to do, not
what your employer dictates.
Concluding
As you can see, being in business for yourself has many advantages over working for others.
sentence
Paragraph development
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The paragraph evolves from the main (or controlling) idea contained in its topic sentence. Your aim is to
properly develop this main idea so that in the process a meaningful paragraph may result. Use different
methods of development to accomplish this goal.
A. Lead-in sentences
Lead-in sentences are primarily introductory. They improve clarity in a report because they introduce the major
topics being discussed. A lead-in sentence is always used to introduce the purpose of the report to the reader.
Another lead-in sentence is used each time the writer begins a new major topic.
A lead-in sentence is not a substitute for a topic sentence but may precede one at the beginning of a paragraph as
illustrated in the following example.
Example
All matter is divided into three types:
a. gaseous
b. liquid, and
c. solid
This sentence leads the reader toward a discussion of three separate topics each of which would probably be
defined, discussed and illustrated in a separate paragraph. Each paragraph, including the first one, would have its
own topic sentence.
If, however, the writer intends only to define the kinds of matter, the sentence given in the example is a topic
sentence and as well as a paragraph.
Lead-in sentences sometimes refer to previous information and, at the same time, introduce new topics. Under these
circumstances, lead-in sentences are not only introductory but also transitional.
Example
After the chemicals have been mixed and cooled, the prints are exposed and processed.
The sentence in this example tells the reader that the discussion about preparing chemicals is finished and that a
new subject is being introduced. A writer who wants to keep the reader informed must decide whether the lead-in
sentences should be both transitional and introductory or just introductory.
B. Enumeration
Use enumeration in paragraphs when you want to itemise or list a set of topics or a series of some kind.
Enumeration is a powerful way to establish a series of observations and to emphasise each element.
In the following paragraph, the items are enumerated in a series of itemised recommendations.
Have your blood cholesterol measured if you’ve never had it done. Finger-prick tests at health camps and other
public places are generally fairly accurate, especially if they’re offered by a hospital or other reputable health
group. When you know your “number,” follow these guidelines:
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a. If your cholesterol is under 200 mg/dl, maintain a healthy lifestyle– including eating a low-fat diet, getting
regular exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight, and not smoking—and get another test within five
years.
b. If your cholesterol is between 200 and 239 mg/dl, have a second test performed and average the results. If
that number falls in the same range, and if you do have any form of cardiovascular disease, change your diet
to improve your cholesterol. In addition, eliminate any other risk factors you have and get tested again in
about one year.
c. If your cholesterol is 240 mg/dl or more, your physician should order a more detailed cholesterol analysis
and recommend therapy based on the results. You should begin a cholesterol-improving diet immediately.
C. Chronological order
Use this method if you want to describe events or processes in the order in which they take place:
a. writing about a process, such as “How to Defragment a Hard Drive,” or
b. preparing a narrative, such as “The Events Leading Up to the Stock Market Crash.”
D. Narrative description
Use narration to establish a series of events that tells the reader what happened. Narration follows a chronological
pattern of development. It is a convincing mode of paragraph development to the extent that it tells a coherent
story. This pattern or time line is usually very easy to understand.
E. Details
In this type of paragraph development, you give a little explanation and plenty of particulars.
Repainting an apartment is a tedious undertaking. First you inspect the condition of the walls and ceilings for
any needed repairs. Assuming they are in good condition, proceed to prepare the surfaces for the painting job.
After preparing the surfaces clean them thoroughly. If you haven’t already done so, decide on the colour quality
and price you are willing to pay for the paint. In addition, make sure you have the necessary tools and material:
paint rollers brushes, pans, cleaning solvents, a ladder and cloths. If you are lucky enough to be painting a
vacant apartment you simply proceed to paint; otherwise you have to move the furniture away from the walls
and cover it with plastic sheets before painting. Finally, the apartment is painted. While waiting for the paint to
dry you hope that a second coat will not be necessary.
F. Causes and effects

This method of development can be done in one of two ways. You can put forward the effects, conditions, or
results first and then explain why these have come about. You may also do the opposite: first discuss the reasons or
causes and then present the effects, conditions, or results.
G. Comparison and contrast

Contrary to what some people think, there is a difference between comparison and contrast. Comparison shows the
similarities between the items being compared, while contrast stresses the differences.
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A small car and a big car are alike in many respects. The former has an engine, transmission, brakes, steering,
and seats. So does the latter. Both cars can have either automatic or standard transmission and can be equipped
with either power or standard brakes and steering. Both cars can be either front-wheel or rear-wheel driven.
Similarly, both small and big cars are means of transportation. These two types of vehicles differ, however, in
significant ways. The big car can comfortably seat more than four people, the small car cannot. Also, a big car
often has six or eight cylinders, while a small car usually has only four. Of course, both kinds of cars are useful.
Therefore, a person should choose the car that best fits his or her needs.
Identifying the topic sentence
A paragraph’s main idea is often spelled out in a sentence. This stated main idea expresses the author’s key point
about the topic; it is a sentence or the main idea statement. It answers the question “What is the most important
thing being said about the topic in this passage?”.
One way to identify the main idea in a paragraph is to look for the most general opinion or point of view being
expressed. The most general opinion is the broadest one, the viewpoint that covers or includes all the narrower or
more specific ideas.
Checking for the topic sentence
When you are uncertain about the main idea of a paragraph, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Does the sentence contain the topic of the paragraph?
2. Does the sentence state the most important point about the topic?
3. Is the sentence more general than other sentences in the paragraph?
4. Do the other sentences in the paragraph provide more information about the main idea sentence?
Be aware that not every paragraph contains a topic sentence. Some paragraphs in a reading may simply develop the
idea of a previous paragraph. Other paragraphs may serve as bridges or transitions between different parts of the
selection.
Topic and main idea
Travel is a part of our way of life. People commute to jobs that are a considerable distance from their homes. Some
students even travel many kilometres to school. Stores and businesses are clustered in central locations.
What is this paragraph mainly about?
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Travel is the correct answer because travel is what the paragraph is mainly about. Even though many examples of
why people travel are given, they all relate to the topic, which is travel. Each example makes some point about
travel or travelling.
The topic of the paragraph was travel. To find the main idea ask yourself, What is the writer saying about travel?
The answer: Travel is a part of our way of life.
This is the main idea of the paragraph because the writer is giving you a specific (or particular) point of
information about the topic “travel.”
Topic
Every paragraph is written about something. The “something” that the author chooses to write about is called
the topic. In other words, the topic is simply who or what the author is writing about. The topic is always a word, a
phrase, or a name. A topic is never written as a sentence. You may also hear the topic called the subject or
the subject matter. Determining the topic is the important first step in comprehending any paragraph that you read.
What can a topic be?

Topic Example
A person’s name Mahatma Gandhi
A place Bangalore
A thing iPhone X
A process Insolvency process
A concept Euthanasia (the right to die)
Note
A topic can be a single word (such as taxes or e-mail) or a phrase (such as how juries are selected or the spread of
malaria). Again, the topic is always expressed as a word or a phrase (a group of words); it is never expressed as a
sentence.
The four clues for identifying a topic are as follows:
a. a title or heading
b. topics usually appear in special print
c. look for words that repeat
d. anything discussed throughout a paragraph (repeated words or phrases)
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Pointers about determining the topic

a. Be sure you know what the words in the topic mean. Just knowing the word or phrase that tells the topic of a
paragraph or passage is not enough. You must know what the word or phrase means. For example, you might
quickly be able to determine that the topic of a paragraph is “The influence of transcendentalism.” However,
unless you understand what “transcendentalism” is, you will not be able to understand the paragraph.
Strategy: look up the definition of unfamiliar words and terms used as topics.
b. Be sure that you find the entire topic: it may have more than one part. Sometimes you will have to combine
two elements to get the complete topic. For example, a paragraph might describe right-side brain and left-
side brain. Neither one by itself would be sufficient. For the complete topic, you would need right-side and
left-side brain.
c. Even though the heading or title is often the topic, do not assume that the heading always indicates the exact
topic. The heading “A Decade of Change” is inadequate by itself. Until you read the information that follows
the heading, you would not know which decade or changes were being referred to. The precise topic might
be changes in Indian political arena during the 2010s.
d. Certain clues will be especially helpful in determining the overall topic of longer passages. The clues of
using a title or heading and special print are especially helpful in determining the overall topic of a chapter,
section of a chapter, or other entire selection. (Remember that you should confirm by noting what the topics
of the individual paragraphs have in common. That will be the overall topic.)
Your topic sentence is usually the most general sentence that supports, explains or discusses about the paragraph.
Paragraph length
Paragraph length, although determined by the subject being developed, should be varied. A series of very long
paragraphs presents detailed information too rapidly and subjects the reader to continuously long periods of
concentration. A series of very short paragraphs forces the reader to change subjects too frequently. Paragraphs
should range from five to eighteen lines. Ten to twelve lines is average length.
If a paragraph is less than five lines the topic sentence has probably been omitted or not fully developed. If a
paragraph extends beyond eighteen lines, it may contain unrelated material or unnecessary words and phrases. An
unusually long paragraph that cannot be shortened is more easily read if lists, graphic aids, or quotations are used to
create space within the solid block of words.
Form and length

Indent the first sentence of a paragraph in any report you write. A rule of thumb is to indent about half an inch in
handwriting; write the rest of the paragraph from margin to margin without any more indentation. You do not need
to provide a title for your paragraph because the topic sentence will identify the subject you are covering.
A paragraph may exist alone, as in the case of a self-contained paragraph; however, it is usually employed as a
device to separate longer papers into shorter segments of thought. The decision to have a self-contained paragraph
or to have several paragraphs as parts of a longer whole depends on the amount of detail you need to explain your
purpose.
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There is no set rule as to how long a paragraph should be. Only the writer can make this decision, but not before
taking into consideration certain guidelines for length and development. Knowing who your reader will be and the
subject you are writing about will determine to a great extent the length of your paragraph. You have the ultimate
choice as to what and how much you will share with your reader.
Note
a. Avoid repetition in the style of your sentences.
b. Too many short sentences containing one idea may bore readers, and too many long and complicated
sentences may confuse readers. Make sure you employ a variety of sentence structures.
c. As you write and rewrite your rough draft, see what sentences can be combined or deleted to avoid repetition
and what ideas can be put into longer sentences to make your writing professional and interesting.
Characteristics of a good paragraph

A good paragraph has unity, emphasis, and coherence. Coherence and emphasis are closely linked.
Unity means that all the sentences in the paragraph are helping to unfold, support, prove, or explain the controlling
(or main) idea. Earlier, you read about consulting the topic sentence every time you start to add a sentence to your
paragraph so as to assure its unity. Consulting your topic sentence ensures that all the sentences in the paragraph are
related. Be sure, though, that the sentences are related to the controlling idea, not just to the subject; otherwise, you
destroy the unity of the paragraph.
If you develop the habit of organising your ideas through the use of a plan or an outline, you will be much more
likely to achieve paragraph unity. The plan or the outline will force you to include only sentences that belong in the
paragraph by virtue of their contribution to the development of the controlling idea.
Coherence is achieved by keeping all related material together and arranging it in such a way that the mind moves
logically from one topic to the next. Coherence gives the impression that everything “hangs together”. All the
examples, details, explanations, definitions, comparisons and contrasts, and causes and effects in a coherent
paragraph support the one topic being developed there, in a logical unfolding.
Emphasis may be defined as the quality of forcefulness or strength. It results from the use of effective sentence
structure and the proper use of voice. Use active rather than passive voice as often as possible.
Paragraph coherence
The word coherence, comes from the Latin co, meaning together, and haerere, meaning to stick.
Hence coherence literally means sticking together. In writing, it means the quality of being integrated, consistent
and intelligible. The paragraphs of a paper are coherent when they are closely and logically joined together. In other
words, a paragraph is coherent when its major parts, the sentences, are all closely joined to each other.
Coherence through repetition of key words

Coherence between sentences may be effected through the repetition in the second sentence of an important word
that appears in the first sentence. The repetition of the word signals to the reader’s mind that a train of thought is
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being continued. With such a signal, the reader is able to progress smoothly with his reading. If no signal is present,
he stumbles or is made to pause uselessly.
Example A
To understand how repetition of important words can provide coherence in a paragraph, first note the
disjointedness between these sentences:
Politics is a suitable profession only for men and women with agile minds. Since problems shift suddenly and
rapidly, one must be able to alter his/her way of thinking quickly to meet new and unforeseen situations.
The absence of a signal in the second sentence to connect it with the first sentence, causes the reader to be left with
a vagueness or indefiniteness in his understanding.
Example B
Now note how coherence is effected through the repetition of a key word:
Politics is a suitable profession only for men and women with agile minds. Since the problems of politics shift
suddenly and rapidly, a politician must be able to alter/her his way of thinking quickly to suit new and unforeseen
situations.
The words politics and politician in the second sentence are positive signals that help the reader’s mind respond
with rapid comprehension. They provide transition between the sentences and thus effect coherence.
Example C
Here is another example of coherence through repetition:
The smallest insects are made up of a very large number of cells. An ant or a gnat, for example, is composed of
hundreds of thousands of cells. Furthermore, the cells in these small creatures are widely differentiated in structure
and function. Even a mite has skeletal, digestive, and nervous organs composed of many specialised cells. The
cellular structure of such small creatures cannot be seen by the naked eye, but it is nonetheless miraculously
complex.
Note, that the word cell appears in each sentence except the last; and even in that sentence the word cellular is
virtually a continued repetition. Such repetition forms a close linkage between the sentences. Also, note that the
words ant, gnat, small creatures, and mite all refer directly to the key phrase smallest insects in the first sentence.
They are so clearly related to the original phrase that they, too, serve as repetition. All of these repeated words are
signals that keep the reader’s mind oriented to the main idea of the paragraph. In this way they provide coherence.
Coherence through pronoun reference

A pronoun can be used in the place of a noun. When a pronoun in one sentence refers to a noun in the preceding
sentence, it serves as a signal for the reader’s mind just as a repeated word does. Hence pronoun reference is a
common method of achieving coherence between sentences.
Example A
To understand better the usefulness of this method of transition, first note the unclear connection between these
sentences:
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The Chairman of the Board of Directors rejected the budget committee’s recommendation.
Shortsightedness and prejudice were evident.
There is no specific signal in the second sentence to carry the reader’s train of thought along smoothly. Coherence
is lacking.
Example B
Now note how the inclusion of a specific means of transition creates smoothness between the sentences and
expresses the logic clearly:
The Chairman of the Board of Directors rejected the budget committee’s recommendation. He recognised
its shortsightedness and its prejudiced point of view.
The pronouns he and its in the second sentence are the signals that enable the reader’s mind to follow the train of
thought rapidly and with full comprehension. The two sentences are now coherent.
Transitional expressions (paragraphs)

What are transitions?
An important ingredient in achieving coherence in your paragraphs is a set of aids called transitional
expressions. Transitions are linking words or phrases that show relationships between two or more ideas. They are
markers that make the progression of ideas clear to readers.
In order not to lose your readers when you move from one sentence to another or from one point to the next, use
such expressions as in addition, for instance, since, first, consequently, as a result, in view of, and in conclusion.
These transitional expressions are the glue that holds the parts together. They may appear at the beginning, middle,
or end of a sentence. There is no need to use transitional expressions for every sentence in your paragraph.
Do not overdo a good thing. As long as you use these expressions only to emphasise organisation, give direction of
thought, signal a summation, or indicate additions, you will not be using them excessively.
In the following paragraph, notice how the underlined transitions lead you from one detail to the next.
When Sumati gets ready to study at home she follows a certain procedure. First of all, she tries to find a quiet place far aw
her bedroom for example, or it might be the verandah or the basement, depending on how much noise the younger childre
studying such as chips, an apple or a chocolate. Sometimes however, she skips the snack, especially if she is on a diet. Fin
has found. She usually does her most difficult homework first because she is more alert at the beginning.
Not all paragraphs contain such obvious transitions, and not all transitions serve as such clear markers of details. As
you can see, transitions may be used for a variety of reasons. They may alert you to what will come next in the
paragraph, they may tell you that an example will follow, or they may predict that a different, opposing idea is
coming.
Table: Common transitions
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The following Table lists some of the most common transitions and indicates what they tell you.
Type of
Example What they tell the reader
Transition
a. finally
Time b. first
The author is arranging ideas in the order in which they happened.
sequence c. later
d. next
a. for example
b. for instance
Example An example will follow.
c. such as
d. to illustrate
a. another
b. first
c. last The author is marking or identifying each major point. (Sometimes
Enumeration
d. next these may be used to suggest order of importance.)
e. second
f. third
a. also
b. and
The author is continuing with the same idea and is going to provide
Continuation c. another
additional information.
d. further
e. in addition
a. however
b. in contrast The author is switching to a different, opposite, or contrasting idea than
Contrast
c. on the other previously discussed.
hand
a. like
Comparison b. likewise The writer will show how the previous idea is similar to what follows.
c. similarly
a. because The writer will show a connection between two or more things, how
Cause/effect b. consequently one thing caused another, or how something happened as a result of
c. since something else.
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d. therefore
e. thus
Determine the topic (Part B)
For the following question(s), determine the topic from the paragraph
In its final death throes, a star blows much of its content back out into space. In particular, massive (but short-lived)
stars die in titanic explosions called supernovae. The returned matter mixes with other matter floating between the
stars in the galaxy, eventually becoming part of new clouds of gas and dust from which new generations of stars
can be born.
Determine the topic (Part C)
Eye contact, facial expressions, and interpersonal distance (how close you stand or sit next to someone) all express
messages. Single persons commonly use these types of messages to convey interest, or lack of interest, in another
person. Silence can convey a message (e.g., anger, anxiety). Touch, in particular, is a very powerful means of
nonverbal communication. As one person who studies communication and intimacy puts it. “If intimacy is
proximity, then nothing comes closer than touch, the most intimate knowledge of another.”
2. The Art of Condensation (Précis writing)

