focus on the main idea

verb phrase

  1. to give most of your attention to the central point or message rather than minor details, especially when reading, listening, or studying

    B1

    focus on + noun/gerund; often used as study or reading advice

    • "When you read a story, focus on the main idea first."A2
    • "The teacher told us to focus on the main idea instead of every small detail."B1
    • "The speaker focused on the main idea and left out unnecessary details."B1
    • "In a dense academic article, it helps to focus on the main idea before analysing the evidence."C1

Common mistakes

  • focus in the main idea→focus on the main idea

    Use “focus on” before the thing you are concentrating on.

  • focus on main idea→focus on the main idea

    The singular countable noun “idea” normally needs an article here.

Collocations

main ideacentral ideakey pointfocus on

Word family

focusfocusedfocalrefocus