English · Summary Writing
Common Mistakes in Summary Writing
The errors that cost the most marks in a summary, and how to avoid each one.
Four errors account for most lost marks: copying sentences instead of rephrasing, keeping the examples and dropping the argument, adding your own opinion, and writing to the wrong length. The first is the most heavily penalised, because a summary made of copied sentences shows none of the judgement the task is testing.
The format
Copying instead of rephrasing
The most heavily penalised error, and the most common. A summary assembled from sentences lifted out of the passage demonstrates none of the judgement being tested, so boards mark it down sharply even when the sentences chosen are the correct ones.
- Read the sentence, look away, then write what it said.
- Technical terms and proper names may be kept; ordinary vocabulary should be replaced.
- More than two or three consecutive words from the original reads as copying.
Keeping the examples and losing the argument
Examples are vivid and easy to remember, which is why they survive into so many summaries while the reasons they illustrate are dropped. The result is a summary made of instances with nothing holding them together.
- Every sentence beginning For instance or For example can be deleted.
- If a summary sentence would puzzle someone who had not read the passage, it is probably an orphaned example.
Adding your own opinion or information
A summary contains nothing that is not in the passage. Agreement, disagreement, extra facts and explanations are all additions, and all are marked down — even when the addition is correct.
Writing to the wrong length
About one third of the original, unless the question sets a limit. Both directions cost marks: too long means you have not selected, too short means you have lost content. Counting the passage takes twenty seconds and removes the guesswork entirely.
Three smaller errors
- Opening with This passage is about… or The writer says… — start with the content.
- Keeping the first person when the question expects the third.
- Dropping qualifying words (often, usually), which makes the writer sound more absolute than they were.
Model answer
The same passage, summarised badly and well
Original (about 90 words)
Trees are often described as the lungs of the earth, and the description is more than a figure of speech. A mature tree absorbs a substantial quantity of carbon dioxide each year and releases oxygen in return. But trees do more than exchange gases. Their roots bind the soil, so that a hillside with trees loses far less earth in heavy rain than a bare one; and their shade lowers the temperature around them, which in a crowded city can be the difference between a street that is usable in April and one that is not.
A weak summary — three errors
This passage is about trees. Trees are often described as the lungs of the earth. A hillside with trees loses far less earth in heavy rain than a bare one. I think everyone should plant more trees because they are very useful for us.
Why it fails
It opens by announcing the passage instead of reporting it. Its second and third sentences are copied verbatim. The third is an orphaned example with nothing to support. And the last sentence is the writer's own opinion, which a summary may never contain.
A good summary (about 35 words)
Trees genuinely function as the earth's lungs, absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. They also hold soil in place, reducing erosion on slopes during heavy rain, and their shade cools the surrounding area, which matters particularly in crowded cities.
What earns and loses marks
- 🚨 Read the sentence, look away, then write it. It is the simplest defence against copying and it works.
- Delete every example before you start assembling the summary.
- Count the passage and divide by three before writing.
- Never open with “This passage is about”. Start with the first idea itself.
- Read the finished summary once asking only: is there anything here that is not in the passage?
Mistakes to avoid
- ✗ This passage is about the importance of trees. ✓ Trees genuinely function as the earth’s lungs. — report the content, not the passage
- ✗ I think everyone should plant more trees. ✓ (delete — a summary contains no opinion of your own)
Frequently Asked Questions
Copying. A summary assembled from the passage’s own sentences shows none of the judgement being tested, and boards penalise it heavily even when the selection is correct. Everything else — length, person, an added opinion — costs less than this one.
Read a sentence, look away from the passage, and write what it said. Working with your eyes on the original almost guarantees that its phrasing will come out on the page. Marking the passage up first, then writing from the marks rather than the text, has the same effect.
Yes, and it is a mistake students underestimate. Too short means content has been lost, and content marks are the largest part of the score. The target is about a third of the original — noticeably under that usually means whole ideas have gone missing rather than that the writing is efficient.
Keep going
Model answers, formats and grammar rules for every SSC and HSC writing question.