Meaning of 总统
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- president (of a country)
How to use 总统
总统 refers to the elected head of state in a presidential system, such as the leaders of the United States or France. It often comes after a country name, and it can also follow a surname as a title. Example: 美国总统明天访问中国。(Měiguó zǒngtǒng míngtiān fǎngwèn Zhōngguó.) The US president will visit China tomorrow.
总 (zǒng) means overall or chief, and 统 (tǒng) means to unite or govern, as in 系统 (xìtǒng) system. The person who governs the whole country as its chief is the 总统 (zǒngtǒng), the president.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 总统 (zǒngtǒng) with 总理 (zǒnglǐ). 总统 is a president, while 总理 is a premier or prime minister, and each country uses its own title. Also note that both syllables are third tone, so in speech the first changes to a rising tone: zóngtǒng.
总统 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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- 9
统 tǒng · to govern · 9 strokes
- 1
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Related words
Words that share a character with 总统.
| 总是 | zǒngshì | always |
| 总结 | zǒngjié | to sum up; to conclude |
| 系统 | xìtǒng | system |
| 总之 | zǒngzhī | in a word; in short |
| 传统 | chuántǒng | tradition; traditional |
| 总理 | zǒnglǐ | premier; prime minister |
| 总共 | zǒnggòng | altogether; in sum; in all; in total |
| 统一 | tǒngyī | to unify; to integrate; unified; integrated |
| 统计 | tǒngjì | statistics; to count |
| 总算 | zǒngsuàn | at long last; finally |
| 总裁 | zǒngcái | chairman; director-general (of a company etc) |
| 总体 | zǒngtǐ | completely; totally |
Questions about 总统
What does 总统 mean?
总统 (zǒngtǒng) means "president (of a country)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 总统?
总统 is made of 2 characters: 总 (9 strokes), 统 (9 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 总统 an HSK word?
Yes. 总统 is on the HSK 4 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 总统 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 总统 is written 總統.
Is the president of a company also called 总统?
No. 总统 is only used for a head of state. A company president or general manager is usually 总裁 (zǒngcái) or 总经理 (zǒngjīnglǐ).
How do you address a president by name in Chinese?
Put the surname first and then the title, for example 马克龙总统 (Mǎkèlóng zǒngtǒng) for President Macron. You can also say 总统先生 (zǒngtǒng xiānsheng), Mr. President.