Introduction to précis writing
The word “précis” is French, and is the noun corresponding to the adjective précis (precise in English) but retains
the original sense of something “cut short” (Latin praecisum).
*précis
A précis is therefore a shorter version of some passage or passages, although, as we shall see, it involves much
more than the mere omission of certain parts of the original.
Other forms of condensation

A number of other terms are used in the same or a similar sense. Thus we may speak of an “abstract”, a
“summary”, an “epitome”, a “resume”; also of a “condensed account”, a “report”, or “reproduction”. Of these
terms, the one most frequently used is “summary”, and this word now often takes the place of the older “précis”.
It is possible to make a distinction between a précis and a summary, the former being regarded as conforming to
more definite rules and the latter allowing rather more freedom to the writer. A “summary” of a report, for instance,
might be divided into separate numbered paragraphs, whereas a précis is always written as a continuous
passage. For the purposes of this module, however, the two terms may be regarded as identical.
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Of the other terms, the “report” has no similar restriction as to length and is generally confined to speeches or
proceedings; and a “reproduction” is usually meant to be a version of a poem, story, or other passage—often from
memory—in the writer’s own words.
Précis-writing is not merely an educational exercise, however, for in professional, literary, political and commercial
life it is essential to be able to seize quickly and accurately upon essentials and give a clear, concise account of
them. A newspaper reporter, for instance, must be able to satisfy the most exacting sub-editor as to the accuracy of
his facts, and if he is not to have his work liberally struck off, he must learn to omit all facts that have no bearing on
the topic.
In every-day life we find ourselves called upon to make quick summaries, whether they be of the latest movie we
have seen or of our latest weekend getaway. Thus, it is essential for us to be able to summarise orally and in
writing; or when called upon, to be capable of giving a clear, concise, comprehensible statement.
There is no such thing as a perfect précis, but there is a wide difference between a précis on which intelligent
thought has been spent and one which consists merely of underlining phrases from the original passage and
stringing them together. Nothing is achieved without thought; a précis consists in expressing the essential ideas of a
passage, possibly re-arranged and certainly in length proportionate to their importance, in your own words.
All classes of prose and verse may be summarised, including speeches, plays, debates, novels, reviews, letters,
lectures and newspaper articles.
Writing a summary is a valuable exercise, for it demands a full understanding of a passage and gives training in
conciseness and exactness of expression. In addition, it involves a study of the construction of a given extract and
an appreciation of the author’s style, for in selecting the essentials the writer of the summary will readily see how
often the main theme is embellished by the artist’s touch.
Many authors illustrate their ideas with comparisons and references; they emphasise them with vivid figures of
speech and often repeat them to give rhythm to their verse or prose. Thus by examining closely a piece of English a
student can see how literary effects are gained, and he can be trained in this way to detect digression from the main
theme, ornamentation and irrelevancy.
Key elements of précis writing

a. Engage in verbal practice. Orally identifying key words, supplying synonyms, and paraphrasing text is a key
element in précis writing.
b. When students are introduced to the thesaurus, they become skilled in synonym substitution; the mental
exercise required to “say it another way” becomes fun and interesting. In addition, students’ written
vocabulary may be more diverse after oral practice with synonym substitutions.
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c. Working with several groups of students allow you to compare précis written by different groups, to
demonstrate that there is no single correct way of paraphrasing.
d. Once mastered, this technique can be an effective study skill throughout one’s educational career. In fact,
selecting important information, paraphrasing, and summarising are skills we use daily in a variety of
settings.
e. Précis writing which is successfully integrated into content area curricula demonstrates the relationship of
reading and writing to promote positive experiences in comprehending, analysing, and composing.
Important features
a. To introduce an engineering class to précis writing, an instructor begins with stories. Narratives are easier for
establishing fundamental skills and motivating students.
b. A good précis cannot be long and complicated. It must have a clear and precise structure.
c. In précis writing, the student reworks his paraphrase and omits nonessential details and extraneous wording,
all the while keeping the meaning of the original text intact.
d. Précis writing, a strategy that develops vocabulary, promotes critical reading and comprehension, and
improves learning in general.
e. It is a useful summarising technique for the integration of reading and writing.
f. It has been found to be an effective approach, because it forces students to read carefully, to analyse, and
ultimately translate those ideas into their own words.
g. Précis writing requires disciplined writing on the part of students; they must recognise their responsibility to
the author to retain the author’s essential meaning and not to interject their own, and they must exercise care
in what they choose to eliminate.
h. Practice in précis writing is a natural first step in developing advanced composition skills.
A précis could be used to shorten or summarise:

a. announcements
b. business letters
c. directions
d. legal papers and laws
e. newspaper articles
f. rules and regulations
g. speeches and conversations etc.
Contrary thoughts
At its worst, précis writing develops glibness* in repeating the opinions of other minds, but it hampers development
of independent thinking by the précis writer.
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[*Glibness is a state of being talkative in a smooth, almost insincere way. The fast, easy, smooth talk of a used car
salesman is an example of glibness.]
Bookish knowledge supplants the true knowledge which actually grows from within.
Goals of the précis

The goals are as follows:
a. To compress, distil, and clarify a lengthy passage, article, or book, while retaining important concepts, key
words, and important data.
b. To remove superfluous information yet retain the core essence of the work.
c. To define, in brief, any key terms.
d. To give a brief description of methods and approaches used by the researcher(s) or author(s).
e. To state the importance of the research or piece of writing.
Précis in everyday life

Note
One of the deadliest faults a writer of précis can commit is to string together phrases and sentences from the
original passage, in the belief that the result is a précis.
Though the word précis has come to be associated with a certain type of exercise demanded of candidates in some
examinations, or of officials in government departments, the mental operation involved in the making of a précis is
one of the commonest in daily life. It is really not so much an operation as a series of “Combined Operations,”
highly valuable because it is essential in all intellectual work, from the most elementary to the most advanced.
For example, eye-witnesses are often called upon to describe what they have seen in a street accident. One gives a
long rambling account, full of irrelevant and often misleading and inaccurate details. Another describes the accident
exactly as he saw it, omitting nothing, important and unimportant alike. The third picks out the salient and
important features, and gives a coherent account of the essentials. It is this last operation, the selection of the salient
elements, and their combination in a coherent whole, which is the basis of précis writing.
Précis writing, then, involves two main processes:

1. Selection of the salient.
2. Combination in a coherent whole.
Difference between précis writing and paraphrasing

Précis Paraphrasing
It should express only the main theme, In a paraphrase you should give all the
that too as briefly as possible. details; you should not leave out any
details.
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A précis, on the other hand, must

A paraphrase will be at least as long and
always be shorter than the original.
sometimes longer than the original.
Précis writing and outlining

Outlining is the identification of main ideas and supporting details from a text and their representation in a specified
format. Most students do not know how to take good notes or outline well.
Repetition of information strengthens and increases memory for it. Both précis writing and outlining appear to
enhance domain-specific learning because they involve repetition as students identify and generate important ideas
in written form.
Both précis writing and outlining can provide material for review and study before a test, and help students in
writing reports and research papers.
How to write a précis

It is not so easy as it may seem. In order to write a good précis, you should read the text carefully, understand not
only its meaning but also the author’s main purpose, distinguish its thesis (main) statement, and be able to explain it
to your reader.
We will consider a passage and analyse how to write its précis.
a. Read the original.
b. Underline materials in the original that are to be retained in the précis.
c. Put in parentheses phrases/sentences that are to be rephrased or changed.
d. Passages which are not to be included should not be marked in any way.
Original
The invention of the process of printing from movable type, which occurred in Germany about the middle of
the fifteenth century, was destined to exercise a far-reaching influence on all the vernacular languages of
Europe. Introduced into England about 1476 by William Caxton, who had learned the art on the continent,
printing made such rapid progress that a scant century later it was observed that manuscript books were seldom
to be met with and almost never used. Some idea of the rapidity with which the new process swept forward
may be had from the fact that in Europe the number of books printed before the year 1500 reaches the
surprising figure of 35,000. The majority of these, it is true, were in Latin, whereas it is in the modern
languages that the effect of the printing press was chiefly to be felt. But in England over 20,000 titles in English
had appeared by 1640, ranging all the way from mere pamphlets to massive folios. The result was to bring
books, which had formerly been the expensive luxury of the few, within the reach of all. More important,
however, was the fact, so obvious today, that it was possible to reproduce a book in a thousand copies or a
hundred thousand, every one exactly like the other. A powerful force thus existed for promoting a standard
uniform language, and the means were now available for spreading that language throughout the territory in
which it was understood. [Word count: 245]
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The edited original text

The invention of the process of printing invented from movable type, (which occurred) in 1450 Germany about (the
middle of the fifteenth century), (was destined to exercise) a far-European reaching influence on all (the vernacular)
languages (of Europe.) Introduced into England about 1476 by William Caxton, who had learned the art on the
continent, printing made such rapid progress that within 100 years (a scant century later) it was observed that
manuscript books were (seldom to be met with and almost never used.) Some idea of the rapidity with which the
new process swept forward may be had from the fact that in Europe the number of books printed before the year
1500 reaches the surprising figure of 35,000. Though at first most printed books (The majority of these, it is
true,) were in Latin, whereas it is in the modern languages that the effect of the printing press was chiefly to be felt.
But in England over 20,000 titles in English had appeared by 1640, ranging all the way from mere pamphlets to
massive folios. The result was to bring books, which had formerly been the expensive luxury of the few, within the
reach of all. More important, however, was the fact, so obvious today, that it was possible to reproduce a book in a
thousand copies or a hundred thousand, every one exactly like the other. (A powerful force) thus existed (for
promoting a standard uniform language) throughout the territory in which it was understood.
List of essential points (Précis)

We also make a list of essential points, and discuss the step-by-step development of the author’s ideas. The list is
not a formal outline but just a sketchy notation. A typical list would be the following:
1. Printing had an effect on languages
2. Manuscript books became rare
3. Moved from Latin to English
4. Reached all
5. Standardising influence
Précis
Printing from movable type, invented in Germany about 1450 and brought to England about 1476, had a far-
reaching influence on all European languages. Within a hundred years, manuscript books had become rare.
Though at first most printed books were in Latin, over 20,000 titles in English had appeared by 1640. Books
were now within the reach of everyone and could exert a powerful standardising influence over language.
[Word count: 67 (27%)]
Note
a. We can see that a précis is approximately one-third to one-quarter the size of the original.
b. Some non-essential statistics have been eliminated (no 35,000 in the precis).
c. Some phrases have been condensed (“the middle of the fifteenth century” became “1450” and “were seldom
to be met with and almost never used” became “rare”).
d. The order in which the ideas are presented remain essentially the same. [We note that the list of five points is
in the same order in the precis (the green highlighted phrases).]
With this type of preparation, the students can then begin their own précis writing, relying on their own
comprehension of the reading and ability to choose what is important and what is not.
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Preparation for précis

Before attempting to write summaries of long passages, it will be well to commence with condensing, firstly,
sentences, then paragraphs and, later, short extracts. Remember that a sentence should contain one central idea and
one only. This does not mean that every sentence should be short, for a writer often illustrates and enlarges his main
idea without destroying the unity of his sentence. What should be borne in mind is that it is possible to write down
the main idea (gist) briefly, even though the original sentence is long. For example, read the following sentence:
All night long, the snow, which hitherto had been only light, came down thickly, so thickly that by morning the
little village nestling so snugly at the foot of the Alps was in danger of being covered with a blanket of death.
The gist of the sentence may be gathered from writing down the words in italics—“the snow came down so thickly
that the little village was in danger of being covered”.
This is the central idea written down in 16 words from a sentence containing 42.
It does not mean that the other words in the sentence are irrelevant to the writer’s purpose, for in addition to stating
his main thought, he wishes to give more detailed information about the village and to add a literary touch (for
example, blanket of death) to embellish his thought at the end of the sentence. You must get plenty of practice in
sifting the grain from the chaff of a sentence, in picking the essentials from a series of digressions and
ornamentation with which the writer sometimes wishes to emphasise, illustrate or give quality to his work.
It is also a useful practice to build up sentences from a central idea, for by doing so, an appreciation of literary
devices and a training in selecting the main thought from its surroundings may be gained.
Just as it is possible to condense sentences, so clauses may be reduced to phrases, and phrases to single words.
A sentence is a group of words which makes complete sense. He went down the highway.
He went down the highway that leads

A clause is a group of words, forming part of a sentence but
to the restaurant.
containing a subject and predicate of its own.
Subject: that
Each clause must contain one, and only one, FINITE verb. A finite
Predicate: leads to the restaurant
verb may be recognised as being any part of a verb that is not a
Finite verb: leads
participle, infinitive or a gerund.
To go to Bangalore was his ambition.

[Here “to go” is infinitive and therefore
A phrase is a group of words forming part of a sentence or clause,
not finite.]
but containing no finite verb.
Standing there he looked a suitable
man.
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The cattle in the field made a perfect

picture.
Much difficulty in dealing with clauses and phrases will be removed if it is remembered that each clause and phrase
is the equivalent of a noun, adjective or adverb, and performs the same function as these parts of speech.
a clause playing the part of a noun subject That he was coming was obvious to all.
a noun object He knew that he would come.
an adjective The man who stood there was my uncle.
an adverb When I came I saw him there.

Here are examples of phrases playing the part of:
a noun subject His arrival was eagerly awaited.
a noun object They knew his whereabouts.
an adjective The girl in the white coat is my sister.
an adverb Wanting help, they applied to the Police.

Now we can examine how it is possible to condense clauses to phrases, and phrases to single words, by looking at
the following examples:
Clauses to Phrases
Clause Phrase
The man who was standing by the lamp post was a The man standing by the lamp post was a soldier.
soldier. [12 words] [10 words]
Although he was feeling very ill, he carried on with his

Although feeling very ill, he carried on with his
task. [12 words]
task. [10 words]
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As we were coming along, someone shouted to us. [9

words] Coming along, someone shouted to us. [6 words]
If you do not come, you will cause us much By not coming, you will cause us much
inconvenience. [11 words] inconvenience. [9 words]
It is also useful to be able to reverse the process and to expand phrases into clauses (to make the sentence richer and
more descriptive) as in the following:
Phrase Clause
The house by the river is now occupied. The house which is by the river is now occupied.
Running down the street, I saw several shops just

As I ran down the street, I saw several shops just opening.
opening.
Being over-confident, we allowed ourselves to Because we were over-confident, we allowed ourselves to

make a false move. make a false move.
He tried hard to pass the examination. He tried hard so that he could pass the examination.
Also, practice in turning a phrase into a single word is a good exercise, as for example:
Phrase One-word substitution
Electric wires should be separated from surrounding objects. Electric wires should be insulated.
He regarded my remark as completely beside the point. He regarded my remark as irrelevant.
The notice of death appeared in the newspaper. The obituary appeared in the newspaper.
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The result at the end was never in doubt. The final result was never in doubt.
Thus, we may gain conciseness by substituting a single, more comprehensive word for a whole phrase. Such words
are often adverbs or adjectives.
Phrase One-word substitution
love of one’s country patriotism
the putting of expediency before principle opportunism
in the near future soon (adverb)
a person eighty years old an octogenarian
with a heart full of gratitude gratefully (adverb)
easy to read legible (adjective)
(a man) in whom one can place every confidence trustworthy (adjective)
at varying intervals intermittent (adjective)
Note
While it must again be emphasised that a précis cannot be written by merely cutting down certain sentences in
the original, the student, in reading the passage to be summarised, should keep a constant look out for
reduplications, parallel clauses, accumulations of epithets, and the like which can be reduced, or omitted
without loss to the meaning.
Poor strategy of writing a précis
a. Some students will write their first précis by merely lifting various key sentences out of the original and
putting them together. If they merely do this, the English faculty in an engineering college will have no way
of knowing if they have understood the paragraph.
b. Some other students will conscientiously try to put the basic ideas in their own words, but they will merely
write a separate sentence for each of the basic points—like those listed above and make no effort to provide
any transitions between the points, so that each point seems to be a totally disconnected thought. Note the use
of transitions in the précis.
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Sentence Transition
Within a hundred
Within a hundred years, manuscript books had become rare.
years
Though at first most printed books were in Latin, over 20,000 titles in English had
Though at first
appeared by 1640.
Books were now within the reach of everyone and could exert a powerful standardising
were now
influence over language.
We should note that there is no one way to write a good précis, but rather that the précis can be written in a number
of ways, provided that the writer understands the basic meaning and is able to demonstrate this understanding in his
own writing.
Précis of short passages

What should the length of the précis be?
In examinations the number of words required is usually indicated, but if this is not done, the length aimed at
should be between a quarter and one-third of the original.
Should the actual wording of the original ever be used again in the précis?
This cannot always be avoided, since a good writer will already have chosen the most appropriate words, but whole
phrases, and particularly whole sentences, should never be repeated.
Note
1. A précis must be clear, whether the original is so or not.
2. It must be concise, but in his efforts to attain conciseness the student must not become obscure.
3. It must have proportion, i.e. one part of the passage must not be given undue prominence at the expense of
other parts.
4. It must have unity, that is, the subject must be treated as a whole, and not section by section.
Perhaps the commonest fault of all in précis writing is the tendency to follow the original paragraph by paragraph,
instead of treating the passage as a whole, turning it over in the mind, and recasting. A useful practice, with fairly
short pieces, is, after careful reading, to write down the first draft of the précis from memory.
Clarity, conciseness, proportion, unity are therefore characteristics of a good précis.

