Chinese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Chinese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
The exact sentence I'd like to translate is
The general consensus is that most people consider Southerners to be friendly
or
One stereotype that Southerners have is that they are friendly.
I know you can use "总的来说“ to mean "Generally speaking", or "In general", but I really want to convey the stereotype aspect.
The general consensus is that most people consider Southerners to be friendly
人们普遍认为南方人很友好。
This sentence is... strange.
The general consensus is that most people consider Southerners to be friendly
It means: the consensus is NOT about "Southerners are friendly", but about "most people consider this and that". Or did I understand it incorrectly?
"General consensus" can be translated as "普遍共识", but this is too official, often used in government documents or the news. Also, this is a noun, not a verb.
Orally, people say 人们普通(一般)认为 this and that.
So, it's " 人们普通认同 '大多数人都认为南方人很友善' ". :-D
Or it's "人们普通认同南方人很友善(的看法)".
The second sentence means different. It's more objective and seems to be stating the fact. So it's "南方人的普遍特征是他们很友善".
Consider 舆论
Oxford
NOUN
public opinion
制造舆论
fabricate public opinion
国际舆论
international opinion
舆论导向
direction toward which people's opinion is guided
加强舆论监督
strengthen measures to ensure that the correct orientation is maintained in public opinion
舆论哗然
there is a public outcry
他们进行宣传, 为他们的候选人造舆论。
They used publicity to prepare public opinion for their candidates.
use 刻板印象 (stereotypes).
我们有南方人都很友善的刻板印象/我們有南方人都很友善的刻板印象. ( We have the stereotype that... )
人们一般都认为...for “In general, most people consider ...” BTW, 总的来说 would give a Chinese native speaker an impression that you want to conclude something, so it's not always a proper translation for "in general" (depending on the situation). – Stan Jun 12 '15 at 6:40