Meaning of 通
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- to go through
- to know well
- (suffix) expert
- to connect
- to communicate
- open
- to clear
- classifier for letters, telegrams, phone calls etc
- classifier for an activity, taken in its entirety (tirade of abuse, stint of music playing, bout of drinking etc)
How to use 通
通 appears in many common words like 交通 (jiāotōng, traffic), 通知 (tōngzhī, to notify), and 普通话 (pǔtōnghuà, standard Mandarin). On its own it often means a road or line is open or connected, for example with phone calls. Example: 电话打通了。(Diànhuà dǎ tōng le.) The call got through.
Look for the walking radical 辶 wrapping around the bottom left of 通 (tōng). Picture someone walking along a road that goes all the way through, so 通 means to go through or connect.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 通 with 痛 (tòng, pain), which shares the right side 甬 but has the sickness radical 疒 instead of 辶. Also remember that 通 is usually first tone, and only becomes fourth tone tòng as a classifier for a whole bout of something.
通 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.
通 tōng · to go through · 10 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 通.
| 通过 | tōngguò | to pass through; to get through; to adopt (a resolution); to pass (legislation) |
| 通知 | tōngzhī | to notify; to inform |
| 普通 | pǔtōng | common; ordinary |
| 交通 | jiāotōng | to be connected; traffic |
| 普通话 | pǔtōnghuà | Putonghua; standard Mandarin |
| 通常 | tōngcháng | regular; usual; normal; usually; normally |
| 通信 | tōngxìn | to correspond (by letter, email etc); to send or receive messages through telecommunicatio |
| 通知书 | tōngzhīshū | written notice |
| 沟通 | gōutōng | to join; to connect; to link up; to communicate |
| 流通 | liútōng | to circulate; to distribute; circulation; distribution |
| 通用 | tōngyòng | to use anywhere, anytime (card, ticket etc); to be used by everyone (language, textbook et |
| 通话 | tōnghuà | to hold a conversation; to talk over the telephone |
Questions about 通
What does 通 mean?
通 (tōng) means "to go through; to know well" and is used as a verb and adjective.
How do you write 通?
通 is made of 1 character: 通 (10 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.
Is 通 an HSK word?
Yes. 通 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 通 used as a classifier?
With first tone tōng, it counts letters, telegrams and phone calls, as in 一通电话 (yì tōng diànhuà, one phone call). With fourth tone tòng, it counts a whole bout of an activity, as in 骂了一通 (mà le yí tòng, gave a round of scolding).
What does 通 mean at the end of a word like 中国通?
As a suffix, 通 means an expert or someone who knows a subject very well. 中国通 (Zhōngguó tōng) is a person who knows China thoroughly.