In examinations, the time factor is also of importance.
Methodology
1. Read the passage carefully twice, with a view to getting at the general meaning, and jot down a title for it.
This is a useful practice even if no title is required, since it helps the student to keep the main theme in view.
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2. Read it third time, marking parts which seem to be specially important, and, if the passage is a fairly long
one, find sub-headings for the different paragraphs.
3. Now begin to make rough notes for the précis, these notes should be headings, not complete sentences.
4. Compare your notes with the original to find if anything important has been omitted or—which is more
likely—if you have included something which is really not essential to the main theme. The order of the
original is usually the best to follow, but it may be changed if there is a special reason for doing so.
5. Write out the précis, paying careful attention to the number of words required. Many passages can be best
summarised in a single paragraph, and even in the case of long passages the summary should not (as a rule)
contain more than three paragraphs.
6. Go through what has been written, to see if the expression can be made more concise, polish up the English,
and add at the end the number of words used.
With practice, it will become possible to combine some of the above processes.
Take note of following additional remarks:
1. Do not exceed or greatly undercut the number of words prescribed.
2. Do not quote from the original.
3. Omit illustrations, references, quotations, lists, statistics, similes and metaphors, etc.
4. The use of slang, colloquialisms, foreign expressions, and abbreviations should be avoided.
5. Do not add anything of your own by way of comment.
The business of the précis-writer is to summarise, not to air his/her own views.
“Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief.”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet
How to summarise?
1. If not given, calculate the number of words in the given passage. Count the number of words in the first five
lines; find the average per line and multiply by the number of lines.
2. If you are given a definite number of words in which you must confine your summary, it is better to error on
the side of brevity. However, usually no examiner would penalise a student who exceeded the limit by less
than two per cent.
3. Read through the whole passage carefully to assimilate the general argument. It may be necessary to read it
twice, but it is essential that the sense of the passage be completely mastered before detailed work on it is
attempted.
4. Until you have had sufficient practice in summarising, you will find it useful to make a draft of the main
theme of the passage, and to keep this in front of you when writing the full summary.
5. Read through the passage and make notes as concisely as possible of the salient points. If the passage is
divided into paragraphs treat each paragraph in succession, making sure you include in detail, the key
sentence of each. When possible use your own words.
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6. Make a rough draft of your summary, rearranging the order of ideas, if necessary, and calculate
approximately the number of words. This will help to tell whether you have left out essentials or included
irrelevancies. It is best to write your summary without reference to the original, thus ensuring that it will not
be a mere mechanical reduction of it.
7. According to the above, check over the original and either prune or expand your summary.
8. Read through your summary to see if it runs smoothly; if it does not, use connectives and participial phrases
which help to make a passage flow easily. If the original is in paragraphs, see that they are connected in your
summary. Write out your final draft, and if only to reassure yourself, compare it with the original.
Note
If the original contains sections or paragraphs, it is necessary that a proper balance between them be maintained.
This will be determined by your judgment of the importance of the various ideas, and not by the
respective lengths of the original sections.
A speech
We seek peace—enduring peace. More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars—yes, an
end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments.
The once powerful, malignant Nazi state is crumbling; the Japanese warlords are receiving, in their homeland, the
retribution for which they asked when they attacked Pearl Harbour.
But the mere conquest of our enemies is not enough. We must go onto do all in our power to conquer the doubts
and the fears, the ignorance and the greed, which made this horror possible.
Thomas Jefferson, himself a distinguished scientist, once spoke of the “brotherly spirit of science, which unites into
one family all its votaries of whatever grade, and however widely dispersed throughout the different quarters of the
globe”.
Today, science has brought all the different quarters of the globe so close together that it is impossible to isolate
them one from another.
Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that, if civilisation is to survive, we must cultivate the science of
human relationships—the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together and work together in the same world, at
peace.
Let me assure you that my hand is the steadier for the work that is to be done, that I move more firmly into the
task, knowing that you—millions and millions of you—are joined with me in the resolve to make this work
endure.
The work, my friends, is peace, more than an end of this war—an end to the beginning of all wars, yes, an end,
forever, to this impractical, unrealistic settlement of the differences between governments by the mass killing of
peoples.
Today as we move against the terrible scourge of war—as we go forward toward the greatest contribution that any
generation of human beings can make in this world—the contribution of lasting peace, I ask you to keep up your
faith. I measure the sound, solid achievement that can be made at this time by the straight edge of your confidence
and your resolve. And to you, and to all Americans who dedicate themselves with us to the making of an abiding
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peace, I say:
The only limit to our realisation of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and
active faith.
[428 words]
Speech—written on the eve of death, to have been delivered at the Jefferson Day Dinner.
Washington, D.C., April 13, 1945.
How to deal with the summary

The main theme is that the American aim was not only to end the war, but, by cultivating the science of human
relationships, to end the beginnings of all wars.
Essay expository
Once upon a time surgeons used to tell one another a fairy story that it was impossible to operate on old people
without killing them in the process. An old man with high blood pressure and a bit of bronchitis was not a good
surgical risk. So, the tale went, if something awful happens inside him, do not open him up to try to put it right but
make him comfortable and let him die in peace.
We know now that this is wrong. The great danger with old people is that they easily get pneumonia, particularly
after an anaesthetic, breathing strange and sometimes irritant gases as they do. To avoid this danger, they need good
nursing and a good anaesthetic, and given these two requirements surgery on old people becomes more satisfactory
and often a successful life-saving measure. Now the anaesthesia has two functions. From the patient’s point of
view, it makes the operation painless and helps him to be still. And just as important, it helps the surgeon by
relaxing the patient’s muscles. The abdominal muscle must be quite slack before an abdominal operation is feasible
and normally this means quite deep anaesthesia; and the deeper the anaesthesia, the more likelihood of chest
complications afterwards.
The scene now flashes to South America, where the Indians use a famous arrow poison, a trace of which paralyses
the victim pricked by an arrow. This arrow poison has been brought to the laboratory, analysed, tested on animals.
It is not an anaesthetic, but it paralyses muscles by preventing nerve messages from the brain reaching them. The
muscles lie slack and idle, but the victim may be fully conscious yet unable to cry out or move, a prisoner in his
own body. A large dose of tubocurarine, as it is called, kills by paralysing the breathing; smaller graded doses
merely slacken the abdominal muscles, stop the speech but leave the breathing, coughing and swallowing intact.
Using it in anaesthesia (a very skilled matter obviously), we get the surgeon satisfied by the slack muscles, and then
the patient needs only a very light anaesthetic, a whiff of gas, to make the operation painless. The need for deep
anaesthesia with its complications, is avoided.
[370 words]
How to deal with the summary
The general theme of the passage is the effect of anaesthetics on old people undergoing operations.
Précis of a figurative technical text

A Ship’s Engines
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The great engine was fenced in by steel hedges, as if it were an untamed and
dangerous leviathan. Wheeled parts of it were slowly revolving, and pistoned parts
of it were moving slowly up and down and to and fro. It was like an immense cat,
playing idly with itself, keeping itself in condition by means of gentle and otherwise
quite futile exercise.
It made very little noise. There was no escaping steam, no jar of metal against metal,
no sensation of active power.
Various dials and clocks showed meaningless faces; the polished brass of their forms
made bright yellow spots of light
in the dusky steeliness of the huge chamber. [Word Count: 111 words]
Source: Arnold Bennett, The Strange Vanguard.
For the purpose of preparing a précis you should consider whether the passage is clear, coherent, mature and
effective.
a) The above passage is clear. Even if you do not know the meaning of leviathan, the epithets convey the sense of
something large and ominous. The simile like an immense cat continues these ideas of size and the irresponsible
fierceness of an animal. The last sentence shows both colour (bright yellow) and contrast (in the dusky steeliness).
b) It is coherent. The passage has a close-knit unity of thought. It does not wander into irrelevance but keeps to
impressions of vastness, power and the mystery of its intricate measuring devices.
c) It is mature. The writer has a developed and vivid imagination by means of which he makes us visualise the
engines. His vocabulary is well controlled: he calls to his aid words from a wide range of knowledge. The simile of
the cat is sustained.
d) It is certainly effective. It makes pleasant reading; it stimulates the mind; it is compact yet detailed, for it does
not give the impression of one thin idea stretched out over a superficiality of words.
Arnold Bennett helps the reader by interposing a short, simple sentence It made very little noise to allow a pause, in
which one may gather in what has already been written, and to lead on to the final longer sentence and the fuller
impression it gives of simple power emerging from a huge complexity of mechanism.
In making your summary of the above short passage you must omit all figurative language that is the simile of the
leviathan and of the cat. Keep to the essential thoughts.
Précis
The wheeled parts of the great engine were slowly-moving and almost noiseless. Suggestions of mighty power
were revealed by its recording dials and its immense mass of polished steel bright against the darkened
background where it was housed. [Word count: 38 words (34%)]
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Note
There is no such thing as a perfect précis, but there is a wide difference between a précis on which intelligent
thought has been spent and one which consists merely of underlining phrases from the original passage and
stringing them together.
Nothing is achieved without thought; a précis consists in expressing the essential ideas of a passage, possibly re-
arranged and in length proportionate to their importance, in your own words.
Do’s and don’ts of précis writing

There is no particular template for précis writing, but there are things you can do to make your writing process
easier.
Do’s
a. Précis is written succinctly in a writer’s own words.
b. A writer shouldn’t simply copy original sentences; he or she needs to compress and paraphrase them in his
précis.
c. Précis should be logically ordered, with all parts of it being connected to each other.
d. Always review your précis. It is important to read and revise your writing piece.
e. Take notes. Whether you are reading the text for the first time or re-reading it, write the key ideas down to
analyse and reorganise them later.
f. Run a spell check
Don’ts
a. A writer can’t use the first person pronouns (I, we) as précis is always written in the third person.
b. Précis never contains any additional information or details not mentioned in the original text even if it
supports the main idea of the author.
c. Don’t give your personal opinions on the analysed work because you are not writing a critical book review or
analytical essay.
d. Don’t write a summary to the précis.
e. When writing about history, use the past tense.
f. Do not use abbreviations or contractions.
g. Avoid words like big, good, bad and little, also do not use cliché.
h. Do not copy even one single sentence from the passage.
Composing advertisements
An everyday example of terse writing is the short advertisement notice or personal message inserted in the
newspaper. Indeed, many poster and bigger newspaper advertisements contain sentences which are condensations
of what the advertiser wishes to say about his goods.
Slogans are the neatest and most arresting form in which these occur. “Buy Indian or Make In India!” is a brief
way of saying “If you buy Indian goods, you will be sure of obtaining the best that Indian workmanship can turn
out; therefore, buy Indian goods!”
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Slogans are like ordinary proverbs. For instance, “Make hay while the sun shines!” is a succinct way of saying, “If
you seize every opportunity that presents itself, such as good weather in harvest time, you will prosper in life.”
Examples from Indian classified ads

Matrimonial advertisement
a. PILLAI 40/171 Dr. Seek early Marryg Fair employd less Expectg Bride Nobar
b. 34/174 M.Sc., M.Phil (Ph.D) Govt. Asst. Prof. Vellore Seeks bride Non Wkg
Flats and apartments advertisement

a. Excellent Location 4BR/3BA House for sale in Ansal’s Harmoni Home, Sushant Lok-II Sector-56 Gurgaon.
House is ideally located in front row of Society, Gr. Floor
b. Omaxe NRI City, Gr. Noida 2107 sft. 3 BHK + lounge, furn. with mod. kitchen, wardrobes, electrical
fixtures, ready to move in aptt.
Job requirement advertisement

a. A Reputed Real Estate Company Requires: Marketing Executive M/F, Having Experience of 2-3 yrs for
Delhi Office
b. An Advertising Co. Urg. req. 100 Candidates for Direct Sales/Mktg. Earn upto 29K Freshers Call:
9555555555 Candidates hvng interest in field of Acts, Taxation, admn., mktg., cleared 10th, 12th, B.A,
B.Com.
Revising the précis

a. Are your sentences clear and well-constructed?
b. Be fair to the sentiments expressed, even if you don’t agree with them.
c. Clearly and concisely express the essential points.
d. Condense wherever you can, substituting single words for phrases and phrases for longer clauses.
e. Did you emphasise the dominant thought or erroneously emphasise a minor thought?
f. Did you make any grammatical or rhetorical errors?
g. Did you omit any necessary facts? names? dates? places?
h. Did you punctuate and spell correctly?
i. Did you retain the logical order and development of thoughts in the passage?
j. Did you use third person and the past tense?
k. Is your précis clear to one who has not seen the original?
l. Reduce verbiage while still making the point and retaining some of the flavour and spirit of the original.
m. Use only simple figures of speech.
n. Rewrite neatly
First steps in précis writing
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Passages for précis, or summarising, are not always arranged in conveniently sized paragraphs. Nevertheless, the
same principles apply, whether they are or not. All continuous reading matter falls into topics. If there is no division
into paragraphs, the student has to mark off the topics dealt with in the passage, provide a title for each, and then
analyse logically the subject matter of the topics.
Do not copy out verbatim, or nearly verbatim, sentences and phrases from the original, string them together
and imagine that is a précis. The précis should be a continuous passage, including the chief or salient points,
as far as possible in your own words.
Note
1. Précis and composition is often taught through comprehension. That is, the student is required to derive
specific information from each passage and then to put it together again to form a paragraph of his own.
2. For writing a précis, the student needs practice in writing sentences and joining them together to form
paragraphs. For this, the student should learn about simple, compound and complex sentences.
Practice: First steps in précis writing (simple sentences)
Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows.
Mr Kumar looked at his watch. It was half past seven. He got out of bed quickly. Then he washed and dressed. He
was late as usual (a late Lateef), so he did not have time for breakfast. He ran all the way to the metro station and he
arrived there just in time for the train. Mr Kumar never eats anything in the morning. He always says to his friends
at the office: ‘It is nice to have breakfast in the morning, but it is nicer to lie in bed!’
The compound sentence (Non-graded quiz)

How to write a précis using compound sentences.
Read the passage carefully two or three times.
1. Write a full answer to each question. When you find two or three questions together, join up your answers with
the conjunctions given in brackets. Each answer you write must be a complete sentence.
2. Your answers to the questions must follow each other. All the sentences together will then make a complete
paragraph.
3. Read through your work and correct your mistakes.
4. Count the number of words in your paragraph. Do not go over the word limit. At the end of your paragraph write
the number of words that you have used.
5. Give your paragraph a title.
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.
Nobody likes staying at home on a public holiday—especially if the weather is fine. Last May we decided to spend
the day in the countryside. The only difficulty was that millions of other people had exactly the same idea.
We moved out of the city slowly behind a long line of cars, but at last we came to a quiet country road and, after
some time, stopped at a lonely farm. We had brought plenty of food with us and we got it out of the car. Now
everything was ready so we sat down near a path at the foot of a hill. It was very peaceful in the cool grass until we
32 2021-
heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up our things and run back to the car as quickly
as possible. There were about two hundred sheep coming towards us down the path!
Comprehension, précis and composition

How to Work?
1. Read each passage carefully two or three times.
2. Comprehension
a. In this type of exercise you will be asked to answer questions so that your teacher can see if you have
understood the passage.
b. After you have read the question, find the answer in the passage.
c. Write a short answer in one complete sentence (simple, compound or complex) to each question.
d. Use your own words as far as possible. In each answer use the same verb tense that is used in the question.
3. Vocabulary
In this exercise you will be asked to explain words and phrases. You may use a phrase to explain a word if
necessary. Explain each word and phrase as it is used in the passage.
a. You will find a line reference after each word. Go back to the passage and note how the word has been used.
b. Find a word or phrase of your own which could be used in its place.
c. Do not give more than one explanation for each word or phrase.
4. Précis
In this exercise you will be required to write a summary of a part of each passage. In earlier exercises, you were
given the points and asked to join them up. Here you will be expected to find the points yourself.
a. Read the instructions which will tell you where your précis should begin and end, and exactly what you will
have to do.
b. Read again the part of the passage that you will have to summarise.
c. Answer each question in point form.
d. You will find brackets at the side of the questions. These show you how the answers may be joined to form
sentences, but you will have to use connections of your own. You may disregard the brackets if you wish and
join the points in your own way.
e. When joining your points, you may refer to the passage if necessary, but try to use your own words. Your
answer should be in one paragraph.
f. Read through your work and correct your mistakes.
g. At the end of your précis write the number of words you have used. You may write fewer than 80 words, but
you must not go above the word limit.
h. Give your précis a title.
3. Common Errors due to Indianism in English Communication
Introduction to Indianism
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English has been with India since the early 1600s, when the East India Company started trading and English
missionaries first set foot in India.
Indians have a knack for taking things from the West and making them their own. And English is no exception. We
act like it is our very own language and have moulded it in such a fashion that it is easier for us to use in our
everyday lives. The English which is spoken in India is different from that spoken in other regions of the world, and
it is regarded as the unique variety which is called Indian English or Inglish.
An Indianism is an English word or phrase used in India that is not common in other English-speaking countries.
Many of these are adopted British terms, others are uniquely Indian idioms. Indianism may also refer to the way a
sentence has been structured as if it was literally translated from an Indian language to English.
Take greetings for example.
A friendly clerk asking your name is apt to start a conversation with, “What is your good name?”.
If you are as grumpy as Mr Scrooge, kindly adjust if the module appears to be too humorous for your liking.
In India, the pandit (or pundit) is revered by the common man who doesn’t know any Sanskrit. The
incomprehensibility of the pundit’s utterances (mantras) is the reason he is held in awe and esteem. But this cannot
be applied to technical communication. Communication slows down if the reader must make an effort to
understand sentences we write. Communication breaks down if a sentence we write can mean something other than
what we intended to say. This may happen due to Indianism.
Features and growth of Indianism
In India, fewer than a quarter of a million people (around 2 lac) speak English as their first language. With the
exception of some families who communicate primarily in English, as well as members of the relatively small
Anglo-Indian community numbering less than half a million, speakers of Indian English use it as a second or third
language, after their respective Indian language(s).
Since English is a second language in India, many tend to maintain a casual approach towards using grammar and
vocabulary in their everyday writing and speech. Moreover, many people learn English usages from their peers
without actually verifying the accuracy, a behavior that leads to easy acceptance of quite a few wrong usages in
their everyday speech and writing. As a result, you hear usages that are unacceptable in standard English. Hence,
despite being sufficiently fluent in the most widely spoken foreign language, our speech is leavened with flavours
that sound awkward to native speakers who misinterpret them and dub the unfamiliar expressions as Indianisms.
Actually Indian English is as authentic and valid an offshoot as American English, Hong Kong English or Jamaican
English, but we don’t celebrate it as such.
English has grown to be the global language of science, technology and trade. So much so that China is now the
largest English speaking country in the world. And, it’s not just the Chinese. English is in so much demand around
34 2021-
the world as the language of advancement that an Indian has built a temple (in Lakhimpur, UP) to the goddess
English, adding her to the 330 million deities of the Hindu pantheon.
Some Indianisms are too useful, or too colourful and endearing, to be forgotten. Let us remember them in this
module which is dedicated to goddess English.
Prejudice against Indianism

There is an obvious prejudice against Indian English. When an educated Indian user tends to use an ‘Indianism,’
she often makes it a point to let the listener know that she is aware of the fact that it is a usage peculiar to Indian
English by saying something like ‘as we say in Indian English’ or something to that effect.
Many Indianisms are so handy that a writer may use them surreptitiously, in speech, if not in formal writing. When
expressions like “lol” and “bae” are part of modern lingo, can we sneer at prepone and other similar Indianisms?
Why Indianism should be avoided with foreigners?

