一般来说: generally speaking
【四28】固定短语 / fixed patterns
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
一般来说 opens a statement that is true in most cases and leaves room for exceptions: "generally speaking", "as a rule". It is a fixed phrase that stands at the start of the sentence, followed by a comma.
It belongs to the "… 来说" family: 对…来说 ("for someone") and 拿…来说 ("take… for example"). Do not confuse it with the adverb 一般 ("usually"), which sits inside the clause, after the subject: 我一般七点起床。
Register: neutral, at home in speech (a radio show, a discussion) and in writing (a talk, an essay). It announces a rule or a tendency, never a one-off fact: to say what happened today, you do not need it.
Examples
一般来说，我七点起床。
Yìbān lái shuō, wǒ qī diǎn qǐchuáng.Generally speaking, I get up at seven.
一般来说，周末的图书馆人比较多。
Yìbān lái shuō, zhōumò de túshūguǎn rén bǐjiào duō.Generally speaking, the library is busier at weekends.
一般来说，年轻人睡得比老年人晚。
Yìbān lái shuō, niánqīngrén shuì de bǐ lǎoniánrén wǎn.Generally speaking, young people go to bed later than older people.
一般来说，坐火车比坐飞机便宜，不过有时候也不一样。
Yìbān lái shuō, zuò huǒchē bǐ zuò fēijī piányi, búguò yǒu shíhou yě bù yíyàng.As a rule, the train is cheaper than the plane, but not always.
一般来说，上课的时候不能玩手机，可是老师同意的话就可以。
Yìbān lái shuō, shàngkè de shíhou bù néng wán shǒujī, kěshì lǎoshī tóngyì dehuà jiù kěyǐ.Generally, you can't play with your phone in class, but if the teacher agrees, you can.
Common mistakes
✗ 我一般来说七点起床。 → ✓ 一般来说，我七点起床。 (the phrase goes at the start of the sentence; inside the clause, say 我一般七点起床).
✗ 一般来说，今天他没来。 → a one-off fact is not a generalisation: just say 今天他没来。