Letter Writing Techniques for SBI PO Exams - Personal Letters / Informal Letters

 Read Basics of Letter Writing Here

Personal Letters (or) Informal Letters : These are letters that do not have many rules. Since you are writing to your friends and family, you are free to choose your tone and content. Write your full name and address even if it is an informal letter.

Divide your letter in small paragraphs. Keep your writing simple. Make a good choice of words especially if you are writing an apology letter to express your condolences in case of a death.

Date : The Date is placed in the top right end of the page.

Salutation : On the extreme left side of the page, a few spaces below the date. It can be 'Dear Ram' or 'My Dear Mummy/Ma' (but not mother). You always address your mother, father, brother by a name, not by relationship.

Body : Start a space or two below the salutation. Indent all the paragraphs.

Closing : Most people close the letter with phrases like 'Yours affectionately / With love / All the best / Take care' etc. These words should be a few spaces below the last line of the text, on the right side. (Now a days left side closing has also become popular). 

This is the basic structure of a letter. you can modify it according to the purpose for which it is written and the person to whom it is addressed. 

Note : If you are writing a letter for job application (formal letter), then you may need to attach your resume along  with the letter and also mention the same in it. Furthermore, you try to write as simply and as clearly as possible, and not to make the letter longer than necessary. Remember not to use informal langaute like contractions.

Now lets have a look at some Examples of Informal Letters here

Format of the Letter

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 Letter Writing for SBI PO Descriptive Paper - Introduction

The key to the success in the era of globalization is communication. And correspondence (letters) is perhaps the most important component of communication. Even in the age of modern technological innovations like e-mail, internet and long distance connectivity, letters still carry the maximum load of personal and business communication. 

Whatever be the medium of carrying the message, the message has to be properly written to convey the required meaning and complete sense. One has liberty to write personal letters  as one wants, but business or formal letters have to follow some norms in order to make appropriate impact. 

It is said that letter writing is nothing but an art. Even though letters have transformed into e-mails and SMSs, the art still remains, only the medium has changed. Letters can be broadly classified into formal letters and informal letters. 

Formal Letters : As the name suggests, formal letters include business letters, official letters, applications, complaints, letter to editors, letters written to people whom we want to convey certain important information. 

Informal Letters : Informal letters include personal letters, letters that are written to our friends and family. 

While formal letters follow certain format, one can be flexible while writing informal letters. nonetheless, letter writing is a skill that needs to be honed over time with practice. It is a pleasurable task once you know the basic rules. Letter writing almost embarks you on a journey of words, be it hand-written or typed, this is one activity that helps you communicate so beautifully.

There are several types of letters that are being asked for SBI PO Exam. 

Those are :

• Application and Appreciation
• Enquirers and Requests
• Complaint and Recommendation
• Sales and Promotion
• Welcome or Invitation Letters
• Some times they will ask you to write a letter to your brother / friend by describing something

There are two elements to a letter. Format and Body. The format refers to the style in which the letter is written, and the body refers to the content of the letter. 

Lesson 2 : Personal / Informal Letter Writing 

•  Examples of Personal / Informal Letter Writing

Lesson 3 : Formal Letter Writing Tips - Business Letters

Read more English Lessons Here 

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 Precis Writing Examples for SBI Bank PO Exams

Friends, before going to read examples we request you to read the basics of Precis Writing here. All the best.

Precis Writing Example :

Trees give shade for the benefit of others, and while they themselves stand in the sun and endure the scorching heat, they produce the fruit of which others profit. The character of good men is like that of trees. What is the use of this perishable body if no use is made of it for the benefit of mankind ? Sandalwood, the more it is rubbed, the more scent does it yield. Sugarcane, the more it is peeled and cut up into pieces, the more juice does it produce. The men who are noble at heart do not lose their qualities even in losing their lives. What matters whether men praise them or not? What difference does it make whether they die at this moment or whether lives are prolonged? Happen what may, those who is unprofitable to a man who does not live for others. To live for the mere sake of living one's life is to live the life or dog and crows. Those who lay down their lives for the sake of others will assuredly dwell forever in a world of bliss.

Now they will ask you to make a precis out of the above paragraph and put a suitable title for it. Make it the habit of reading twice before going to write precis. First read little slowly because you are new to this para. Later read lil faster and try to pick important points mentioned in the paragraph. 

What will be the suitable title for our precis ?

Life of trees? Smell of Sandal wood? Death of good men? or Juice of Sugar Cane? See, don't confuse with the lines. Try to pick the soul of the paragraph. About what they are talking of. Now just think of a suitable name for the above para .



And now you should write precis... Remember all the points we've discussed in our earlier precis writing tips. Just pick important points from the given para and write them on your own. All the best.

Precis : The character of good men is like that of trees. They live for others and do not lose their qualities even in losing their lives. They always follow the right path. Praise is immaterial to them. To live for one's own sake is to lead the life of beasts. Only those who lay down their lives for others will live forever in a world of bliss. 

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 Important Techniques to Compress the Given Data for Precis Writing

Read basics of Precis writing here. 

A good precis is without all superfluities. This is not quite easy to achieve and requires a lot of patience, hard work and practice. Certain devices, like one word substitution, help to reduce words in a precis and assists in compressing it. 

Something a single word is sufficient fro many. Hence the more one-words you know, the better for you. This requires vocabulary development which extensive reading and god dictionaries and other sources can provide.