As seen in the previous page, Indianisms are commonly used words/phrases/expressions used in spoken English of
Indians. Often, these may be misinterpreted or misunderstood by native English speakers, so it is important to avoid
these.
Indianism is a significant factor when hiring for IT companies or MNCs, especially if they are dealing with
international clients. In an actual work scenario, while most Indianism would sound as bad grammar and poor
sentence structuring to the caller (client), some can actually cause miscommunication resulting in serious issues.
The biggest problem with Indianism is that many candidate who otherwise have good Spoken English, still use
Indianism unknowingly, and it doesn’t get detected easily during the selection process of companies, leading to bad
hires. As a result, companies have to invest significant time and efforts to make the candidates unlearn these
Indianisms which they have been using, thinking that it is correct English. This module will help in this unlearning
exercise.
Revisions in Indianism
Sl.
Indianism Correct usage Comments
No.
I live here only.

1 I live here. ‘only’ is unnecessary and wasted here
I will revert back. I will revert. Reverting in itself means that you will ‘get
2
back’ to the person.
He is my most favourite The dictionary meaning of favourite is

3 He is my favourite actor.
actor. “preferred to all others of the same kind.”
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When you have made your preference

obvious by saying favourite, you really don’t
have to add ‘most’.
‘More’ and ‘extra’, even if you are

famished, should not be used in a single
Carry more extra food Carry extra food with sentence.
4 with you. you.
It’s either more or extra—don’t club them
together.
Whether it is one lakh or more than one, the

word ‘lakh’ is written as singular, not plural.
They spent fifty lakhs for They spent fifty lakh for
5 the wedding. the wedding.
You can say ‘fifty lakh rupees’, not ‘fifty
lakhs rupees’ or ‘fifty lakhs’.
“Maths is weak” sounds like the poor

subject has become weak and you had
My maths is very weak. I am weak in maths. nothing to do with it.
6
On the other hand, saying that you are weak
in a particular subject/skill is correct.
“passed out” means losing consciousness.

I passed out from XYZ I did my schooling from
While this is another commonly used
7 School. XYZ School.
Indianism, it is wrong English and even
changes the complete meaning of the
sentence.
Let’s order for burgers. Let’s order burgers. When you order something, you ‘order it’,
8
you don’t ‘order for it’.
“Giving exam” is direct and literal

I gave my English exam I took the English exam
translation, from Hindi to English. It’s
9 yesterday. yesterday.
wrong English.
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When you answer the exam paper, you are

clearly “taking” an exam.
The archaic word such as “wee” are used in

The IT raid at the The IT raid at politician’s
Indian newspapers. Instead it should be
politician’s house took house took place in the
limited to nursery rhymes such as
10 place in the wee hours of early morning of April
a. This little pig said wee, wee, wee
April 10. 10.
b. Wee Willie Winky runs through the
town.
Use of question tags in Indianism
The habit of adding a question tag to sentences is common to all Indian languages.
Language Question tag (transliteratio
Hindi haina?
Bengali taina?
Malayalam allay?
Tamil illiya?
Kannada alwa?
Incorrect tags
a. So you really want this phone, yes?
b. You like the boy very much, no?
‘Tell me no/say no’

The absurd translation of another regional expression that has acquired all-India status is the tag ‘Tell me no?/say
no?’ This began as literal translation of the Hindi tag questions Arrey, bolo naa?/Arrey bolo bhitoh?
But it has moved, like the salwar-kurta, from the Hindi heartland to the Deccan, and is heard most often in the
Hinglish speech of English-medium school students.
The Difference
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Indian English question tags (yes?/no?/isn’t it?) are generalised, and are tagged on to statements indiscriminately.
The idiomatic English question tags are very specific.
Inglish abbreviations and acronyms

Sl.
Abbreviation Expansion
No.
bad trip
BT
1 [used by people in Delhi to describe bad experiences (not necessarily drug-
related)]
Enthusiasm is called enthu.
Example
‘The new employee has a lot of enthu.’
enthu
2
While this is simply an abbreviation, enthu can also be used as an adjective
where enthusiasm cannot, as in ‘He’s a real enthu guy.’
Fundamentals can be shortened as fundas.

3 fundas
Example
‘She knows her fundas.’
Indian ‘Stretchable’ Time

IST
4
[We like to do things our way and on our time! Minimum half an hour late is
how time operates for many of us Late-lateefs!]
Know Your Customer, an Indian banking term based on regulations that define
5 KYC minimum information to be gathered by a financial institution before they can
open an account for an individual or a company.
6 Lab ass. laboratory assistant
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It is the metropolitan area in India which encompasses the entire territory of

NCR (National
7 Delhi and urban areas of neighbouring states; Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and
Capital Region)
Rajasthan.
8 pj poor joke
9 Pax number of people (tourist industry)
A state-owned enterprise in India is called a public sector undertaking or a

10 PSU
public sector enterprise.
11 Princi principal
12 Soopi superintendent
13 Subsi subsidiary
14 Supli supplementary
Inglish acronyms
1 ABCD American Born Confused Desi (native of India)
2 FOC Free Of Charge
3 ILU I Love You (from a song; pronounced ee-lu)
4 IMFL Indian-made Foreign Liquor
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5 HOD Head Of Department
6 MCP Male Chauvinist Pig
Problematic usage because of Indianism
Indians unwittingly load the English we write with the stiffness of our written regional languages, and the verbosity
of literary Victorian English.
(a) Overuse of prepositions
Noun + prepositions (of/in/by) weaken the sentence. The same sentence gains in strength and directness if the noun
is changed into a verb.
Indian English Standard English
The CM is hopeful of early resolution of the crisis in a The CM hopes to resolve the crisis soon/in a
couple of days. couple of days.
(b) Weak verbs
Sentences that carry weak verbs, such as am/are/be/do/get/is/make/take/was/were, can often be made stronger if the
weak verb is replaced by a strong one.
When you come to that T-junction take the turn to your left. Turn left at the T-junction.
(c) Weak participle

The participle is the weakest form of the verb and its use weakens the English sentence. The most frequently
misused participle is having. It inevitably appears in Indian English speech and writing in ways altogether
unidiomatic.
40 2021-
I am having a migraine. I have a migraine.
I am having/running a temperature. I have fever.
The actress said she is having one son and two daughters.
The actress said she has one son
and two daughters.
[A native English speaker would understand that the actress was speaking
while giving birth to a son and two daughters!]
Such unidiomatic use of the participle comes from translating expressions from our regional languages, most of
which permit such use.
(d) Incorrect tenses
South Indians tend to give progressive forms to stative

(linking) verbs. a. Suresh has three smartphones.
b. I suppose you know my cousin in
Example Bangalore.
a. Suresh is having three smartphones.
b. You must be knowing my cousin-brother in Bangalore.
North Indians tend to use the present perfect rather than the
simple past.
I sold the laptop yesterday.
Example
I have sold the laptop yesterday.
(e) Very less
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“Very less” is incorrect because less is the comparative form of little; least is the superlative. It would be akin to
saying ‘very more/very faster’ etc.
This confusion could be due to the fact that Indian languages do have phrases which roughly translate to very less.
Language Term
Kannada thoomba kadimay
Marathi khoop kamhi
Tamil rumba korachchal
Telugu chaala konchum
Example
a. The train’s speed is very less.
b. His interest in studies is very less.
We need to be on guard against using translations of regional expressions or idioms (such as thoomba kadimay) that
go against English grammar and idiom.
(f) Duplication of words (reduplication)
Because English and Indian languages differ widely in behaviour, some of our ways of expression can never be
recreated in English. Indian English sounds ludicrous when we recreate the reduplication that all Indian languages
permit either for musical effect or for emphasis.
Reduplication phrase
Indian language ‘Translation’ in English
(transliteration in English)
Hindi chhoti chhoti baatein trivial issues/trifles
chorichori stealthily
baton baaton mein in the course of a chat
Kannada hannu hannu muduka grand old man
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chikka chikka makkalu little children
bega bega ba/odi odiba run here
Tamil china china asai little dreams
vanna vanna pookkal colourful flowers
odi odiva run here
parandu parandupo fly there
Telugu chala chalabagundi very very good
ekku ekkuga more and more
pitchi pitchiga matladaku don’t rant like a madman
daba dabaga panichayandi work fast
Malayalam kochchu kochchu karyangal trivial issues/trifles
kayttu kayttu mathiyayi my ears are stuffed with it
vegam vegam pokaam let’s go fast
Caveat
All the above-mentioned expressions are idiomatic and lend music to our regional languages.
The English translation alongside each is inadequate: it carries neither the music nor the effect, and almost nothing
of the connotation. No translation can convey the flavour of any of those expressions.
Reduplication enlivens Indian languages. But let’s recognise that if English doesn’t permit it, we mustn’t import it.
That can only make such ‘translations’ ludicrous.
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A typical Indianism which permits reduplication
Shame, shame, puppy shame. All the monkeys know your name.
[The phrase is used to indicate impropriety of some nature, such as excessive skin showing, or visible
underwear. It is used in awkward situations to create further embarrassment. Generally children make fun of
others with these words as they think they are insulting you with these words.]
Indianism glossary
Indianism Meaning
Hindu fire ritual, often performed daily, in which a plate holding a flame and offerings is
1. Aarti
circled in front of a deity or guru while devotional songs are sung.
2. Arranged A marriage where the parents/family members initially find suitable brides/grooms for
marriage their children.
3. Arts and Crafts India is a rich treasure trove of arts and crafts with each region producing its own unique
work.
From parrots to people, we are flooded with clairvoyants who are ever ready to solve
4. Astrology
your problems and unravel the future for you.
clairvoyant:
In India, this term is also used for non-relations: older people we are on friendly terms
with, such as the parents of our friends or elderly neighbours.
Advantages (maybe)
5. Auntie/uncle
a. It is less cold and more endearing than Mrs X or Mr Y.
b. It’s also a useful indicator of age. If the neighbourhood kids are calling you
“uncle”, …
6. Bandh A strike or protest by workers
7. Baraat Wedding procession that leads the groom to his marriage venue
8. Batchmates Those in your batch
44 2021-
There’s no business like the shaadi (wedding) business as even the ‘simplest’ ones are
9. Big fat indian quite elaborate and go on for days at a stretch.
weddings
The lavish ones (for example, Janardhan Reddy’s daughter’s wedding is reported to have
cost Rs 500 crores) will definitely blow your mind off.
10. Bills
“handbills”, or any small sign that can be posted; as in “stick no bills”.
11. Black money Black economy or black market
12. Bund Embankment
In India, a multi-storey independent house is called a bungalow. In Delhi (or Punjabi

13. Bungalow
speakers), a bungalow is called ‘kothi’.
Many Indian towns have cantonments (shortened form is cantt) attached to them and
14. Cantonment
these were originally meant for military personnel only.
15. Challan An official receipt of payment given by the police/government.
Chaste Hindi of Doordarshan newsreaders is pure.

16. Chaste
[Chaste means “simplicity in style”.]
17. Co-
For a man, his wife’s sister’s husband is his co-brother.
brother/Co-sister
For a woman, her husband’s brother’s wife is her co-sister.
[South India]
18. Complaint box Someone who complains a lot
A relative you consider your brother or sister because of growing up very close to them,
but you don’t actually have the same mother and father.
19. Cousin
sister/brother But cousin will just do fine. This term is a noun and not an adjective and thereby you
[South India] cannot describe the gender of the cousin. This is immaterial of the fact how adequate it is
in Indian settings, where we have large families and Shashi could be our cousin sister or
our cousin brother.
20. Cricket Mania India’s true religion and probably the only thing that draws out our patriotism to the
and IPL max!
45 2021-
In standard English ‘curd’ is more like our ‘paneer’ than, like our ‘dahi’. Our ‘dahi’ is
21. Curd
‘yogurt’. Also, the word ‘curd’ generally occurs in its plural form ‘curds’.
The word ‘decoction’ (tea or coffee before milk is added to it) is more commonly used in
22. Decoction
south India, and lesser so in the rest of the country.
23. Departmental In India, especially so in North India, even very small shops selling groceries, toiletries
stores and some bakery items call themselves ‘departmental stores’.
In the Indian context, ‘elder’ and ‘eldest’ alone and not ‘older’ and ‘oldest’ are regarded
24. Elder
as correct when speaking about members of the same family.
25. Engineer or One kid in the family HAS to be a Doctor or Engineer. That is how it is in most Indian
doctor homes! And not to forget the IIT obsession that so many parents harbour.
When you spot a sign like this (very common on highways in the North), do not think
that this shop sells wines only; it may be selling whisky and beer as well. Indeed in some
26. English wine cases, it may be selling all kinds of alcoholic drinks, except wine.
shop
Then, why do they use the word ‘wine’? Not to entice you to get into that shop, but for
quite another reason: ‘wine’ is a generic term used for all types of alcoholic drinks; it is
regarded as the equivalent of what in Hindi/Urdu we call ‘sharaab’.
A large house with grounds, usually built on agricultural land acquired illegally.
27. Farmhouse
Owners often list their occupation as “farmer” despite deriving their income from other
means.
Foolscap folio [correct pronunciation and spelling] is paper cut to the size of 8 1⁄₂ × 13 1⁄₂
28. Fullscape
paper inches.This was used before the adoption of the international standard A4 paper.
Foolscap folio:
An unusual practice in Mumbai is to add –fy to a Hindi word to indicate that an action is
being done to someone by someone.
29. –fy
From the Hindi word muska, to muskafy means to flatter somebody or to butter them up.
Similarly, to pataofy is the action of wooing someone.
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A poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the
30. Ghazal
same meter.
A term that broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from
31. Gotra
a common male ancestor.
32. Head bath

A refreshing (often weekly) act of shampooing one’s hair.
[South India]
Why are we so ready to accept a person of a different race saying that turmeric or yoga
33. Indian age-old etc. is the best and it has health benefits, yet when our grandmothers or mothers told us
Remedies the same, we refused to believe them and did not acknowledge their intuitive knowledge
about such things?
34. Indian thali The Indian thali is cheap, yummy, heavy on the stomach and a wonderful culinary treat
for everyone.
35. –ji Honorific suffix
36. Junglee
Slang for someone who behaves in an “uncivilised” manner.
[Hindi]
This happens when you ask someone a ‘why’ question and the person is unwilling or too
37. Like this only bored to tell you the real reason, the answer you get is, “Like this only”.
This probably would make no sense to a non-Indian, but we are like this only.
38. Love marriage A marriage where the boy and girl meet each other first and decide to get married.
39. Matrimonial
Quintessentially Indian. Meeting and marrying a stranger is ok, but a love marriage is
sites
not.
40. Obsession
with other’s
We Indians worry too much about the opinion of others … sigh!
opinion
(“Log dekhenge
toh kya bolenge!”)
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41. Paan or Gutka

The infamous insignia of tobacco chewing Indians, you’ll find it everywhere: roads,
spit everywhere
government offices, banks and even on vehicles.
42. Raj comics The Indian alternative to marvel and dc comics, raj comics with the entourage of Indian
superheroes have made the childhood of many of us a happy one.
43. Ram! Ram! A form of greeting in Hinduism.
44. Roadside
barber Strictly for the male sex, “hair cutting” in natural surroundings.
You’ll find them all over the country. Savour the best cuppa tea and that too at any
45. Road-side
time—day or night, thanks to these amazing fellas!
chaiwala
A term regularly used by smaller Indian papers to refer to someone who has a long and
46. Rowdy sheeter
storied criminal record. So much more expressive than “dangerous criminal”, so much
more colourful than “thug” or “goon”.
47. Rudraksha A large broadleaf evergreen tree whose seed is traditionally used for prayer beads in
beads Hinduism.
The whole nation l.o.v.e.s these never ending tales of familial ties, conspiracy, and love
48. Saas-bahu and hate between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
serials Not to forget those villainous ladies who just can’t get enough of conspiring and hearing
secrets behind conveniently open doors.
A square-cut short-sleeved jacket with a broad collar unbuttoned at the top, epaulettes
49. Safari suit and four pockets, worn with long pants; usually khaki or sky blue and popular in India
until the late 1990s.
Shatabdi trains are known in India as being “superfast,” but that’s a relative term. They
50. Shatabdi
do, however, offer the fastest service between the country’s major cities.
51. Sweet “A sweet” is any Indian dish usually made with sugar and ghee.
52. Take rest, take Doctor’s advice

food A typical Indianism
48 2021-
53. The Indian Our standard reply to any question is a headshake that can imply yes or no or maybe or
headshake all three. Only the person who shakes his head knows! Genius!
54. Topper The highest scoring student in a class
55. Vessels Indian cookware, usually steel pots and pans
Generic terms in Hindi meaning “the one.” Hence “auto wallah,” “phool (flower)
56. Wallah
wallah,” “chai wallah,” etc.
Use of articles in Indianism

Vowels and consonants are phonetic terms—NOT, repeat not, letters.
Indian teachers should tell students to use an not when a word begins with a certain letter, but when it begins with
a vowel sound.
Example
a one-time wrestler
a one-armed bandit
[In pronouncing one, we begin with a consonant sound approaching w (as in won).]
Conversely, abbreviations might begin with consonant letters, but would take an if in pronouncing the first initial,
we begin with a vowel sound.
He’s a Food Corporation of India inspector.
He’s an FCI inspector.
(We use a as we pronounced the words those initials

(not a FCI employee)
stand for and Food has a consonant sound.)
Even though F, L, M, N, R and S are consonant letters, we use an before those abbreviations because these begin
with vowel sounds.
Abbreviation Sound Full form
FCI eff-see-eye Food Corporation of India
LLB ell-ell-bee Bachelor of Laws
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MA emm aye Master of Arts
NCC enn-see-see National Cadet Corps
RBI are-bee-eye Reserve Bank of India
ST ess-tee Scheduled Tribes
Indianism in work environment
1. I received the parcel today morning. I received the parcel this morning.
2. Please do the needful. Please do what is necessary.
3. Please repeat it again. Please repeat it.
4. Please return it back to me. Please return it to me.
5. We did like that only. We did just like that.
What is your name?

