总

總

zǒng

adverb HSK 3 #364

Meanings

Contains 心 (heart) at the bottom — originally meant "to gather all in the heart/mind."

Tā zǒng chídào.

He's always late.

Zǒng de lái shuō, zhè cì lǚxíng hěn yúkuài.

Overall, this trip was very pleasant.

Nǐ zǒng bù néng yīzhí děng xiàqù ba.

You can't just keep waiting forever.

usage

总 as a prefix means 'general/chief': 总统 (president), 总经理 (general manager), 总部 (headquarters), 总裁 (CEO).

grammar

总的来说 (overall speaking) is a very useful sentence opener for summarizing. Similar to 'all in all' in English.

总 zǒng