Put Simply: Definition, Meaning, and Correct Usage

It’s common to see the phrase put simply in writing, especially in academic writing or business writing.

Put simply and its counterpart simply put mean to state things in clear, easy terms.

But in many cases, you don’t need to use these phrases at all. Let’s take a closer look at the definition and correct usage of put simply.

Put Simply Definition

Put simply and simply put are both ways to say that you’re just giving the basic facts or a quick summary of something.

It’s a way of explaining that you’re providing a simple explanation for what could be a complicated situation or long story.

It’s a way to make something easy to understand with fewer words. Usually, these words introduce a one-sentence summary of an event or concept.

You may also see the phrase put simply as to put it simply. There’s no difference in the meaning of the longer version or the inverse, simply put.

Put Simply Meaning

There are a couple of ways someone might use put simply or simply put in their writing. First, it’s often a way to sum up something without a wordy explanation.

Here’s an example:

Speaker 1: I thought you were quitting your job today!

Speaker 2: Simply put, they offered me a huge raise and a promotion.

In this situation, Speaker 2 is alluding to the fact that it’s a long story, but the gist of it is they didn’t quit because they got a raise and a promotion.

When you use put simply and simply put like this, it’s often not needed. You can omit the words without changing the meaning of the sentence.

Here’s another example:

• I looked over the report you prepared, and it needs some work. Put simply, the methodology of the experiment isn’t clear, and the implications of the project are vague.

We can remove put simply without affecting the meaning of the feedback.

The other usage of put simply is to restate something complicated or verbose. If you’ve given a lengthy explanation, you can use put simply or simply put to sum it up.

Let’s look at an example of this usage:

• I looked over the report you prepared. I didn’t see any durations of the experiment in the methodology section. There also wasn’t an explanation of how you determined which variables to test. Also, the conclusion left me confused. What does this project actually tell us? You need to describe what you think the impact is and why. Simply put, the methodology of the experiment isn’t clear, and the implications of the project are vague.

This is a more acceptable use. Without words to tell us you’re summing up what was just said, you risk sounding redundant.

Put Simply Synonyms

But there are other ways to say put simply when you’re summarizing something. Here are some synonyms you can use:

• In short
• In sum
• To summarize
• In other words
• Put another way

Examples of Put Simply in Sentences

Here are a few more examples of how to use put simply and simply put in a sentence.

• Simply put, the search for a new math teacher is taking a long time.
• Put simply, the doctors still haven’t found an answer to my mysterious back pain.
• To put it simply, the developers will write a code to fix the website error.

Put simply is a way to explain something briefly but it is often unnecessary. You can use ProWritingAid’s grammar checker to cut superfluous words and improve the readability of your writing.

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