Meaning of 总之
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- in a word
- in short
- in brief
How to use 总之
总之 comes at the start of a sentence or clause to wrap up what was said before and give the main point. It works in both speech and writing. Example: 总之，我们明天再说。(Zǒngzhī, wǒmen míngtiān zài shuō.) In short, let's talk about it tomorrow.
总 (zǒng) means total or all together, and 之 (zhī) is a classical word meaning "it." So 总之 is like saying "taking it all together," which is how you sum things up.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes confuse 总之 with 总是 (zǒngshì, always), since both start with 总. 总之 sums up an idea, while 总是 describes how often something happens, so 他总之迟到 is wrong and should be 他总是迟到.
总之 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
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
之 zhī · possessive particle · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 总之.
| 总是 | zǒngshì | always |
| 总结 | zǒngjié | to sum up; to conclude |
| 之前 | zhīqián | before; prior to |
| 之后 | zhīhòu | after; behind; (at the beginning of a sentence) afterwards; since then |
| 总统 | zǒngtǒng | president (of a country) |
| 之间 | zhījiān | (after a noun) between; among; amid; (used after certain bisyllabic words to form expressi |
| 之一 | zhīyī | one of (sth); one out of a multitude |
| 总理 | zǒnglǐ | premier; prime minister |
| 总共 | zǒnggòng | altogether; in sum; in all; in total |
| 分之 | fēn zhī | (indicating a fraction) |
| 之中 | zhīzhōng | inside; among |
| 之外 | zhīwài | outside; excluding |
Questions about 总之
What does 总之 mean?
总之 (zǒngzhī) means "in a word; in short" and is used as a conjunction.
How do you write 总之?
总之 is made of 2 characters: 总 (9 strokes), 之 (3 strokes). That is 12 strokes in total.
Is 总之 an HSK word?
Yes. 总之 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 总之 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 总之 is written 總之.
What is the difference between 总之 and 总而言之?
They mean the same thing, in short or all in all. 总而言之 (zǒng ér yán zhī) is the longer, slightly more formal four-character version, and 总之 is its shortened form used more often in daily speech.
Can 总之 be used when someone is unsure of the details?
Yes. Speakers often use 总之 to skip unclear details and jump to the point, as in 我不知道为什么，总之他走了 (I don't know why, anyway he left). In this use it feels close to English "anyway."