For clear understanding, have a look at the following examples.

• One who is not professional - Amateur
• An assembly of hearers - Audience
• A battle or match in which neither party wins - Drawn
• Fit to be eaten - Edible
• That which cannot be conquered - Invincible

Sentences can be compressed in two ways 

1. by removing redundancies and ornamental expressions, and
2. by combining a number of sentences into one sentence.

Examples :

• When sorrows come, they do not come alone but in battalions 
• you can compress the above sentence and simplify it as Misfortunes never come alone
• The thunder-storm continued unabated and did not cease until after it was dawn
• you can compress the above sentence and simplify it as The thunder-storm continued till dawn
• I was standing at the gate. it was the time of sunset. At that time a carriage drew up. The carriage contained a gentleman. The gentleman was middle aged. 
• you can compress the above sentence and simplify it as While I was standing at the gate at sunset, a carriage containing a middle-aged gentleman drew up.

A paragraph consists of a number of sentences dealing with a single topic or idea. It has thus a unity of purpose and is quite easy to summarize. The first sentence generally states the theme. Each sentence develops the subject in a logical manner. All sentences which elaborate or explain the main idea are omitted while writing a precis. We deal only with the crux of the paragraph. 

Read examples of Precis writing here

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 Approach to Precis Writing for Bank PO Exams

Read basics of Precis writing here. 

• A precis should reduce the lenght of the original passage by at least two - thirds.
• Every important idea must be retained, preferably in the order in which it appears in the original.
• Unimportant points, including details, illustrations and anecdotes, should be discarded.
• A first draft of the precis should be written, then checked to see that it contains the main ideas of the passage.
• Although you should be as brief as possible, guard against being so condensed that you obscure the point of passage.
• Try to capture the tone or feeling of the original, particularly if it is deliberately humorous  ironic or biased.
• Check the draft for expression errors, repetition or vague phrasing; then write a smoother final version. 

Read Important Techniques to Compress the Given data for Precis writing here

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 How to Write Precis in SBI Bank PO Exam ?

Friends, we've already discussed about the basics of Precis writing for bank po exams (you can read that post here). In this post we shall discuss important points / rules which you should follow to write precis. Lets have a look...

In writing a precis just proceed as follows :

• Read Carefully, sentence by sentence, the passage to be summarized. Try to grasp the writer's main point. Spotting the topic sentence will help. As you read, take brief notes to be used in your writing.
• When you have finally decided what the author's main point is, write it out in your own words. Do not use the wording of the original except for certain key words which you may find indispensable. If you cant translate the idea into your own language, you do not understand them very well. Be especially careful not to rely too much on the topic sentence. Do not add add any ideas or opinions of your own. 
• Revise your writing until you are sure that you have given an accurate summary.
• Usually you will find your precis is too long, if it is more than one-third the length of the original. Continue your revision until you have reduced the precis to the proper length  In this careful revision lies the principal value of the precis as a composition exercise. 

Read about the Approach of Precis writing here

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 Précis Writing Tips for SBI Bank PO Exams

Friends, all of you know that SBI has announced its notification for Probationary Officers (PO) recruitment for the year 2013. This exam consists of two sections. 1. Objective Test and 2. Descriptive Test. We've already updated plenty of materials on Objective Section. With a good practice and observation, people can easily do better in Objective Test. So not going to say anything about it now. Lets talk about the Descriptive Section. This section is going to play a crucial role in your final selection of the exam. So, We've planned to give you a complete set of materials on Descriptive Section. This set consists of  the topics Comprehension, Short Précis, Letter writing & Essay. As an initiative of this, today we are starting with short notes on Precis writing. We hope that this surely will help you doing good in upcoming SBI PO Exam's descriptive section .Feel free to use the comments box below if you have any questions / comments... 

Origin of the word Precis : 

The word “précis” (not Precis, but we actually got used to type it in this way.. so no issues....you should pronounce it as pray-see) is cognate to the word “precise” coming from a Latin word meaning “to cut.” It has been variously referred to as  abbreviation’, ‘subtraction’, ‘abstract’, ‘summary’, and ‘condensation’. A precis, then, is a cut version of the original, retaining the main ideas and omitting all or most of the examples and secondary ideas.

What is Précis Writing ?

As we discussed in the above paragraph we can simply say, A precis is a Short Summary. It is not a paraphrase, which merely says in different and simpler words exactly what the passage being paraphrased has to say. A paraphrase may be as long as the passage itself whereas a precis rarely is more than one-third the length of the original selection and may be only one-fourth as long (for bank exams' descriptive section, its advisible to limit your precis to the 1/3rd of the given paragraph. 

A precis gives only the "heart" of a passage. It omits repetition and such details as examples, illustrations and adjectives unless they are of unusual importance. 

A precis is written entirely in the words of the person writing it, not in the words of the original selection. Avoid the temptation of lifting long phrases and whole sentences from the original. It wont help you. And in fact it may lessen your good impression and may lead to less score in the exam. 

As we've already mentioned above, a precis is written from the point of the author whose work is being summarized. Don't begin with such expressions as "The paragraph means" or "The author says".. etc... Just begin as though you were summarizing your own writing.

Now lets have a look at some basic rules you should follow in order to write a good precis.

1. How to write Good Precis for SBI PO Exams ?
2. Approach to Precis Writing
3. Important Techniques to Compress the given data for Precis Writing (important)
4. Precis Writing Examples 

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