How to Write a Summary: Structure, Rules, Example

A summary states the most important points of a text briefly, objectively and in your own words, consistently in the present tense and without direct quotations or personal opinion. In German lessons it is called a Zusammenfassung (or Inhaltsangabe); in English class it is a summary and follows the same basic rules, only in English and in the simple present.

What is a summary?

A summary should leave readers so well informed that they know the original text without having read it (this is how the German learning provider Studienkreis puts it). It shows above all one thing: that you have understood the text. If you only rearrange sentences without grasping the line of thought, you notice it at the latest when you have to shorten.

Universities describe the principle in much the same way. The Writing and Communication Centre at the University of Waterloo calls a summary a presentation of the essential information of a source "in your own words" that is exclusively an explanation of another author's ideas and free of personal evaluation. That is the core, whether you are in year 7 or at university.

How is a summary structured?

Studienkreis divides the summary (or Inhaltsangabe) into three parts: introduction, main part and conclusion.

• Introduction (basic sentence): It names the text type, title, author and, where known, place and date of publication, plus the topic in one sentence. Example: "The short story 'Title' by Name, published in 20xx, is about …"
• Main part: The most important information goes here in a sensible order. The W-questions help: who, what, when, where, why. Unimportant things are left out.
• Conclusion: Opinions differ here. Studienkreis names a personal opinion or a description of the effect as the conclusion, while the Duden, as quoted by the Hessian education server, stresses that evaluation and personal comment disturb an Inhaltsangabe. For the main part, one thing applies in any case: no evaluation. Whether and how your conclusion should look is up to your teacher. If in doubt, ask before you write a class test.

Which rules apply?

The following rules appear, with different emphasis, in the sources consulted:

1. Present tense. Everything is written in the present, even if the original narrates in the past.
2. Your own words. You do not copy sentences but reformulate.
3. Direct speech becomes indirect speech. "I will fetch the ball" becomes: The frog says he will fetch the ball. (Depending on the task, a brief paraphrase without a reporting phrase is enough.)
4. Objective and neutral. No evaluations ("an exciting text"), no feelings of the writer, no embellishing adjectives.
5. The essentials, not everything. Examples, minor characters and details that do not carry the line of thought or the plot are dropped.
6. Nothing new. The summary contains only what is in the text. The University of Waterloo also stresses that nothing belongs in it that is missing from the original.

There is no fixed length requirement in German by itself. The length depends on the text and the task. Follow your teacher's instructions, and otherwise follow the rule of thumb from the Waterloo writing centre: shorter is better.

How do I proceed step by step?

Studienkreis describes a six-step route that is easy to remember:

1. Read the text once for an overview.
2. Read it a second time, marking important terms and the answers to the W-questions.
3. Divide the text into sections of meaning and give each section a keyword line.
4. Write the introduction.
5. Write the main part from your keywords.
6. Add the conclusion, if your teacher asks for one.

A practical tip from writing practice: put the text aside while you formulate and write from your keywords. That keeps you from copying sentences without noticing. Afterwards, check whether every sentence is in the present tense and whether an evaluation has slipped in anywhere.

Example: a short summary of "The Frog King"

The source text is one almost everybody knows: the fairy tale "The Frog King, or Iron Henry" from the "Children's and Household Tales" (Kinder- und Hausmärchen) by the Brothers Grimm. The text is in the public domain. I formulated the following summary myself; it condenses the well-known plot:

The fairy tale "The Frog King, or Iron Henry" from the "Children's and Household Tales" by the Brothers Grimm is about a king's daughter who has to keep a promise. When the princess's golden ball falls into a well, a frog fetches it for her. In return he demands to become her friend, to eat at her table and to sleep in her bed. The princess agrees but does not keep her word and runs away. The frog follows her all the way to the castle. Because the king insists that she keep her promise, the princess has to take the frog in. In the end the frog turns into a prince who had been put under a spell by a wicked witch.

Check the rules against this example: the basic sentence names the text type, title, collection and topic. Everything is in the present tense, and there is neither direct speech nor a judgement of the fairy tale. The dialogue about the golden ball and many details have been dropped because the plot stays understandable without them.

How do I write a summary in English class?

The summary follows the same rules in essence, with some English particularities. Studienkreis (English) gives the structure as introduction, main part and conclusion. The key points:

• Introductory sentence: It contains text type, title, author, publication and main topic, for example following the pattern "The newspaper article 'Title' written by Name and published in Newspaper in Month Year deals with …". Instead of "deals with", "is about" or "informs about" also work.
• Simple present throughout, without suspense words such as "suddenly".
• No direct speech and no quotations. "I think …" becomes "The author thinks/argues …". Personal pronouns are adapted accordingly.
• No personal opinion and no repetition.
• Length: According to Studienkreis, the summary should be at most one third of the original text.
• Linking: With connectors such as "then", "however" or "as a result" you get a coherent text instead of a list.

A mini-summary of the example above begins roughly like this: "The fairy tale 'The Frog King, or Iron Henry' by the Brothers Grimm is about a princess who has to keep a promise she made to a frog."

What is the difference between Zusammenfassung, Inhaltsangabe and summary?

In lessons the terms are often used side by side, and the rules are largely the same. The page of the Hessian education server speaks of the Inhaltsangabe, Studienkreis of the Zusammenfassung, both with present tense and no evaluation; indirect speech is stressed mainly by the Hessian page. Studienkreis (English) states explicitly that the rules in German and English are the same. A common rule of thumb, which you should check with your teacher, is:

• Inhaltsangabe: usually the term for reproducing a literary text, such as a short story or a chapter.
• Zusammenfassung: the umbrella term that also covers non-fiction texts, articles or talks.
• Summary: the English counterpart, with an introductory sentence, simple present and the limit of at most one third of the length.

The real difference therefore lies in the language and in the detail of the requirements, not in the attitude: it is always about reproducing someone else's thoughts briefly and neutrally.

Which mistakes happen most often?

• Smuggling in evaluation. Sentences like "The text is very interesting" or "Unfortunately the ending is sad" do not belong in a summary.
• Writing in the past tense. Anyone who retells the text ("The princess dropped the ball") slips into the past.
• Staying too close to the original. Copied sentences do not show that you have understood the text.
• Too many details. If the summary becomes almost as long as the text, the selection is missing.
• Taking over direct speech. Direct speech and quotations are reformulated or left out.
• Creating suspense. A summary does not narrate, it reports. "Suddenly" or "luckily" have no place in it.
• Adding something that is not in the text. Your own interpretations and prior knowledge stay out.

How does AI help with summarising, and where are its limits?

For a school task, your own wording is the goal: the summary is the exercise, not just the result. It is different when you are learning and have to work your way into long lecture notes or technical texts. There, AI summaries can help you get a first overview. How to use them sensibly and why you should check them is explained in the article AI summaries for studying; this article, by contrast, treats the summary as a writing task in German and English. If you are working on texts anyway, how to write an essay offers writing technique for the larger forms, and the reading method SQ3R helps with a thorough first read.

What a summary of an entire play looks like is shown in the summary of “Der zerbrochne Krug” – structured by scene and with verified quotations.

Conclusion

A good summary starts with a basic sentence, gives only the essentials in the main part in the present tense, and manages without quotations and evaluation. The summary in English class follows the same idea, plus the English introductory sentence, the simple present and a length of at most one third. You will find more methods for school and university in the Subjects & Topics category. If you want to revise long materials, LearnCastAI can turn them into summaries and practice questions; it does not replace writing your own summary, though, because that is exactly where you learn the most.