Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 6: 3/24

つまりIn short, To sum up, In other words

Structure

Phrase (A)。つまり + (Summary) Phrase (B)

Details

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    Standard

  • Rare Kanji

    詰まり

About つまり

つまり (or 詰(つ)まり) is a word in Japanese that is often used as an adverb. It takes a previous statement (said either by the speaker or by someone else) and summarizes it. This translates as 'in short', 'in other words', and similar expressions in English.

  • ハマサキさんはまた何(なに)も言(い)わずに休(やす)んだのですか？つまり、また無断(むだん)欠勤(けっきん)という事(こと)ですね。

    Hamasaki-san didn't come to work without saying anything again? In other words, he ditched work again, didn't he?

    • 彼氏(かれし)と本当(ほんとう)に別(わか)れたの？つまり、もうあんな奴(やつ)と関(かか)わらなくていいということ？

      Did you really break up with your boyfriend? In other words, that means we don't have to deal with him anymore?

      • また誰(だれ)か辞(や)めたんですか？つまり、今(いま)すぐ新(あたら)しい人(ひと)を見(み)付(つ)けないといけないという事(こと)ですね。

        Someone quit again ? In other words, we need to find a new person as soon as possible, right?

        Fun Fact

        つまり comes from verb 詰(つ)まる meaning to become 'packed', or 'condensed'. This means that the literal translation is of つまり is quite similar to its English interpretation.

        • あなたは昨日(きのう)一日(いちにち)中(じゅう)家(いえ)でゲームをして、家(いえ)の事(こと)は何(なに)もしなかったってことですね。つまり一日(いちにち)中(じゅう)ダラダラしていたという事(こと)ですね。

          You are saying that you were at home playing video games without doing any chores yesterday. Condensed, you were being lazy. (In short)

          Related

          Examples

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            明日(あした)何時(なんじ)でも良(い)いんだって。詰(つ)まり、夜遅(よるおそ)くなっても良(い)いらしい。

            They said anytime tomorrow is good. To sum up, it seems that even late at night is ok.

            彼(かれ)はいつも約束(やくそく)を破(やぶ)る。詰(つ)まり、私(わたし)のこと好(す)きじゃないよね。

            He's always breaking his promises to me. In other words it seems that he isn't fond of me, right?

            この車(くるま)は電気(でんき)自動車(じどうしゃ)です。詰(つ)まり、ガソリンが要(い)らないです。

            This is an electric car. In other words it doesn't need gasoline.

            詰(つ)まりそれはどういうことですか？もっと簡単(かんたん)に説明(せつめい)してください。

            To sum up, what do you mean? Please explain it in a more simple manner.

            今(いま)は失業(しつぎょう)しています。詰(つ)まり、あまりお金(かね)がないということです。

            He is unemployed now. In other words he doesn't have very much money.

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          つまり – Grammar Discussion

          Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

          • mrnoone

            mrnoone

            English:
            in other words・in short
            to sum up

            Structure:
            Phrase1 + つまり + Phrase2

            Explanation:
            [summarizing・rephrasing]

            View on Bunpro

          • Ambo100

            Ambo100

            Perhaps an easy way to remember this, would be to use this phonetic mnemonic:

            ツマリ - つまり
            サマリ - summary

          • entropyofchaos

            entropyofchaos

            I am not sure if its just me, but in this sentence the male voice sounds like he’s dropping the り sound in the word あまり or maybe saying あまよ. Is it just me, or an anyone else actually hear this?

            今いまは失業しつぎょうしています。詰つまり、あまりお金かねがないということです。

            I understand that sometimes native speakers will change sounds slightly. So I am just trying to confirm if its just me, or it actually isn’t said clearly.

          • Pablunpro

            Pablunpro

            Hi!

            The male voice does in fact say あまり. The fact that this is directly followed by お金 might be the reason that you hear it as a あまよ (あまりょ would be more approximate).

            Try listening to this sentence at a slower speed using the gear at the top of the examples section!

            HTH!

          • casual

            casual

            All I hear is あまぃ, no r sound, or at least no japanese r sound. It’s especially obvious if you compare both recordings side by side. One could hypothesize about mic issues or any other possible causes for the wrong sound, but I don’t see how it can be interpreted as り or りょ.

          • entropyofchaos

            entropyofchaos

            I have and I just couldn’t hear it. I even tried using my phone to record the audio off my computer to play with the audio. But I just didn’t hear anything close to り.

            I’m just curious, did you actually listen to the male voice. I can understand your guess as to what it might sound like. But I couldn’t hear anything near that.

          • entropyofchaos

            entropyofchaos

            I can see it sounding like あまぃ too. This was just bothering me so much. And yeah, the other voice was significantly clearer with that sound like you said.

          • Pablunpro

            Pablunpro

            Hi! I did, and then switched to the female voice and then back to the male voice.

            I’ve played the male voice once more and can here it, though not so clearly as the previous つまり.

          • entropyofchaos

            entropyofchaos

            I appreciate you taking the time to take a look.

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