概括

• Pinyin: gài kuò
• Hanzi breakdown: 概 = 木 (wood) + 既 (already, phonetic), a levelling stick for grain — extended to 'general standard'; 括 = 扌(hand) + 活 (live, phonetic), to gather together

Meaning

To summarise; to generalise; to give a broad outline (V); concise and comprehensive (Adj). Used for condensing a topic into its key points or describing language that covers the essentials briefly.

As a verb, 概括 means to sum up or generalise information. As an adjective, it describes language or content that is brief yet thorough. Common in academic and formal writing. 概括起来 (to summarise / in brief) is a frequent phrase. The opposite of 详细 (detailed).

Examples

1. 老师让我们用三句话概括这篇文章的主要内容。 The teacher asked us to summarise the main content of this article in three sentences.
2. 他的发言很简洁，能够概括地说明问题。 His speech was very concise and managed to cover the key issues comprehensively.
3. 概括起来，这次调查的结果说明大多数人支持这项政策。 To summarise, the results of this survey show that most people support this policy.

Usage Guide

Context: academic, writing, speech

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 请你用一两句话概括一下这次会议的结论。(Please summarise the conclusions of this meeting in a sentence or two.)
• 她用非常概括的语言介绍了公司的发展历史。(She described the company's development history in very concise, comprehensive language.)

Don't Say

• 在随意口语中用'概括'代替'总结一下' (Avoid using 概括 for trivial everyday summaries — it sounds overly formal; prefer 总结一下 in casual conversation)

Origin & History

A compound of 概 (broad outlines/general standard) + 括 (to include/encompass). Together they convey the idea of taking in the broad outlines of something comprehensively.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal