Finding the Main Idea

The main idea is the "big point" the writer is showing to the reader. You can often infer, or guess, the main idea just from the title.

• For example: The title "Dogs make the best pets" will include such points.

The controlling idea "controls" all the author's other ideas. All the supporting details in a text should explain or support the main idea.

The main idea is broad (general). The supporting ideas are narrow (specific).

• For example: The word sport is general, but the word tennis is narrow.

The topic is the general idea, or subject, of the text. To find the topic, ask yourself the question who or what the reading is about. Sometimes a topic is only a single word or phrase, such as "Pets" or "Pet Cats".

Most paragraphs have a topic sentence which shows the paragraph's meaning. The topic sentence is then supported with details.

• For example: Find the topic sentence in this paragraph:

One country drinks more coffee than any other. The country might surprise you. Finland is number one for coffee consumption. Finns drink around 12 kilos (or over 26 pounds) of coffee every year. This is more than any other country. The US and UK don't drink much by comparison. These countries consume less than 5 kilos (11 pounds) per person each year.

• Answer: Finland is number one for coffee consumption. This is the sentence that controls the details of the other sentences.

Sometimes the topic sentence is not easy to find, or it may not be stated at all. Authors may want the reader to infer or guess the main idea based on clues from the text.

• For example: What is the implied main idea of this paragraph?

People in the UK drink 3 kilos of coffee per year. In the US, people drink about 4 kilos per day. Canadians drink about 6 kilos per day. Finns consume over 12 kilos of coffee per day.

• Answer: People all over the world drink different amounts of coffee.