总是 (zǒngshì) means Always. Below are 20 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
他 总是 第一个到。
Tā zǒngshì dìyī gè dào.
He is always the first to arrive.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 总是
他 总是 迁就别人。
Tā zǒngshì qiānjiù biéren.
He always accommodates others.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 迁就
他 总是 抱怨天气不好。
Tā zǒngshì bàoyuàn tiānqì bù hǎo.
He is always complaining about the weather.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 抱怨
父母 总是 为孩子操心。
Fùmǔ zǒngshì wèi háizi cāo xīn.
Parents always worry about their children.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 操心
等待的时间 总是 很长。
Děngdài de shíjiān zǒngshì hěn cháng.
Time spent waiting always feels long.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 等待
他 总是 夸自己的孩子。
Tā zǒngshì kuā zìjǐ de háizi.
He is always praising his own child.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 夸
他做事 总是 精益求精。
Tā zuòshì zǒngshì jīng yì qiú jīng.
He always strives to do things better still.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 精益求精
年轻人 总是 喜欢追赶潮流。
Niánqīngrén zǒngshì xǐhuan zhuīgǎn cháoliú.
Young people always like to follow the latest trend.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 潮流
机遇 总是 留给有准备的人。
Jīyù zǒngshì liú gěi yǒu zhǔnbèi de rén.
Opportunity always favours those who are prepared.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 机遇
孩子对世界 总是 充满惊奇。
Háizi duì shìjiè zǒngshì chōngmǎn jīngqí.
Children are always full of wonder at the world.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 惊奇
母亲 总是 惦记着在外地的儿子。
Mǔqīn zǒngshì diànjìzhe zài wàidì de érzi.
The mother is always thinking anxiously of her son far from home.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 惦记
他很有教养，说话 总是 很客气。
Tā hěn yǒu jiàoyǎng, shuōhuà zǒngshì hěn kèqi.
He is well brought up and always speaks politely.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 教养
科学与哲学的边界并不 总是 清晰。
Kēxué yǔ zhéxué de biānjiè bìng bù zǒngshì qīngxī.
The boundary between science and philosophy is not always clear.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 边界
奶奶的脸上 总是 带着慈祥的笑容。
Nǎinai de liǎn shang zǒngshì dàizhe cíxiáng de xiàoróng.
Grandma always wears a kindly smile.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 慈祥
他做事丢三落四， 总是 忘带东西。
Tā zuòshì diūsān làsì, zǒngshì wàng dài dōngxi.
He is scatterbrained and always forgets to bring things.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 丢三落四
中文和英文的词并不 总是 一一对应。
Zhōngwén hé Yīngwén de cí bìng bù zǒngshì yīyī duìyìng.
Chinese and English words do not always correspond one to one.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 对应
他 总是 贬低自己的成绩，其实做得很好。
Tā zǒngshì biǎndī zìjǐ de chéngjì, qíshí zuò de hěn hǎo.
He always plays down his own achievements, though he has done very well.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 贬低
Reading these is one thing; producing 总是 yourself is another. Cloze in Context takes a sentence from this same bank, removes one word and asks you to put it back — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
From the graded readers
她 总是 先问：“你觉得呢？”
tā zǒngshì xiān wèn:" nǐ juéde ne / ní?"
She always asks first, "What do you think?"
Graded reader · HSK 2 · My Chinese Teacher
我睡得很晚，第二天上班 总是 没精神。
wǒ shuì dehěn wǎn, dì'èr tiānshàng bān zǒngshì méi jīngshén.
I was going to sleep late, and always felt flat at work the next day.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · The Neighbour Upstairs
Questions about 总是
How is 总是 used in a sentence?
This page shows 20 sentences using 总是 (zǒngshì, "Always"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Is 总是 an HSK word?
Yes — 总是 is on the official HSK 3 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 3 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 总是?
The dictionary page for 总是 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 总是, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 3 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
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