Meaning of 总
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (bound form) general; overall
- to sum up
- in every case; always; invariably
- anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later
- surely
- (after a person's name) abbr. for 總經理|总经理[zong3 jing1 li3] or 總編|总编[zong3 bian1] etc
How to use 总
As an adverb, 总 means "always" or "after all, sooner or later," often in the pattern 总 + 是 or 总 + 会. It also starts many words for totals and top positions, like 总共 (zǒnggòng) and 总统 (zǒngtǒng). Example: 他总迟到。(Tā zǒng chídào.) He is always late.
总 (zǒng) has 心 (xīn, heart) at the bottom. Picture all your feelings gathered into one heart, so everything is added up into a whole: general, overall, always.
Common mistake: Learners often say 总是 for something that happened only once, but 总 describes a repeated habit, not a single event. Also keep the third tone in 总是 (zǒngshì). Do not flatten it to zōng, which sounds like 宗 (zōng) or 踪 (zōng).
总 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
总 zǒng · general · 9 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 总.
| 总是 | zǒngshì | always |
| 总结 | zǒngjié | to sum up; to conclude |
| 总统 | zǒngtǒng | president (of a country) |
| 总之 | zǒngzhī | in a word; in short |
| 总理 | zǒnglǐ | premier; prime minister |
| 总共 | zǒnggòng | altogether; in sum; in all; in total |
| 总算 | zǒngsuàn | at long last; finally |
| 总裁 | zǒngcái | chairman; director-general (of a company etc) |
| 总体 | zǒngtǐ | completely; totally |
| 总数 | zǒngshù | total; sum |
| 总部 | zǒngbù | headquarters |
| 总监 | zǒngjiān | head; director (of an organizational unit) |
Questions about 总
What does 总 mean?
总 (zǒng) means "(bound form) general; overall; to sum up" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 总?
总 is made of 1 character: 总 (9 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 总 an HSK word?
Yes. 总 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 总 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 总 is written 總.
What is the difference between 总 and 总是?
Both can mean "always," and 总是 is the more common choice in speech. On its own, 总 can also mean "surely" or "sooner or later," as in 问题总会解决的 (wèntí zǒng huì jiějué de), the problem will get solved eventually.
Why do Chinese people call a boss 王总?
After a surname, 总 is short for titles like 总经理 (zǒng jīnglǐ, general manager) or 总编 (zǒngbiān, chief editor). So 王总 (Wáng zǒng) is a polite way to address a senior manager named Wang.