6. What is your good name? [A name is just a name; there is nothing good or bad
about it.]
7. Where do you put up? Where do you live?
You asked him, didn’t you?

8. You asked him, no?
[This is a question tag.]
Foreigner’s perspective of few Indianisms
Indianism (actual meaning) Possible foreigner interpretation(s)
50 2021-
a. Having fun activity with your partner

b. Any kind of dance move considering the word motion is
1. loose motions
involved
[Standard English: diarrhea]
c. When you are up to some kind of naughtiness on dance
floor
2. passed out
a. When you are drunk and really too tired to think or do
[Standard English: graduated from something, you pass out
school/university) b. Tired to the core
3. trial room a. a courtroom

[Standard English: changing room]
A monologue riddled with Indianism

My name is Anand Swamy. I am coming (come) from a large family having six brothers and three sisters (and
have six brothers and three sisters). Three of my brothers are elder to me (older to me). I am fifth eldest (the fifth
born) in my family. I am qualified as (am) a software engineer currently employed with (now working for) a large
MNC. My brothers and myself (I) are put up (live) in Bangalore. My parents and sisters are residing (live) at our
native place (ancestral home).
At present, my father is very very busy (extremely busy) trying to fully finalise (finalise) my marriage. He is
looking for a suitable alliance (match). I am very much tensed up (tensed) because the girl he will choose may not
be able to adjust to me (adapt). Since I am having (have) a job with a (an) MNC I would like to marry a modern
type of (broadminded) girl who is social (friendly), wears jeans (western clothes) and can go to the pub with me. I
will have a cocktail while she can have a mocktail. We are pure Brahmins (Brahmins). But since my father is very
orthodox I will have to bow down to his wishes and marry the girl of his choice (the girl he chooses).
As per (According to) our custom the marriage will be held in our native place (ancestral home). Mostly (Most
probably) the marriage date will be fixed for (set for) the last week of January (after the inauspicious period gets
over). Please keep yourself free. I will be distributing wedding cards (via WhatsApp) to friends
and relations (relatives) in Bangalore after the marriage date is fully finalised (finalised).
Please don’t mistake me (misunderstand) if I do not join you this evening. I am on the lookout for a larger
accommodation (on a search for a bigger house) and the broker is taking me every evening to show (to look at)
some houses/flats. So far nothing matches my taste (suits my requirement). Yesterday I saw a good flat, but
the backside (rear) veranda does not have sufficient space to hang clothes (dry clothes).
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Since I am planning to go in for a big Godrej (cupboard) and some Prestige cooker, Butterfly mixie, etc. (modern
kitchen appliances), I want a flat with a big kitchen also (as well). If it is nearby to the office (near the office,) it
will be ideal. Then I can go by walk (walk) to the office daily (everyday) and I don’t have to worry about
getting stuck up (stuck) in traffic jams (traffic) at Silk Board junction. Plus, (In addition) I can save up on (cut back
on) petrol also (as well). My fuel bills will be very less (less) compared to what it is now.
Indianism at its ‘Fast and Furious Best’

a. In a furious mood, the teacher said, “write down your name and father of your name”.
b. Principal to student “I saw you yesterday rotating near girls hostel pulling cigarette…?”
c. School teacher shouted, “pick up the paper and fall in the dustbin!”
d. DON’T TRY TO TALK IN FRONT OF MY BACK
e. It was very hot in the afternoon when the man entered. He tried to switch on the fan, but there was some
problem. Then he said “why is fan not oning?” (ing form of on is not permissible)
f. My manager started like this “Hi, I am Swamy, married with two kids”.
g. “I’ll illustrate what I have in my mind” said the IIT professor of mathematics and erased the board.
h. “Will you hang that calendar or else I’ll HANG MYSELF”.
i. Furious principal to the child, “Tomorrow call your parents, especially mother and father”.
j. “Why are you looking at the monkeys outside when I am in the room?”
k. Lab assistant said this when a CS student wrote the wrong code: “I understand. You understand. Computer
how understand?”
l. Seeing the principal passing by, the teacher told the noisy class “Keep quiet, the principal has passed away”.
[May he rest in peace.]
Reference list (Part A: Indianism)

Indian English versus Standard English
Sl.
Indian English Standard English (UK or USA)
No.
A third-class person
1. A third rate person
A whole-time accountant
2. A full-time accountant
Across
XYZ Corporation has branches in five cities?
3. Xyz corporation has
[“Across” means from one side to the other.]
branches across five cities?
4. Adapter Power cord
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5. Allopathy Western medicine
Alphabet Letter
6.
Can you say your alphabet? Can you say your letter?
7. Any doubts? Any questions?
Often used while reading out your email address to someone,

‘at the rate’ is perhaps one of the most archaic usage that is yet
to make its way out of Indian English.
8. At the rate—the @ sign
Though not incorrect, saying ‘at’ instead of ‘at the rate’ is more
acceptable now.
Have you had your lunch?
Reply
Yes, I’ve had my lunch.
Ate lunch?
9. Literal sense
What else would you do with lunch?
Perhaps you would play with it or throw it, depending on how
you’re feeling at the time.
Asking someone if they’d ‘eaten’ their lunch is incorrect for the

same reason as saying ‘ATM Machine’—redundancy.
The full form of ATM is automated teller machine.
So the next time you say ATM machine, think of its full form
ATM
10. and ask yourself how this sentence would sound:
‘I need to withdraw some money from the automated teller
machine machine.’
How often have you come across a helpful local person who so
Backside (from the) kindly tells you that the entrance to the place you are looking
11.
for is ‘from the backside’?
53 2021-
Backside typically refers to a person’s buttocks.
Hence we can imagine how terribly inappropriate it is to use

this phrase.
Incorrect
The entrance to the building is from the backside.
Correct
The entrance to the building is from the rear.
Note
Another funny Indianism that shows up on hundreds of
buildings is “exit is from the backside only”.
“exit is from the back” will suffice.
Between … To
Example: Adult fishers* Between … And
weigh between 3 to 7 kgs. (or, from … To)
12.
*a dark brown North American Example: Adult fishers weigh between 3 and 7 kilograms.
carnivorous mammal of the weasel Adult fishers weigh from 3 to 7 kilograms.
family
This happens while speaking, the person is thinking in his/her

mother tongue and translating it simultaneously into English
while speaking.
Big big
13.
Example
a. I saw big big buildings in Mumbai.[Big big is direct
translation of “badi badi” in Hindi.]
b. Do not worry about the exam, just eat eat.
14. Bike Nearly always a motorcycle; a bicycle is a “cycle”.
Résumé
Biodata
15. Example
“I’m sharing my biodata right away.”
=
54 2021-
“I’m sharing my resume right away.”
Whether it is for a marriage or a job, we faithfully refer to our

profile as a biodata. It is an old-fashioned term.
While curriculum vitae or cv is used by academicians and

educationists, résumé are used by job seekers.
Bogie
16. Coach (as used on Indian railway tickets)
Bychance
It pops up all the time in the middle of Hindi sentences: ‘Aap
17. [in Delhi]
kay pass bychance pen hai?’ (Do you have a pen?).
18. Canteen Cafeteria
19. Cent percent 100%
20. Chappals Sandals
21. Chart A train passenger manifest
To join two things together

22. Clubbing
Example
They are clubbing their bids, let’s see how it looks.
23. College applications College application forms
24. College mess College canteen
25. Colony Locality or neighbourhood
26. Come home Come over to my home
27. Come home late in the night Come home late at night
28. Commit a mistake Make a mistake
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[mnemonic: a crime is committed; a mistake is made.]
29. Convent educated This means “studied in a Christian school“.
30. Coolie (at railway and bus stations) Porter
Often used in parts of South India, ‘cooling glass’ refers to

Cooling glasses ‘sunglasses’.
31.
They cool your eyes, and will also make you think you look
cool.
Using prepositions with verbs loosely is one the common

mistakes Indians make.
Example
You should learn how to cope up.
=
You should learn how to cope.
I was stuck up in the traffic.
Cope up
32.
This tendency to use “up” indiscriminately with common verbs
may have been influenced by common phrasal verbs such
as break up, take up, wrap up.
The verb ‘cope’ usually collocates with the ‘with’ preposition.
For example, you should say, “he should learn how to cope
with the pressure.”
Cover (noun)
33. Envelope
[South India]
Fancy jewellery
[South India]
Covering jewellery is yet another
34. Imitation jewellery
common South Indian term for
fake jewellery. It is used thus
because it’s a ‘cover up’.
35. Crackers Fire crackers or fireworks
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36. Creamy layer The elite
37. Cribbing Complaining
38. Crore 100 lakhs, or 10 million
39. Cum Restaurant cum hotel means a restaurant and a hotel
40. Curd Yogurt
Curt and right It is supposed to mean a very strict and honest person who
41. [Tamil Nadu] cannot be lured to do something that he thinks wrong.
The correct term is CUT AND DRIED.
42. Curved question Tricky question
Cut jokes
43. Jokes are either told or cracked, not cut
Hang up abruptly
Cut the call Example

44.
“She just cut the call while I was talking.”
=
“I was on the phone with her, when she disconnected abruptly.”
45. Cut the queue Jump in front of you when in a line
Mineral water
46. Bisleri
[Bisleri is used interchangeably with mineral water.]
A raised platform
47. Dais
A place where distinguished guests will sit at an event.
In standard English, cars hit or collide with something, not dash

48. Dash against something
against it.
49. Demit office Resign/withdraw from office
50. Desi “local” or “Indian”
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51. Designation Job title
a. Boot (British English)

52. Dickey
b. Trunk (American English)
53. Dippers Headlights
The word discuss itself means ‘to talk about’ and when we add
another ‘about’ in it, it becomes ‘to talk about about’.
Discuss about
Example
54.
What shall we discuss about today?
=
What shall we discuss today?
Dishoom Sound effect when someone lands a punch in a Bollywood

55.
movie, like “pow” or “bam.”
While giving a task: “do one thing”

When someone approaches you with a query, and your reply
begins with the phrase “do one thing,” you’re doing it wrong.
There are better ways to begin a reply.
And worst of all, any person who starts a sentence with “do
Do one thing
56. one thing” invariably ends up giving you at least five things to
do.
Example
“My computer keeps getting hung.”
Do one thing. Clear your history. Delete your cookies. Defrag
your hard drive. Run a virus check. Restart your computer …
Do whatever is necessary to complete this task.
You may use the phrase humorously, to poke fun at such

archaic speech, but not otherwise.
57. Do the needful
Example
“Will you do the needful?”
“Of course, and I’ll send you a telegram to let you know it’s
done too.”
58. Don’t do nuisance in public Government admonition against urinating in public.
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59. Double roti Sliced white bread
A question to be clarified
60. Doubt Example
I have a doubt. = I have a question.
Something is really bothering me (a rant)

Example
“He was eating my brain in the office!”
Eating my brain
61. [Sounds scary doesn’t it, but relax, this has nothing to do with
horror movies, or new culinary delicacies.
Do not use this term.] = He was really annoying me in the
office.
62. Elocutions Speech class, public speaking
Do not end an email with following:

a. “Please do the needful”.
Email signoffs b. “Please revert back”.
63.
If you’re stuck, just write ‘thank you for your time’ instead or
repeat the action you want completed like ‘please send the
report by 3 pm.’
This phrase is commonly used on signposts in India to indicate

64. Entry from backside only
the rear entrance of a building.
Eve-teasing is a peculiarly Indian—and flippant—term

for sexual assault.
This all-encompassing covers everything —leering, groping,
Eve-teasing and worse. Unfortunately, this is the grim reality which has
65.
been faced by several Indian girl and woman, whether urban or
rural.
By using this dehumanising expression, we are essentially
dismissing half a billion people without batting an eye.
Died
Expired
Example
66. Example
The old man expired in his sleep. = The old man died in his
The old man expired in his sleep.
sleep.
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More often than not, this refers to skin colour, specifically light
67. Fair
skin.
A bit of a tongue twister, it continues to survive in the written

Felicitate form, in Indian newspapers and government memos. No one
68. else in the world uses felicitates.
But, when you set foot in our lovely country, you will be
awash and neck deep in felicitations.
First-class The fad for this word is slowly ‘passing away’.

69. But to those who still use the phrase every time someone asks
for their opinion, stop already.
To steal
70. Flick Example
Someone flicked my iPhone. = Someone stole my iPhone.
a. Pavement (British English)

71. Footpath
b. Sidewalk (American English)
To have a good time

72. Freak out Example
She freaked out last night at the rave party.
73. Freshers First timers
74. Geyser Hot water heater
I am going out of station.

Perhaps, if you were a British officer who worked for the East
India Company and were leaving your duty station then this
75. Go out of station
phrase would be right.
The better thing to say the next time you are travelling would
be to say “I’m going out of town.”
76. Godown Warehouse
First name or name

77. Good name
Example
60 2021-
What is your good name?
78. Goonda Thug or miscreant
Gora A light-skinned person

79.
The term is often used in reference to Westerners.
Got yelled at
80. Got fired
[doesn’t necessarily mean someone lost his/her job]
We should be conscious of the fact that there’s no such thing as

Guilty conscious
81. “a conscious”, guilty or otherwise.
“conscious” is an adjective, not a noun.
82. Gujju Slang term for someone from Gujarat
83. Hail from Come from
We Indians don’t have hair, we have hairs.

Hairs
84. So next time you go to a hair salon, cut your hair, not
your hairs.
85. Homely (of a person) Someone who is a good homemaker/housewife
The cry of a fielding cricket team when appealing to the umpire

86. Howzat! for a ruling following the delivery of a ball on whether a
batsman is out.
I’m here only. Have you ever asked yourself what is the purpose of adding
87.
ONLY to a sentence? Is it for additional stress? Do not use it.
88. In the end, I thank … “In conclusion”, “to conclude”, or “finally”, I thank …
Use the full forms, viz., ‘officer-in-charge’, ‘clerk-in-charge’,

89. In charge
as the case may be.
I will intimate you.

Intimate
The person who began this phrase must have really wanted to
90. (pronounced like “roommate”)
say inform (for purpose of confirmation), but instead decided to
use intimate to sound cool. The result is very, very uncool.
61 2021-
Intimate means private and confidential.

Next time around, do not intimate, simply say “let me get back
to you”.
91. Issueless divorcee Divorcee without children
92. Jawan A male constable or soldier
93. Kindly Please
This is the Indian version of “Sorry, please excuse the

Kindly adjust inconvenience I am causing you, but I can’t do anything much
94. about it right now”.
It’s what Indians say when forced to share an already too small
train compartment, or when packed into a tiny lift (elevator).
One common mistake we make is using the word revert to

mean reply or respond.
Kindly revert
95. Revert means “to return to a former state.”
Example
Please revert at the earliest. = Please reply at the earliest.
A common term for ‘wife’ in the armed forces. For them to call
96. Lady wife
a wife a ‘wife’ is considered impolite.
A mother to a young child: Don’t touch it; let it be.

