Main Idea

LEVEL 2, Unit 4b
By Language Training Centre (LTC) UMY
What is main idea?
“The primary point or concept that the author wants to
communicate to the readers about the topic”.  

 It gives the primar y idea of what the paragraph is about and is suppor ted by the
details in subsequent sentences in the paragraph.

 It covers ever ything the paragraph talks about in a general way, but does not include
the specifi cs .

 It is the author's message about the topic .

How to fi nd main idea of a paragraph?
1. Identify the topic

 Read the passage through completely, then tr y to identify the topic. Who or what
is the paragraph about?

 Af ter you fi nd the “ Who” or the “What ” discussed in the paragraph, tr y to

understand the writer ’s idea about this “Who /What ” by asking : Why / How /
When / Where / etc does the writer discuss the topic. This idea is called as
Controlling idea.
MAIN IDEA:

Topic (Who/What)
+
Controlling idea (Why / How / When / Where / etc )
How to fi nd main idea of a paragraph?
2. Summarize the paragraph
 Af ter reading the passage thoroughly, summarize it in your own words in  one
sentence .

 Main idea is general; Topic + Controlling idea MINUS specifi c details.

 Main idea is always a complete sentence .

MAIN IDEA:

Topic (Who/What)
+
Controlling idea (Why / How / When / Where / etc )

MINUS
Specific details (because … / by … / at / on / in /
etc)
How to fi nd main idea of a paragraph?
3. Look at the fi rst and /or the last sentence of the paragraph

 Main ideas are of ten found at the beginning of paragraphs . The fi rst sentence
of ten explains the subject being discussed in the passage.

 Main ideas are also found in the concludi ng sentences of a paragraph . The
main idea can be expressed as a summar y of the information in the paragraph as
well as a link to the information in the next paragraph (if the passage has more
than one paragraph).

BUT!

Sometimes, main idea is NOT ALWAYS stated in the

first or last sentence.

Go to the next page to find out >>

How to fi nd main idea of a paragraph?
4. Look for repetitions of ideas

 M ai n ide a id not al way s c le ar ly st at ed, it c a n a l so b e im p li ed .

 Several s ent en ce s in a pa rag rap h c an i m pl y t he m a in ide a by in tr od uci ng f a ct s

a bo ut the t op ic .

 Sta r t l ook i ng for r ep e at e d wor d s , phra se s , or r e la t ed i d ea s .

 Practice
What was supposed to be a grand travel of 10 months
around the world journey to end my 2019 was cut very
short u n e x p e c t e d l y, but I was thankful. When COVID19
began to e ff e c t countries around the world, I was in
Southeast Asia. I somehow managed to get from Thailand
t o V i e t n a m t o Tr i n i d a d a n d To b a g o t o C u r a c a o t o C o l o m b i a
before the worldwide lock down and border closings. I was
heading into month 8 of my journey before I decided to go
back to the States. I am grateful for all of the help I
received in getting back home, only 1 day before the
Colombian President decided to stop all entry and exit from
t h e c o u n t r y. I h o p e t o fi n i s h m y j o u r n e y o n e d a y b u t f o r
n o w I a m t r u l y b l e s s e d t o b e b a c k h o m e w i t h f a m i l y. I w i l l
say that being on stay orders in my country was the best
d e c i s i o n f o r m e , b u t m y h a t s g o o ff to my travel friends
who are sticking this out in other countries. The world is a
beautiful place, can’t wait until we can explore again!

Adapted from: https://hostelgeeks.com /coronavirus-travel-stories-real-life /

Main idea:

Ste p 1 :

From th e fi r st se nte nc e of t he
pa ra g ra ph , we ca n ide nt ify th e
topic an d t he c on tr ol li ng ide a .

 Topic : Th e wri ter ’s g ran d trav el Th er ef or e, t he m a in id ea f or t he

pa ra g ra ph i s:
 C on tr ol li ng ide : i t wa s c u t s hor t

“T he wr i te r s’ g rand t rave l wa s
cut s hor t ”
Ste p 2 :

From th e f ol lowin g sen te nc es we

ca n id ent ify th e spe ci fi c det ai ls ,
th at is : be ca us e of C OVID 1 9 .
Practice more
C a n y o u fi n d t h e m a i n i d e a o f t h i s p a r a g r a p h ?

Moving between volunteering placements and

hostels for the past 6 months have been my routine
due to COVID 19 which has given me a valuable
experience I could never had elsewhere. The day af ter
t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t o f a 4 - w e e k ‘ l o c k d o w n’ i n N Z , I wa s
s e t t o h e a d t o a n e w Wo r k a wa y t o h e l p b u i l d a w i n t e r
veggie garden. Luckily for me, I happened to be
staying in a VERY posh Airbnb and the owners came
r o u n d t o o ff e r m y p a r t n e r a n d I a c h a n c e t o s t a y f o r a
very reasonable price. Thanks to the generosity of
s t ra n g e r s , I now get to enjoy my own space and
unlimited WiFi so that I can continue my online work. I
am full of g ra t i t u d e and have no doubt that this
situation will bring people together rather than pull
them apart.

Adapted from: https://hostelgeeks.com /coronavirus-travel-stories-real-life /

References:
M odul e L eve l 2 LTC UM Y
h ttp s: //t iny ur l. com /m odul L eve l2

h ttp s: //www. th ou g ht co. com /how- to- fi

n d- th e- m a in - ide a- 3 2 12 04 7

h ttp s: //www. cc is .e du /offi c e s /a ca de m ic

r esou rc es / wr it ing ce nt er /st udy sk il ls / te
xtb ook r ead in g st rat eg i es /fi ndi ng t he m ai
n ide a. a spx