总 zǒng in a sentence
Always (gather - sum up - chief - after all - general)
总 (zǒng) means Always (gather - sum up - chief - after all - general). Below are 24 of the 50 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
总 裁明天来开会。
Zǒngcái míngtiān lái kāi huì.
The president is coming to the meeting tomorrow.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总裁
事情 总 算解决了。
Shìqing zǒngsuàn jiějué le.
The matter is settled at last.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总算
他 总 是迁就别人。
Tā zǒngshì qiānjiù biéren.
He always accommodates others.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 迁就
我们班 总 共三十人。
Wǒmen bān zǒnggòng sānshí rén.
There are thirty people in our class in all.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总共
这些书 总 共多少钱？
Zhèxiē shū zǒnggòng duōshao qián?
How much are these books altogether?
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总共
这位 总 理很受欢迎。
Zhè wèi zǒnglǐ hěn shòu huānyíng.
This premier is very popular.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总理
妈妈 总 爱唠叨几句。
Māma zǒng ài láodao jǐ jù.
Mum always likes to nag a bit.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 唠叨
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
请帮我计算一下 总 数。
Qǐng bāng wǒ jìsuàn yíxià zǒngshù.
Please work out the total for me.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 计算
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
新事物 总 要慢慢接受。
Xīn shìwù zǒng yào mànmàn jiēshòu.
New things always take time to accept.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 事物
他是这家公司的 总 裁。
Tā shì zhè jiā gōngsī de zǒngcái.
He is the president of this company.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总裁
总 理今天发表了讲话。
Zǒnglǐ jīntiān fābiǎo le jiǎnghuà.
The premier gave a speech today.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 总理
Reading these is one thing; producing 总 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
我 总 觉得自己在浪费时间。
wǒ zǒng juéde zìjǐ zài làngfèi shíjiān.
I kept feeling I was wasting time.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
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
From the travel phrasebook
总 appears in 50 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.
Words that contain 总
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 总
How is 总 used in a sentence?
This page shows 50 sentences using 总 (zǒng, "Always (gather - sum up - chief - after all - general)"), 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.
Why do some sentences show 总 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 总 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Where can I see the full entry for 总?
The dictionary page for 总 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, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
Another word
Chinese, pinyin or English. Tone marks optional.