“Let it be” is added to reinforce what has been said in the
97. Let it be
earlier part of the sentence (Don’t touch it). = Leave it alone; let
it alone
Dear sir, with reference to your above see my below …

Letter opening line
98. This nonsensical phraseology is a popular opening line in
official letters.
My best
99. Level best Example
I’ll do my level best. = I’ll do my best.
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Light tea/coffee (opposite of

99. Weak tea/coffee
‘strong tea/coffee’)
100. Loose motion Diarrhea
101. Love marriage Love match
Email
102. Mail Example
I’ll send you a mail. = I’ll send you an email.
103. Mail ID Email address
Example
104. Make a move
I’ll make a move then. = It’s time for me to go.
Understand
Example
105. Make out
I can’t make out what you are saying. =
I can’t understand what you are saying.
106. Mallu Slang term for someone from Kerala
Many of us tend to use the words wedding and marriage

Marriage vs wedding interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two.
107. The wedding is the act of getting married (the actual
ceremony), whereas marriage is the state of being married.
Hence, use wedding anniversary and not marriage anniversary.
108. Maths Mathematics
The completion of high school or secondary school which

109. Matriculation
happens at the 10th grade/standard.
‘Give me a missed call.’

Advantages
Missed call
a. Someone gives you a missed call, and you save their
110.
number. Nobody gets a phone number wrong, and
missed calls, as every cell-phone-having Indian knows,
are free.
63 2021-
b. An ingenious way Indians use missed calls is to convey a

message that is previously agreed upon in person – “I’m
waiting at the exit”, “call me”, “boarding my flight”, etc.
Nobody pays the phone company anything, and you
know that an anticipated event has occurred. Very
efficient.
111. Mixie Blender, mixer
Memorising before an exam.

Mugging Every teacher’s favourite word, it’s the American equivalent
112.
of cramming.
Mugging, outside India, means an act of assaulting or robbing.
Indians have a peculiar habit of adding ‘no’ at the end of

sentences.
No Example
113.
You will do this for me, no?
This is a literal translation of the ‘na’ usually used at the end of
sentences in Hindi (“Tum meri madad karogi na?”).
Died
114. No more Example
My grandfather is no more. = My grandfather died.
Meat
115. Non-veg Example
Do you take non-veg? = Do you eat meat?
Non-bottled water (includes filtered or RO water)

Normal water
116. You sit down in a restaurant and the waiter asks whether you
want “bottled water or normal water”.
117. On the anvil Ready to come up for discussion
If someone asks, “Is xyz online?” what he means is whether

Online xyz is on the line –as in “on a phone call”.
118.
He is not enquiring whether she had internet access, although
that’s what “being online” actually means.
64 2021-
Only “Only” tacked on the end of sentences for emphasis, as in “I am

119. doing this only”
(i.e. Right now, when asked about the status of a task).
Example
Order for “Let’s order for a pizza.” = “Let’s order a pizza.”
120.
When you order something, you “order” it, you do not “order
for” it.
Hurts
Example
121. Paining
My leg is paining.
My leg hurts.
The rest of the world comprehends this phrase as ‘fainting’, but

Passed out
to us Indians, this means ‘to graduate from a college or school’.
122. So when you ask an Indian, “Where did you graduate from?”
The answer you get is, “Oh! I passed out from that
school/college.”
Measure of liquor equivalent to 90 milliliters—that is to say,

123. Patiala peg about 50 percent larger than a shot glass.
Originated in the Punjabi city of Patiala. Where else?
124. Please be seated. Please take a seat.
The words ‘on’ and ‘off’ have been used as verbs. This is not
permissible. =
Please on/off the light Please switch on/switch off the light. [switch = turn]
125.
Note
The Standard English phrases apply not only to light, but also
to fans, ACs, radios, etc.
Plus 2 grades/standards 11 and 12 which focus on a specific

stream of study
Plus 2 Example
126.
I finished my plus 2 in 2018.
=
I completed my 12th grade/ standard in 2018.
65 2021-
22
Portion/portions
127. [more frequently used in South Syllabus
India]
Prepone means to bring something forward to an earlier date or

time. Or very simply, it is the opposite of postpone.
Example
“Let’s prepone the meeting from 11 a.m. To 10 a.m.”
Prepone While most English speakers in South Asia are familiar with
128.
the word prepone, its use will still draw blank looks elsewhere.
Even in India, many well-read, well-travelled intellectuals
wouldn’t be caught dead using it, unless in jest.
But there isn’t really any other word in the English language
that can qualify as a respectable synonym.
I am having a question about Indian English. Why are

we wanting to talk in the present continuous tense all the time?
Why can’t we use the simple present tense? Why do people say,
“I am having a cold” (present continuous) instead of “I have a
Present continuous tense
129. cold” (simple present)?
The present continuous is generally used to describe an action,
not a state. Having a cold is a state, not an action. So it’s correct
to use the simple present —”I have a cold”—even if the act of
sniffling is ongoing.
When we use the word ‘propose’ in India, we usually mean

‘asking out on a date’.
So if you’ve told a girl in your office that you like her and ask
her out for coffee, don’t go around telling people you’ve
Proposed ‘proposed’ her.
130.
What you have done is, well, just asked her out for coffee!
Nothing more
However, when you ask her to marry you formally, you would
have finally ‘proposed to’ her (and not ‘proposed’ her).
131. Puncture Flat tyre
132. Punju Slang term for someone from Punjab
133. Purse Indian English for handbag (woman) or wallet (man).

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When you say ‘put a mail’, you are most likely (and
unconsciously) transliterating from colloquial Hindi –’Ek mail
daal do’. This is incorrect.
Put mail
134. Instead say:
‘Please could you write me an email about it?’
Or
‘Please could you put that down on email?’
135. Put up a play Put on a play
136. Query A question
Real brother/sister In India, we call our siblings as real brother or sister and others
137.
as cousin brother and sister.
“Things are all right”.

Such a statement may appear, for example, towards the end of
a letter or conversation where someone has given his/her
Rest is fine
138. audience news or updates about their family or a trip. The
expression is a literal translation of the Hindi “बाकीसबठीक”.
Sometimes people say, “Rest is all fine”, presumably because
सब is the Hindi word for ‘all’.
139. Rubber Eraser (which we use with pencil)
Run something by
Example
She needed to run something through her client.
Run something through
Needless to say we were concerned if the said something was a
140.
knife or a sharp object that would cause the poor client bodily
harm.
We are happy to report that the client is safe and sound because
all the person intended to do was run something by the client.
141. Running neck to neck (in elections) Running neck and neck (in elections)
142. Scootie A scooter or motorbike
143. Seniormost The most senior
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The standard English version has a comparative form (‘more

senior’) as well as a superlative form (‘the most senior’)
There is no comparative form, such as senior-more and
superlative form such as senior-most.
144. She is carrying She is pregnant
Sir and ma’am Suffixing a name with -sir or -ma’am is a common Indian
145. English way of referring to or addressing teachers, mentors, and
other people held in high esteem.
Forcing someone to do something

[Sitting on someone’s head is our way of expressing
micromanagement, the Indian way.]
Example
Sit on her head
146. “I have to sit on her head to get the approval!”
[Unless you are a sumo wrestler, it would be better not to resort
to such tactics! ]
=
“I’ll have to constantly follow up to get the approval.”
147. SMS Text message; literally “short message service”
Picture
148. Snap Example
Let’s take some snaps before we leave the town.
Apology
You stamp someone’s feet, you take something by mistake or
hit someone unintentionally.
Sorry. Kindly adjust.
149. This apology is an incomplete sentence that doesn’t convey
anything, much less an apology.
Watch yourself before you do it and say, “Excuse me, I am
sorry for the inconvenience.”
According to several estimates, more than 50 million (5 crore)

Indians have diabetes.
Sugar
150. Example
I don’t want tea. I have sugar.
And still we refuse to utter the d-word.
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a. We do this with other ailments, too –substitute the name

of the ailment with the name of the affected organ or
gland: “thyroid” for hypo- or hyperthyroidism
b. “appendix” for appendicitis
If a patient told a foreign doctor that she has a thyroid, he
would say, “well, don’t we all.”
Wrong versus Right

In each pair of following sentences, identify which is wrong (in Indian English) and which is right (in Standard
English).
Sl.
Wrong (Indian English) Right (Standard English)
No.
What time are you coming for dinner?

1 What o’clock you are coming for dinner?
Mind me to buy some chips this evening. Please remind me to buy some chips this evening.
2
Are you able to work this Sunday?

3 Can you capable to work this Sunday?
All three of you are to do rural duty.

4 Both the three of you are to do rural duty.
If you can do it, do it. If you cannot do it, admit it to

If you can do, do. If you cannot, admit
5 yourself.
yourself.
Seriously, she is a good person. She is a good person.

6
7 I only told her to do that. I told her to do that.
Reference list (Part B: Indianism)

Sl. No. Indian English Standard English
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1 A medical shop is there. There’s a medical shop.
2 As per my last letter … As mentioned in my last letter …
3 each and every every or each (but not both)
4 Even I am working at the bank. I work at the bank, too.
5 from your side/from my side from you/from me
6 I am agreed with you/ I am agree. I agree with you.
7 I am in good spirits and I hope the same for you. I hope you are well.
8 I am not getting you. I don’t understand.
9 I am pursuing my studies in Engineering. I’m doing Engineering.
10 I passed out of college. I’m a graduate.
I live in Bangalore.
11 I stay in Bangalore only.
I actually live in Bangalore.
More on Indianisms
The Indianisms in following sentences have been highlighted
a. In emails we request the recipient to revert at the earliest, and do the needful while we wait
for updation from our manager.
b. We don’t report to work; we join duty. Work, after all, is boring, so sharing non-veg jokes is our
ideal timepass. WhatsApp not only makes that easier, it goes a long way getting people together. But mind
you, our food preferences—veg and non-veg still set us apart.
c. But do one thing, if you wish to keep your nose clean, avoid the backside. Spare me the details though for I
have to travel out of station. And, before that I need to remove those big big stones from the pathway. Last to
last week only I had a tyre puncture and it took me so long to fix that. Ufff! What a waste of time that was! I
missed a first-class movie too.
d. Meanwhile, if you can find some more of those small small Indianisms, just give me a missed call.
e. Made sense? No? Ah! Don’t take tension, naa … It made no sense to me either.
Indianism tidbits
1. Indian euphemisms
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Daily crime reports in Indian newspapers show the absurdity of archaic euphemisms. Money or gold chains aren’t
snatched and no one is robbed. Instead it is written that “An old woman was relieved of her gold mangalasutra …”
or “A motorcycle gang waylaid a scooterist … and relieved him of his iphone and cash”.
2. Miscreants
Miscreants broke into a house … = Burglars broke into a house …
[Do not use the typical Indianism: miscreants. Use burglars or robbers. Reporters should use a specific word that
tells the reader the nature of the crime, e.g., pickpocket, thief, burglar, robber, dacoit, murderer, and so on.
Unfortunately, reporters in the regional-language press often imitate what the English-language press does. They
force Sanskrit ‘transliterations’ of such meaningless terms on their readers.
The Kannada press has invented dushkarmi as equivalent of the mystifying miscreants. Kannada tabloids, however
use more colourful words to describe various types of wrongdoers:
a. Kalla (thief)
b. Khadeema (crook)
c. Mosagaara (cheat)
d. 420
and so on.
3. Native Place
In Kannada do we not use the equivalent of native when we refer to the place where we were born? What we say,
translates correctly as ‘my village/home town’.
Yet, when a Kannadiga returns from his village, he invariably says ‘I went to my native’.
‘They went to their natives’ is a familiar expression throughout South India.
4. Simply
A: Are you very busy right now?
B: No, I’m simply enjoying the winter sun.
‘Simply’, in this context, does no more than convey the sense of ‘merely’, ‘only’, or ‘just’. It seems to me more
widely used in the South than elsewhere. Besides, I have an impression that it is more current among those who are
less proficient in the language. If this is true, there is strong case for replacing it by ‘merely’, ‘only’, or ‘just’.
5. Cent per cent

cent per cent = a hundred per cent
a. The phrase ‘per cent’ is written as two words, whereas ‘percentage’ is written as one word.
b. In speech it is ‘cent’, that is stressed, not ‘per’
6. Correct usage of get down

a. get down (a bus, a car, etc.)
b. get off (a bus)
c. get out (a car or train)
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7. Noon
‘Noon’ has a precise meaning: 12 o’clock in the middle of the day. ‘Midday” is not that precise: it may be 12
o’clock or a little before and after that.
8. Shift
shift = move
[Hence, we have business concerns such as ‘packers and movers’.]
9. Petrol pump
The word ‘Petrol pump’ is commonly used in North India, while ‘petrol bunk’ is commonly used in South India.
10. Troubleshooter
A troubleshooter is a person who solves major problems; a troublemaker is one who causes quarrels or fights.
4. Techniques in Essay writing (incl. writing introduction and conclusion)
Introduction to Essay
A modern essay is a short piece of writing on one particular subject written by a student.
You do not have to agree with the point that an author makes in his or her essay. Most authors have a particular
bias. It is as if they wear coloured glasses and view the world through them. Those “glasses” are their bias. You
wear a different set of “glasses”, so that you interpret an essay through your own bias.
Point to ponder
A three-year-old child keenly asks “why…?” and is never satisfied with a single answer.In general students
rarely seem to ask why. Hence they are unable to develop points more thoroughly while writing essays. When
they do ask this question they appear satisfied with the first answer and seem to accept it at face value.
Similarly, to develop specific points and add depth to the essays, students must learn to ask “why”.
The Building Blocks of an Essay

Following is a description of the basic building blocks of an essay.
A. Title
Though most paragraph assignments do not require a formal title, an essay does. The title for your essay is the key
to introducing your topic and drawing in your reader. Try for titles that are clear, yet interesting, and will intrigue
your reader.
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Example
The Case for Getting a Hostel Roommate
The title should be centred, use the same font style and size as the rest of your essay, and not be in bold font or
underlined.
B. Introductory paragraph and thesis statement

The purpose of the introduction are the following:
a. to engage your reader’s attention
b. to introduce your topic
c. to write the purpose of the essay (thesis)
d. to provide any necessary background information
e. to establish the style and tone of your essay
Introductory paragraph
The introductory paragraph of an essay should start with several sentences that attract the reader’s interest. It should
then advance to the central idea, or thesis, that will be developed in the essay.
Effective essays centre around a thesis, or main point, that a writer wishes to express. This central idea is usually
presented as a thesis statement in an essay’s introductory paragraph.
To create a successful introduction, include the following elements.
(a) Opening Line(s)/Attention-Grabber

The first sentence or two of your essay should intrigue your readers, draw them in, and introduce the subject of
your paper. Here are some tried and tested techniques for accomplishing this goal.
Example
When you join an outstation college, is it more important for
Begin with a rhetorical* question.
you to save money or to have your own space?
*asked in order to produce an effect or to
Note
make a statement rather than to receive
Usually, it is best to avoid second-person (you) point of view in
information
an essay, but opening an essay with a rhetorical question is a
widely accepted exception.
Example
Begin with a declaration.
Having a roommate in college saves money and helps ease the
burden of college expenses.
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Begin with a definition, a statistic, or a

quotation.
Example
a. Define a key term Getting a roommate can cut one’s monthly hostel room
b. Present a powerful statistic related to expenses by as much as 50%.
your topic
c. Use an intriguing quotation to
engage your readers’ attention
Example
Begin with a topic detail or example.
The thought of having a roommate may terrify you, but it builds
communication and negotiation skills.
(b) General background on the topic

Provide some general information about your topic, and then begin narrowing down to your focused thesis
statement.
Sometimes you need to provide background information about the problem or subject or give a brief history of the
issue in order to provide your audience with necessary context for the point you want to make.
For instance, if you were writing about the advantages and disadvantages of having a college hostel roommate, you
might need to give a little background about the basic issues related to sharing a room.
(c) Thesis Statement

A good thesis statement:
a. establishes your topic
b. provides at least one controlling idea or analytical purpose it will develop, and
c. gives a basic “map” to let your readers know how you will structure and develop your ideas.
A thesis statement has a message to convey; it is making a claim. Therefore, a thesis always involves your opinion
(attitude or point of view on the subject) and not just facts or details.
Most thesis statements will be one sentence in length for essays that range from one to four pages in length.
Generally, a good thesis statement will address the following three questions:
1. What is the purpose of my essay?
2. How will I develop it?
3. So what is the main point I want to prove?
Asking and answering these questions forces you to create a specific and well-developed thesis statement.
For example, here is a thesis statement that includes answers to what, how, and so what questions related to the
topic of having a college hostel roommate:
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Question Answer
What? Deciding whether to have a college roommate or not is a tough decision
How? because there are many pros and cons to sharing a living space
So what? but, without a doubt, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Remember, though, that your thesis statement should not be a question or a series of questions. Instead, it should be
your answers to the questions you want to address on the topic.
Note
a. Avoid awkward announcements like “In this essay, I will attempt to show you the benefits of having a
college hostel roommate.”
b. Instead, take out the announcement part and jump right to your point: “Having a college hostel roommate is a
good idea for many reasons.”
c. In fact, throughout your essay, delete all statements that begin with I believe or I feel or I think or I will
explain and weak statements like It seems that. . .
d. You can use I in expository essays, but use I only when you are giving a personal example for support. For
instance, “I didn’t have a roommate during my first month of college, and my parents really struggled with
finances.”
e. Finally, your thesis needs to be specific enough to be developed thoroughly. If it is too broad, it will be too
big to cover within the scope of your essay; if it is too narrow, you will not have enough to write about.
Parts of an essay
Title of the Essay
Opening remarks to catch reader’s interest
Introduction Thesis statement
Plan of development (optional)
Topic sentence 1 (supporting point 1)

Body
Specific evidence

Specific evidence

Specific evidence
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Summary (optional)
Conclusion General closing remarks
(Or both)
Similarity between a paragraph and an essay

Paragraph Essay
Topic sentence (topic + purpose) Thesis statement (topic + purpose)
Support (examples and details) Body paragraphs (examples and details)
Analysis and interpretation Analysis and interpretation
Concluding sentence Concluding paragraph
Topic sentence
Create three topic sentences for the thesis statement provided below.
Thesis: Students need to take certain precautions when buying used textbooks online over Amazon.in.
Topic Sentence 1
Firstly, make sure that the book you are buying is the right title, the right publisher, and it is the most current
edition by doing some preliminary research online.
Topic Sentence 2
Secondly, read the seller’s description to ensure that the book you are buying is in good condition, is complete, and
is not marked on or overly highlighted by another user.
Topic Sentence 3
Finally, read the sellers’s rating to ensure that the source or person you are purchasing from is reliable and
legitimate.
Characteristics of a Thesis
Topic: quitting smoking
It is expressed in a sentence. A thesis
Title: Why I Quit Smoking
is not the same as the topic of the essay or
1 Thesis: I quit smoking because I was concerned for my
the title of the essay.
health, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could break
the habit.
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Announcement: This essay will explain the reasons why

young adults should watch what they eat.
A thesis does not announce; it makes a
2 point about the subject.
Thesis: Young adults should watch what they eat so they
can live healthy lives today and prevent future health
problems.
A thesis is not too broad.

