i stort sett

Swedish

Etymology

i (in) +‎ stort (large) +‎ sett (seen), "seen in large." The word order is unusual in Swedish as well.

Adverb

i stort sett (not comparable)

  1. by and large, essentially
    1. pretty much
      Vi är i stort sett klara
      We are pretty much done
      De är i stort sett identiska
      They are pretty much identical
      Det är i stort sett omöjligt
      It is pretty much impossible
    2. largely, virtually, etc.
      Arbetslösheten är i stort sett oförändrad
      Unemployment remains [is] largely unchanged
    3. generally
      Vi är i stort sett nöjda
      We are generally satisfied
      Vi är i stort sett överens om vad som behöver göras
      We pretty much / largely / generally agree on what needs to be done

Usage notes

Pretty much matches the intuition in most cases, but sometimes feels a bit off in (sense 1.3), for example. Largely and virtually and the like are sometimes a better match for tone. Not colloquial.

See also

References