कुल मिलाकर (kul milaakar)
adverb
A fixed adverbial phrase meaning 'overall, all things considered' -- literally 'having mixed/joined the total.' Single sense.
Sense
1
:
overall, all things considered
adverb Functions as a sentence-opening or clause-opening adverb summarizing what follows or was just said; it does not connect to a preceding clause the way a conjunction would, so it can freely start a sentence on its own.
Synonyms: कुल मिलाकर के (kul milaakar ke, colloquial variant), सब मिलाकर (sab milaakar), संक्षेप में (sankshep men, 'in short')
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: Very common in spoken Hindi when someone is wrapping up an opinion or a story, much like an English speaker saying 'all in all' or 'bottom line.' You will hear it constantly on news debate shows and in casual conversation alike, e.g. someone summing up a movie review or a day's events with कुल मिलाकर, फिल्म अच्छी थी (kul milaakar, philm achchhii thii, 'overall, the movie was good').
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes treat this as a conjunction linking two clauses (like 'however' or 'so'), but it does not join anything grammatically -- it simply frames a summary judgment, so it can stand alone at the start of a sentence. 2) Overusing it as a direct translation of 'in total' in a literal counting sense (e.g. adding up a bill) is unnatural; for that, जोड़कर (jodkar) or कुल (kul) alone fits better.
Sample Sentences:
कुल मिलाकर, फिल्म अच्छी थी।
Overall, the movie was good.
(kul milaakar, philm achchhii thii।)
कुल मिलाकर, आज का दिन बहुत बढ़िया रहा।
All in all, today was a great day.
(kul milaakar, aaj kaa din bahut badhiyaa rahaa।)
कुल मिलाकर, सरकार की नीतियाँ जनता को पसंद नहीं आती हैं।
Overall, the public does not like the government's policies.
(kul milaakar, sarkaar kii niitiyaan jantaa ko pasand nahiin aatii hain।)
कुल मिलाकर देखा जाए तो यह प्रोजेक्ट सफल रहा है।
Looking at it overall, this project has been successful.
(kul milaakar dekhaa jaae to yah projekt saphal rahaa hai।)
कुल मिलाकर हम कह सकते हैं कि अर्थव्यवस्था सुधर रही है।
All things considered, we can say the economy is improving.
(kul milaakar ham kah sakte hain ki arthavyvasthaa sudhar rahii hai।)
कुल मिलाकर तुम्हारा प्रदर्शन इस बार पिछली बार से बेहतर होगा।
Overall, your performance this time will be better than last time.
(kul milaakar tumhaaraa pradarshan is baar pichhlii baar se behtar hogaa।)
अगर तुमने मेहनत की होती, तो कुल मिलाकर नतीजा कुछ और होता।
If you had worked hard, the overall result would have been different.
(agar tumne mehnat kii hotii, to kul milaakar natiijaa kuchh aur hotaa।)
कुल मिलाकर, यह किताब पढ़ने लायक है।
Overall, this book is worth reading.
(kul milaakar, yah kitaab padhne laayak hai।)
माननीय अतिथियों, कुल मिलाकर इस वर्ष का प्रदर्शन संतोषजनक रहा है।
Honorable guests, overall this year's performance has been satisfactory.
(maanniiy atithiyon, kul milaakar is varsh kaa pradarshan santoshajnak rahaa hai।)
कुल मिलाकर तो पार्टी में बहुत मज़ा आया, बस खाना थोड़ा कम था।
Overall the party was a lot of fun, just the food was a bit less.
(kul milaakar to paartii men bahut mazaa aayaa, bas khaanaa thodaa kam thaa।)