Too broad: People all over the world should work on
Some ideas are just too big to cover well in solving their interpersonal communication problems.
3 an essay.
Acceptable thesis: As a North Indian, I had a hard time
A thesis that tries to cover too much can understanding the accented Hindi spoken in South India.
lead to a superficial or boring essay.
A thesis is not too narrow.

Too narrow: My parents pay Rs 500/hour for home
Sometimes, writers start with a thesis that
tuition for my younger brother.
looks good because it seems specific and
4
precise.
Acceptable thesis: My parents had no idea what it would
cost to arrange home tuition for my younger brother.
Later, when they try to support such a
thesis, they can’t find anything to say.
Body Paragraphs
In the body of the essay, the paragraphs explain, support, and develop your thesis. In this part of the essay, each
paragraph has its own topic sentence. The topic sentence in each paragraph does two things:
a. It focuses the sentences in the paragraph.
b. It makes a point connected to the thesis.
The function of body paragraphs is to provide evidence that backs up the argument in your thesis.
Each body paragraph develops and supports an idea that explains and develops the thesis of the essay.
The number of sentences in a body paragraph varies depending on the topic sentence and its scope; on average,
most body paragraphs range from 4 to 15 sentences in length. They also depend on your purpose, your plan for
development, and the tasks and page requirements of your writing assignment.
Be sure that each body paragraph achieves the following:
a. Develops the thesis of your essay

b. Provides a clear topic sentence that states the topic of the paragraph and the main point you are making about
that topic
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c. Provides support for the topic sentence through ample examples, evidence, and analysis
d. Demonstrates unity, with each sentence supporting the topic sentence
e. Demonstrates coherence, with sentences and ideas flowing smoothly from one to the next in a logical order
through the use of appropriate transitions
f. The topic sentence of each paragraph in an essay should state an opinion, argument, or analytical point that
supports the thesis. Here’s a topic sentence that supports the roommate thesis.
Thesis Topic sentence
Deciding whether to have a college hostel roommate or not is a To begin with, having a roommate in
tough decision because there are many pros and cons to sharing a college is a great idea since it cuts
living space, but, without a doubt, the benefits outweigh the overall living expenses by as much as
drawbacks. half.
Just as a thesis provides a focus for an entire essay, a topic sentence provides a focus for a supporting paragraph.
Developing the body paragraphs
By working through the stages of gathering ideas, outlining, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading, you can
create clear, effective paragraphs.
Supporting ideas
The thesis statement expresses the main idea of the entire essay. In the illustration below, you can see how topic
sentences relate to the thesis statement and how details support the topic sentences. Every idea in the essay is
unified and supports the thesis.
Concluding Paragraph
The concluding paragraph sums up the main purpose of your essay by briefly restating the thesis and re-emphasises
your thesis without repeating it word for word.
Most concluding paragraphs are at least three sentences long, although they can be longer, depending on the scope
of the thesis, and should be succinct and end with a bang.
Note
Be sure to avoid the common pitfalls of introducing a new idea or contradicting yourself in the conclusion: the
“shoot yourself in the foot” effect.
As you can see, a roommate can help in college in many ways, but it may be even better to stay in a nearby
relative’s house.
Ouch! You just shot yourself in the foot by introducing a whole new topic and opinion (stay in a nearby relative’s
house) in the conclusion which is different from the one you have discussed throughout the rest of your essay.
Topic and main point of a thesis statement

For each thesis statement below, enter the topic and the main point that the writer wishes to express about the topic.
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Tip
Topic = Subject of the thesis statement
Main point = Predicate of the thesis statement
Ten Steps for Writing an Effective Essa

The following steps will help you break essay writing down into a manageable process. You might find some steps
more useful than others. Try them in order first; then experiment to see what order works best for you.
1. Prewrite: generate ideas It is essential to generate some ideas to work with for your essay and to narrow
a broad subject to a manageable topic.
Ask the following questions about your topic to determine your purpose,
2. Ask questions to find your identify your audience, and decide on your approach.
topic, purpose, and audience 1. What is my narrowed topic?
2. What is my purpose for writing this essay?
3. Who is my intended audience?
3. Organise your ideas:

An outline helps you to order your thoughts in the most logical and effective
outline
way and to create a plan for your essay’s development.
a. You are now ready to write the first draft of your essay.
b. Use your prewriting and outline to guide you.
4. Write your first draft
c. Focus on developing support for each body paragraph.
d. At this stage, don’t worry about spelling and grammar: just get your
ideas on paper and work on building the draft.
Revision is the key to writing excellent essays.
Consider the following when revising for order, unity, coherence, and sentence
variety:
5. Revise for order, unity, a. Review organisation. Check to see if you need to reorganise the order
coherence, and sentence of your paragraphs to make your essay more effective.
variety b. Delete unnecessary information. Delete any unnecessary words,
sentences, or even paragraphs. Cut anything that does not directly
support your purpose and thesis.
c. Include transitions. Add transitions between and within paragraphs,
where needed, to maintain the flow of your ideas.
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d. Vary sentence types. Check that your sentences are varied and
interesting.
Go through your revised essay and make sure that your thesis statement is
6. Fine-tune thesis and topic strong and that your topic sentences clearly support it.
sentences
The thesis and topic sentences are the skeleton of your essay: they need to be
strong and well developed to hold the flesh of your ideas and details.
7. Provide support—add
more examples, details, and Check if you need more examples and details to thoroughly develop your
analysis thesis statement and topic sentences.
a. If you are writing for an audience knowledgeable about a topic, you can
use terms they would understand without providing definitions.
b. However, if you are discussing a topic not known to your audience, you
should avoid using jargon and provide definitions for any important
8. Proofread and edit: check
terms.
word choice, tone, and style
c. Check your essay and make sure the words you have chosen convey the
meaning you intend.
d. Make sure you haven’t used slang, clichés, or gender-biased language.
e. Check whether your tone is appropriate for your topic, purpose (to
inform, persuade, or entertain), and audience.
Look for and correct the following sentence errors:

a. Fragments, comma splices, and run-ons
b. Incorrect use of commas, semicolons, or colons
c. Unnecessary point-of-view shifts
9. Check for sentence-level d. Faulty pronoun agreement
errors e. Incorrect subject-verb agreement
f. Pronoun reference errors
g. Parallelism errors
h. Dangling or misplaced modifiers
i. Incorrect apostrophe use
j. Unnecessary passive voice constructions
Use a dictionary or spell-checker to check the spelling of any words you are
10. Check for spelling errors
unsure about.
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Major and Supporting Ideas in an Outline

One key to effective outlining is the ability to distinguish between major ideas and details that fit under those ideas.
In each of the folllowing lists below, major and supporting items are mixed together. Put the items into logical
order by filling in the outline that follows each list. First one is done for your understanding.
Thesis Major idea 1 Major idea 2 Major idea 3
My engineering college had three

problem areas.
a. Buildings
a. Students c. Buildings
b. Formed ragging groups b. Teachers
(1) Involved with (1) Leaky
c. Ill-equipped lab (1) Much too strict
drugs ceilings
d. Involved with drugs (2) Unwilling to help
(2) Formed ragging (2) Ill-equipped
e. Leaky ceilings after class
groups lab
f. Much too strict
g. Students
h. Teachers
i. Unwilling to help after class
Benefits of Writing the Traditional Essay

a. Mastering the traditional essay will help make you a better writer. The basic structure of the traditional essay,
with its emphasis on a clear point and well-organised, logical support, will help with almost every kind of
writing that you have to do.
b. The discipline of writing an essay will strengthen your skills as a reader. As a reader, you’ll become more
critically aware of other writers’ ideas and the evidence they provide (or fail to provide) to support those
ideas.
c. Essay writing will also help you become a better speaker. You’ll be more prepared to develop the three basic
parts of an effective speech—an appealing introduction, a solidly developed body, and a well-rounded
conclusion—because of your experience in writing three-part essays.
d. Essay writing will make you a strong thinker. Writing a solidly reasoned traditional essay requires mental
discipline and close attention to a set of logical rules.
Point to ponder
Traditional essay writing, in short, will train your mind to think clearly, and that ability will prove to be of
value in every phase of your life.
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Common methods of organisation

Two common methods used to organise the supporting material in an essay are time order and emphatic order.
(a) Time order
Time, or chronological, order simply means that details are listed as they occur in time. First this is
done: next this; then this; after that, this; and so on.
Here is an outline of an essay in which time order is used.
To exercise successfully, you should follow a simple plan consisting of arranging the time, making preparations,
and warming up properly.
1. To begin with, set aside a regular hour for exercise.
2. Next, prepare for your exercise session.
3. Finally, do a series of warm-up activities.
(b) Emphatic order

Emphatic order is sometimes described as “saving the best till last”. It is a way to put emphasis on the most
interesting or important detail by placing it in the last part of a paragraph or in the final supporting paragraph of an
essay.
The last position in a paper is the most emphatic position because the reader is most likely to remember the last
thing read.
Finally, last of all, and most important are typical words or phrases showing emphasis.
History’s Top 10 Essayists

Some of the most famous literary works are essays, written by great authors and writers. These span a variety of
genres, including comedy, non-fiction, history, and current events. Some essays are published as a stand-alone
piece in a magazine, while others are grouped into collections.
genre:
Essays remain a popular literary format as authors can make a point more directly while still following a specific
format, allowing the writer to get their point across, or tell their story more quickly.
Essayist Famous works
George Orwell a. 1984

b. Animal Farm
Michel de
a. The Essays of Michel de Montaigne
Montaigne
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a. A Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary: Selections

Samuel Johnson
from the 1755 Work That Defined the English Language
b. Life of Mr Richard Savage
Ralph Waldo a. The fortune of the Republic

Emerson b. English traits
c. Representative Men
James Baldwin a. The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings

b. Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone
a. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Mark Twain
b. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
a. The Man Who Was Thursday

G. K. Chesterton
b. The Napoleon of Notting Hill
Francis Bacon a. New Atlantis

b. Of the Proficiency and Advancement of Learning
C. S. Lewis a. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

b. The Screwtape Letters
Christopher
God Is Not Great
Hitchens
5. Importance of proper punctuation
Punctuation
Why are punctuations important?

The need for punctuation marks is directly related to the complexity of a sentence. The more complicated the idea
expressed, the greater the need for punctuation marks. Punctuation serves many uses: to include, to exclude, or to
emphasise a word or group of words.
Types of punctuation marks (A): Internal Punctuation

Internal punctuation is punctuation that:
a. sets off a word or a group of words within a sentence,
b. separates an introductory clause from the main clause,
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c. separates two or more complete thoughts within a sentence, or

d. indicates that a list is to follow.
These marks are as follows:

1. the comma (,)
2. the semicolon (;)
3. the colon (:)
4. quotation marks (“” or ‘ ’)
5. parentheses ( () )
6. brackets ( [ ] )
7. the hyphen (–)
8. the dash (— or –)
Your choice of the right internal punctuation mark should be guided by an understanding of why the punctuation
mark is needed.
Internal Punctuation: Comma

Comma use 1
Use a comma to separate a subordinate clause that begins a complex sentence.
Subordinate clauses are underlined in the following examples.
Examples:
Because heat is a form of energy, it can be measured in joules.
When the electric current flows in only one direction, it is called direct current.
Exception
Do not use this comma if the subordinate clause does not appear at the beginning of the sentence.
Examples
Electrons tend to move away from the hot end toward the cooler end when a length of copper is heated at one end.
Seahorses are unusual because the male has the babies.
Comma use 2
Use a comma to join two main clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction.
Example
Technical specs seek to engage the engineer’s attention, but technical drawings guide the worker on the job site.
A teapot doesn’t make noise, but a teakettle does.
Exception
This comma may be omitted if the main clauses being joined are very brief.
Example
Like electric charges repel and unlike charges attract
Comma use 3 & 4
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Comma use 3
Use a comma to separate parts of a list, or series, consisting of three or more items.
Examples
1. Pascal, Leibniz, and Babbage were all great figures in the development of the electronic computer.
2. Technical books usually use line drawings, graphs, tables, block diagrams, and photographs.
Exception
Some writers do not use the comma immediately before the and preceding the final element in a list. The use of the
comma at this point is optional; however, using the comma there consistently will avoid ambiguity.
Example
Unclear: The illustrations consisted of a line drawing, graph, chart and diagram.
Does the preceding sentence clearly tell you how many types of illustrations were used? Were there three, or were
there four? Are charts and diagrams the same thing? No one can be sure.
Clear: The illustrations consisted of a line drawing, graph, chart, and diagram.
In this version, it is clear that four types of illustrations were used. Using the comma before the last member of the
series has helped to communicate your meaning.
Comma use 4
The comma can also be used to replace the word and when it links equal adjectives (adjectives that modify the
same noun).
Example: - The report contained unified, coherent paragraphs.
(Unified and coherent are equal adjectives, so a comma is used.)
Comma use 5 & 6
Comma use 5
USA: Use commas to set off elements in dates when writing the month, day, and year.
India and UK: Dates are traditionally written in “day month year” (DMY) order:
a. 20 February 2019
b. 20/2/19
Examples
1. The progress report was dated February 12, 2019. (USA format)
Exception (USA format)
When a date indicates just the month and the year, no comma is used.
Examples
1. In January 2019, the department approved a recommendation to purchase a new torque-testing device.
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2. The Indian stock market will always remember the crash in January 2008.
Comma use 6
Use commas to separate the elements of a postal address.
Example
A shipment of gensets has arrived from Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, India.
Comma use 7 & 8
Comma use 7
Use a comma to separate introductory words and phrases, such as the following:
 all in all
 as a result
 finally
 in addition
 nevertheless
 no
 oh
 therefore
 well
 yes
Examples
1. As a result, the protective rubber gloves did not adequately insulate the hands of the line worker
servicing the circuit.
2. All in all, this year has been profitable for the company.
Comma use 8
Use a pair of commas to set off interrupting elements (words, phrases, or clauses that disrupt the flow of thought in
a sentence). These elements are not necessary to complete the thought being conveyed; however, they do add
something to the sentence.
Examples
1. The conclusion and recommendation sections, as a matter of fact, enable some audiences to act without
having to read the rest of the report.
2. Time-sharing, according to the textbook, is a form of interactive computing in which many different users
are able to use a single computer simultaneously.
3. A computer can, to be sure, perform a complicated calculation in a fraction of a microsecond.
Comma use 9 & 10

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Comma use 9
Use a pair of commas to set off appositives and appositive phrases.
[An appositive is a word that renames a noun or pronoun that has already been named. The word that the appositive
renames is called its antecedent. Sometimes the appositive is contained in a phrase. This phrase is called an
appositive phrase.]
Examples
The rate of doing work, power, may be expressed in horsepower or watt.
In Einstein’s equation, E = mc2, “m stands for “Mass”.
John D. Rockefeller, an oil tycoon, was the world’s first billionaire.
Exception
Use only one comma if the appositive comes at the end of a sentence.
Every year 2.5 million people throughout the world die from cancer caused by the commonly used and widely
distributed drug, tobacco.
The peanut plant is a legume, a member of the pea family.
Comma use 10
Use a comma to set off a participial phrase beginning a sentence.
[A participial phrase is a group of words that begins with a participle and ends with its object or its modifier.]
Example
Using much less power, transistors have advantages over vacuum tubes.
Comma use 11
Use commas to set off non restrictive elements.
[A non restrictive element is a group of words that states a fact not essential to the meaning of the sentence.]
Examples
1. Resistance, which is measured in ohms, can be thought of as that which opposes or regulates the flow of
electric current.
2. The resistance pyrometer, which is a handy instrument, is used for accurate temperature measurements from
-250° C to +1000° C.
Exception
Be careful, though! There are times when restrictive, not nonrestrictive, elements are added to the sentence. These
restrictive elements are not set off by commas from the rest of the sentence because they are essential to its
meaning.
Examples
1. Heating appliances that use electricity are popular because of their simplicity, cleanliness, and ease of
control.
(The clause that use electricity identifies just which heating appliances are popular, so the clause is restrictive—
essential to the meaning of the sentence—and is not set off by commas.)
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2. The device that required calibration was sent to the laboratory.

