general
part of speech
adjective (general); noun (a general, generals)
meaning for a pupil
1) General means about most people or things, not one in particular: «a general rule». tree →
2) General means not detailed, giving the main idea: «a general idea». tree →
3) General means for everyone or everything: «general knowledge». tree →
4) A general is a very high-ranking officer in an army. tree →
sense in the lessons
In school, «general knowledge» quizzes test facts about many topics; in maths a «general rule» works for all numbers, like «add two odd numbers and you get an even number». In writing, you start with a general idea, then give details. In history stories generals lead armies. Phrases: «in general» (usually; overall), «general knowledge», «general rule», «as a general rule», «general election», «the general public».
examples
- In general, cats sleep a lot. tree →
- Can you give me a general idea of the story? tree →
- We had a general knowledge quiz. tree →
- As a general rule, wash your hands before eating. tree →
- Find a general rule for the number pattern. tree →
- The general led his army into battle. tree →
- The park is open to the general public. tree →
- The general mood in class was happy. tree →
- "I am astonished also!" said the General. tree →
note
Adverb: generally. «In general» = usually or as a whole. «General» (broad, overall) is the opposite of «specific» or «particular». As a title it has a capital letter: General Grant.
In the corpora
- Skimming means reading quickly to get the general idea of a text.
- Precise words give a clearer picture than general words like nice, good, big or bad.
- Rubbish goes in the right bin: recycling, compost or general waste.
- Fortune tellers and horoscopes use general statements that fit almost anyone; there is no evidence they predict the future.
- Put lunch rubbish in the right bin: recycling, compost or general waste.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «general» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.