归结 (guījié)

归结 means to trace something back to an underlying cause or principle, or to reduce a complex matter to its essential point, similar to "to boil down to" or "to come down to" in English.

Meanings

[verb] to attribute to; to trace back to; to reduce to
[verb] to come down to; to boil down to (a core issue)

Example Sentences

问题的根源可以归结为管理上的失误。 Wèntí de gēnyuán kěyǐ guījié wéi guǎnlǐ shàng de shīwù. The root of the problem can be attributed to management errors.

他把自己的成功归结于勤奋和坚持。 Tā bǎ zìjǐ de chénggōng guījié yú qínfèn hé jiānchí. He attributed his success to hard work and perseverance.

无论怎样分析，这件事最终归结为利益分配问题。 Wúlùn zěnyàng fēnxī, zhè jiàn shì zuìzhōng guījié wéi lìyì fēnpèi wèntí. No matter how it is analyzed, this matter ultimately boils down to the distribution of interests.

这些复杂的现象都可以归结为同一种机制。 Zhèxiē fùzá de xiànxiàng dōu kěyǐ guījié wéi tóngyī zhǒng jīzhì. These complex phenomena can all be attributed to the same mechanism.

讨论到最后，所有的争议都归结为一个核心问题。 Tǎolùn dào zuìhòu, suǒyǒu de zhēngyì dōu guījié wéi yī gè héxīn wèntí. In the end, all the disputes boiled down to one core issue.

历史学家将帝国的衰落归结于内部腐败和外部压力。 Lìshǐxuéjiā jiāng dìguó de shuāiluò guījié yú nèibù fǔbài hé wàibù yālì. Historians attributed the decline of the empire to internal corruption and external pressure.

Collocations

Collocation	Meaning
归结为 (guījié wéi)	to be attributed to; to boil down to
归结于 (guījié yú)	to attribute to (a cause)
最终归结 (zuìzhōng guījié)	ultimately comes down to
归结原因 (guījié yuányīn)	to identify the reason
可以归结 (kěyǐ guījié)	can be attributed/reduced to
归结一点 (guījié yī diǎn)	to put it in one point

Usage Notes

归结 is always followed by 为 or 于 when indicating what something is attributed to. The pattern 归结为…… is the most common structure. It is more analytical than simply saying 因为 (because) and implies a careful tracing of cause and effect.

Compared with 归因于 (to attribute to, a more direct causal attribution), 归结 has the additional sense of condensing a complex matter into its essential explanation. It is used in analytical writing, academic papers, and formal argumentation.

Memory Hook

GUI (归, to return) + JIE (结, conclusion/tie) = to return to the core conclusion that ties everything together.