(The words that required calibration identify a certain device, so the clause is restrictive—essential to the
meaning of the sentence—and should not be set off by commas.)
The semicolon
The semicolon (;) is stronger than a comma but weaker than a full stop. It is used in the following situations:
1. To join two related sentences that is not joined by a coordinating conjunction.
Examples
a. Capacitance in a circuit is like an air chamber in a pump circuit; it serves to oppose any change in pressure and
to keep the pressure constant.
b. Tapirs are nocturnal, timid animals; they spend the daytime hours in dense thickets.
2. To join two related sentences joined by a conjunctive adverb (consequently, in addition, therefore, however, etc.)
Examples
a. Michael Faraday made great contributions to the study of electro-magnetic induction; consequently, the unit of
measurement farad was named after him.
b. This electric call signal makes a buzzing noise caused by the rapid vibration of a contact breaker; therefore, it is
called a buzzer.
3. To separate items in a list (series) when the items already contain commas.
Example
The voltmeter, an instrument used to measure voltage; the ammeter, an instrument used to measure current; and the
ohmmeter, an instrument used to measure resistance, are the three types of instruments you will study.
Uses of the colon
1. Use a colon after an introduction to a list.
Example
Ohm’s Law states the relations which exist among three electrical quantities: current, voltage, and resistance.
The first letter of every continent’s name is the same as the last: America, Antarctica, Europe, Asia, Australia, and
Africa.
2. Use a colon after a group of words when the clause that follows is an explanation of the lead-in.
Example
Two drinks are mentioned in the Bible—Wine: which gladdeneth the heart of man, and Water: which quencheth
the thirst of the jackasses.
3. Use a colon following the salutation of a business letter and for designating time.
Examples
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a. Dear Mr Patel:
b. Gentlemen:
c. 11:00 A.M.
d. 1:45 P.M.
e. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Discovery is the name of the spaceship bound for Jupiter.
Note: Do not capitalise the word following a colon unless the word is a proper noun, the word I, a pronoun
referring to deity, or the first word of information that is logically and structurally independent of the material
that precedes it.
Quotation marks
1. Use quotation marks to identify the exact words of another speaker (a direct quote).
Examples
a. The control room operator said, “All process controls must shut down for repairs”.
b. “If you witnessed the explosion,” she said, “why did you not report it to the superintendent of maintenance?”
2. Use quotation marks to identify titles of short stories, chapters of a book, songs, and articles in a magazine
or newspaper.
Examples
a. “The Basic Electrical Quantities” is a chapter in Electronic Fundamentals: Circuits, Devices and
Applications.
b. “Love Me Do” was the Beatles’ first hit record.
3. Use quotation marks to identify borrowed words or words having ironical meanings.
Examples
a. Filipinos have acquired the “mañana” habit from the Spaniards.(“Mañana” literally means tomorrow,
but it has come to mean procrastination.)
b. You “repaired” the float sensor all right.(The word repaired in this sentence is used in an ironical
manner. The sensor was not really repaired at all.)
Notes: Titles of movies, books, plays, magazines, and newspapers are not enclosed in quotation marks.
They are italicised or underlined instead.
Examples
a. Popular Science is a good technical magazine.
b. The quotation “Yo-ho-ho and a battle of rum” is from Treasure Island.
c. In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, moneylender Shylock demands a “pound of flesh” from
Antonio.
4. Commas and full stops are always placed inside the closing quotation marks, but commas are placed outside
the opening quotation marks.
Examples
a. Hari said, “Stop the machine.”
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b. “Stop the machine,” Hari said.
Note: Question marks and exclamation points are placed outside the closing quotation marks if
the whole sentence containing the quote constitutes a question or an exclamation. If only the
direct quote is a question or exclamation, the question mark or exclamation point is placed
inside the closing quotation marks.
Examples
a. The supervisor asked, “Where are your tools?”
b. Did you say, “Where are your tools”?
The dash
Use the em dash (—) in place of the comma or a semicolon to achieve a special emphasis. However, excessive use
will cause the dash to lose its special effect. Be sparing.
There are two main kinds of dashes: em dashes [—] (as wide as the typeset capital letter M) and en dashes [–] (as
wide as the typeset capital letter N).
1. The en dash means “to” or “and” in a range or group of dates, places, and times.
Examples
a. The discussion is on pages 204–211.
b. Treatment of gangrene became more effective during the War of 1914–1918.
c. The range of a PH scale is 0–14.
2. The em dash has more varied uses:

a. It is used to set off a series at the beginning of a sentence.
b. It can also set off material for emphasis. If the material is in the middle of the sentence, be sure dashes
surround it.
Examples
Three qualities—diligence, perseverance, and honesty—were important to Arvind.
Most early Greeks took bath only with cold water – hot water was considered effeminate.
Parentheses
Parentheses are used to set off explanatory items (words, phrases, clauses, dates, directions, and enumerations).
Use parentheses ( ) for the following reasons:
1. To show that a word or group of words is by nature explanatory or some by-the-way type of information that is
not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
Examples
The break-in period (one to six months) was critical in the engine’s performance.
When coke burns, carbon monoxide (a dangerous gas) is given off.
2. To enclose letters or numbers which precede elements in a series.

Examples
a. A good speech should include (a) an introduction, (b) the body, and (c) the conclusion.
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b. Technical writers should avoid (1) unnecessary words, (2) the use of highly technical language, (3) the use of
jargon and specialised vocabulary, and (4) too much formality.
3. To enclose figures in legal documents which follow amounts that are written out.
Example
The contract for the installation of boilers for forty-five thousand rupees (Rs. 45,000) was awarded to Energy
plus.
Note: If a parenthesis mark occurs with another punctuation mark, the writer must choose the appropriate mark
or combination according to its position in the sentence.
The Hyphen
Use the hyphen (-) for the following reasons:
1. To form compound modifiers.
Example
Make sure you enclose a self-addressed envelope.
A two-day-old gazelle can outrun a full-grown horse.
2. To write out numbers between twenty and one hundred.

Example
Payment of five hundred twenty-five rupees for the delivery of the instrument is due.
Brackets
Brackets, ([ ]), like parentheses, always come in pairs. Use them to enclose added information that is not part of
quoted material. Matter inserted by you in someone else’s writing should be set off by the brackets, as in the
following cases:
1. Your correction of an error made by the person you are quoting.

Example
“An electric motor is a machine or tranducer [transducer] that converts electrical energy to rotary mechanical
motion,” says the professor.
2. An addition you have made to a quoted passage.

Example
The instructor said, “You may use these charts [line graphs, circle graphs, or bar graphs] in your reports.”
As early as the fourteenth century we find a “Boke [Book] of Curtasye” sternly warning, “Beware of thy hinder
parts from gunblasting” (breaking wind).
APOSTROPHE
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The apostrophe (‘) is employed for two entirely different purposes.
1. In a contraction an apostrophe replaces the omitted letter or letters.

Example
We can make the printer work by disabling the paper-out switch, but it’s not the best way to repair its problem.
2. The apostrophe marks the possessive case of all nouns and of indefinite pronouns.
Examples
Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book had to be owned compulsorily by every adult Chinese in China.
In cricket, if the ball is struck on to a fielder’s helmet which is lying on the ground, five runs are awarded to the
batsman.
END PUNCTUATION
End or terminal punctuation consists of marks used to separate or end sentences. The end punctuation marks are
as follows:
the full stop (.),

the question mark (?), and
the exclamation mark or point (!).
Ordinarily, the full stop ends a statement; the question mark ends a question; and the exclamation mark ends an
interjection (an expression or statement that voices a strong feeling). However, a distinction can be drawn between
a genuine question (a question that needs a verbal answer) and a courteous request (a question that requires only a
physical response). Both of these utterances are spoken like normal questions, but they are punctuated differently.
A courteous request should be ended by a full stop, not a question mark. A genuine question should be ended by a
question mark.
Examples
1. Will you hand me the calculator.
(a courteous request—no verbal answer expected)
2. What is the meaning of angle of declination?
(genuine question—a verbal answer expected)
3. Be careful, though!
(giving caution—they may be dangerous or cause problems)
Capitalisation
The rules for capitals are all based upon one general principle:
 Use a capital letter for a proper noun—a name that fits only one particular person, group of people, place, or
thing.
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1. Capitalise geographical names that apply to particular countries, sections of countries, states, cities, oceans,
rivers, lakes, etc.
Examples
o Andaman and Nicobar Islands
o Indian Ocean
o Lake Michigan
2. Capitalise the popular descriptive names of specific regions and localities. Nicknames of places are capitalised.
Examples
 Foggy Bottom (Washington)
 Old Delhi
 the Big Apple (New York
3. Capitalise the names of nationalities, languages, races, religions, and the adjectives formed from these names.
Examples
 Buddhism
 Christianity
 Hinduism
 Hindi
 Zulu
4. Capitalise the entire names of organisations, companies, buildings, theatres, and institutions such as schools,
clubs, churches, libraries, and hospitals.
Examples
 Food and Agriculture Organisation
 East India Company
 World Trade Centre
 Prithvi Theatre (Mumbai)
 Rotary Club
 Apollo Hospital
5. Capitalise the names of the days of the week, months, and holidays, but not the names of the seasons.
Examples
 Thursday
 March
 winter
 Republic Day
 Holi
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6. Capitalise the brand names of particular products, but not the types of products that they identify.
Examples
 Maggie noodles
 Parle-G biscuit
 Big Mac burger
7. Capitalise the names of governmental bodies, agencies, departments, and offices.

Examples
 House of Representatives
 Lok Sabha
 GoI (Government of India)
 Income Tax Department
8. Capitalise titles that show a person’s profession, rank, office, or family relationship when they are used with
personal names.
Examples
 Uncle Nehru
 Mom
 Professor Mehta
9. Capitalise the first word and all important words in titles of books, stories, movies, works of art, musical
compositions, coined words, etc.
Examples
 Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
 Wikipedia article
 Y2K bug
 Sesame Street
 Statue of Liberty
10. Capitalise the names of historical events, periods, documents, sacred names and religious titles.
Examples
 Inca civilization
 Dark Ages
 Attack on Pearl Harbor
 Varanasi
 Upanishads
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6. Redundancies and clichés

Redundancies and Clichés
Deadwood (also known as redundancy)
Deadwood results when long words are substituted for shorter, simpler ones that mean the same thing.
Example 1
Original: The utilisation of these chemicals is hazardous.
Revision: Using these chemicals is hazardous.
“Utilisation” has five syllables (u-ti-li-sa-tion ) and “use” has one. Since they both mean the same thing, why waste
anyone’s time and energy on “utilisation”?
More syllables do not mean smarter or more knowledgeable or more cultured.
More syllables mean only one thing: more clutter to cut through before you get to your meaning, if you get there at
all.
Example 2
Original: The selection of any one of these evaluation systems seems to be a function of particular factors, the
most important of which are technical in nature.
Revision: Technical factors are most important when selecting an evaluation system.
Use familiar words

Marilyn vos Savant (identified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the smartest person alive) once asked h
er readers what the following paragraph meant:
When promulgating your esoteric cogitations or articulating your superficial sentimentalities and amicable
philosophical and psychological observations, beware of platitudinous ponderosity. Let your verbal evaporations
have lucidity, intelligibility, and veracious vivacity without rodomontade or thespian bombast. Sedulously avoid all
polysyllabic profundity, pompous propensity, and sophomoric vacuity. (No. of words: 45)
Make a guess: Don’t use big words! (No. of words: 4)
What is a cliché?
Cutting out “Rubber Stamps”
Rubber stamps (also called clichés
) are expressions used by habit every time a certain type of situation occurs. They are used without thought and do
not fit the present situation exclusively. As the term indicates, they are used much as you would use a rubber stamp.
Cutting out “Rubber Stamps”

Rubber stamps (also called clichés
) are expressions used by habit every time a certain type of situation occurs. They are used without thought and do
not fit the present situation exclusively. As the term indicates, they are used much as you would use a rubber stamp.
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Reference List (cliché)

Expressions that have turned into cliché
In describing time
in the nick of time to happen just in time
only time will tell to become clear over time
a matter of time to happen sooner or later
at the speed of light to do something very quickly
lasted an eternity to last for a very long time
lost track of time to stop paying attention to time
In describing people
as brave as a lion describes a very brave person
as clever as a fox describes a very clever person
as old as the hills describes an old person or idea
a diamond in the rough describes someone with a brilliant future
fit as a fiddle describes a person in a good shape
as meek as a lamb describes a person who is too weak and humble
In describing various sentiments

frightened to death to be too frightened
scared out of one’s wits to be too frightened
all is fair in love and war to go to any extent to claim somebody’s love
all is well that ends well a happy ending reduces the severity of problems that come in one’s way
every cloud has a silver lining problems also have something good in them
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the writing on the wall something clear and already understood
time heals all wounds pain and miseries get away with the passage of time
haste makes waste people make mistakes when hurrying up
List of Imprecise Verbs

As you can see in the following list, an imprecise verb depends on a word or two after the verb to give it meaning.
For example, in the combination “have plans,” the verb have suggests nothing about planning, and the sense of
planning has moved to the object of the verb (plans). Information is clearer when a verb conveys the action on its
own.
Imprecise verbs Precise verbs
1. be in agreement agree
2. be capable of can
3. carry out an inspection of inspect
4. conduct an investigation of investigate
5. do a verification of verify
6. draw a conclusion infer, conclude
7. give an answer answer
8. give rise to cause
9. have a requirement require
10. have knowledge of know
11. have plans plan
12. have the capability to can
13. hold a meeting meet
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14. keep track of track
15. make a distinction distinguish
16. make a proposal propose
17. make a suggestion suggest
18. make changes to change
19. make contact with meet
20. perform the printing print
21. provide assistance help
22. reach a decision decide
23. render inoperative break
24. serve to define define
25. show improvement improve
List of Redundant Phrases

Redundant Essential
1. absolutely incomplete incomplete
2. active consideration Consideration
3. actively involved, actively looking involved, looking
4. a) actual facts
b) solid facts Facts
c) true facts
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5. advance planning Planning
6. advice and counsel advice or counsel
7. as of yet Yet
8. bad weather conditions bad weather
9. deteriorating economic conditions deteriorating economy
10. deteriorating client response conditions client’s deteriorating responses
11. crisis situation Crisis
12. each and every each or every
13. entirely complete Complete
14. exactly identical Identical
15. fair and equitable fair or equitable
16. famous and well-known famous or well-known
17. four different types four types
18. free gift gift or free
19. future prospects Prospects
20. goals and objectives (when the two are not distinguished) goals or objectives; or, distinguish the two
21. in ten years from now in ten years
22. integral part Part
23. make an effort to try make an effort or try
24. midway between midway or between
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25. necessary and essential necessary or essential
26. past history past or history
27. positive affirmative action affirmative action
28. positive growth Growth
29. preconditions Conditions
30. prepay first prepay or pay first
31. present status Status
32. prison facilities Prison
33. church facilities Church
34. hospital facilities Hospital
35. problem situation Problem
36. reality as it is Reality
37. refer back Refer
38. repeat again again or repeat
39. seven different varieties seven varieties
40. successfully avoided Avoided
41. successfully completed Completed
42. three different kinds three kinds
43. totally unique Unique
44. true facts truth or facts
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45. unexpected surprise Surprise
46. uniquely one of a kind one of a kind or unique
Circumlocution
Mary had a little lamb
Mary had a callow sheep with pellicule of niveous hue
Whose fleece was white as snow
Ubiquitous though Mary was =
Everywhere that, Mary went
It was inured to pursue
The lamb was sure to go.
X X X
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PROFESSIONAL WRITING SKILLS IN ENGLISH (21EGH28)

A. What is a topic sentence?

B. Parts of a topic sentence

2. A lot of sweat and blood is involved in establishing a startup.

3. A specialisation in Artificial Intelligence can open many doors.

Subject Controlling idea

State the controlling idea, however, in such a way that it gives

In this way, every time you want to add a sentence to your

Topic sentences have three characteristics:

Note this summary of the main topic:

F. Causes and effects

G. Comparison and contrast

Identifying the topic sentence

Checking for the topic sentence

Topic and main idea

What is this paragraph mainly about?

The answer: Travel is a part of our way of life.

What can a topic be?

A person’s name Mahatma Gandhi

A process Insolvency process

A concept Euthanasia (the right to die)

Pointers about determining the topic

Form and length

Characteristics of a good paragraph

Coherence through repetition of key words

Coherence through pronoun reference

Transitional expressions (paragraphs)

Table: Common transitions

Determine the topic (Part C)

2. The Art of Condensation (Précis writing)

Other forms of condensation

Key elements of précis writing

A précis could be used to shorten or summarise:

Goals of the précis

Précis in everyday life

Précis writing, then, involves two main processes:

Difference between précis writing and paraphrasing

A précis, on the other hand, must

Précis writing and outlining

How to write a précis

The edited original text

List of essential points (Précis)

Preparation for précis

He went down the highway that leads

To go to Bangalore was his ambition.

The cattle in the field made a perfect

a noun object He knew that he would come.

an adjective The man who stood there was my uncle.

an adverb When I came I saw him there.

a noun subject His arrival was eagerly awaited.

a noun object They knew his whereabouts.

an adjective The girl in the white coat is my sister.

an adverb Wanting help, they applied to the Police.

Although he was feeling very ill, he carried on with his

As we were coming along, someone shouted to us. [9

Running down the street, I saw several shops just

Being over-confident, we allowed ourselves to Because we were over-confident, we allowed ourselves to

Phrase One-word substitution

He regarded my remark as completely beside the point. He regarded my remark as irrelevant.

Phrase One-word substitution

love of one’s country patriotism

the putting of expediency before principle opportunism

in the near future soon (adverb)

a person eighty years old an octogenarian