Chinese word

总共

Pronunciation

Pinyinzǒng gòng

Meaning

  • adverbin total

Example

这顿饭总共花了五十块。zhè dùn fàn zǒng gòng huā le wǔ shí kuài

This meal cost 50 yuan in total.

Illustration for 总共 (in total)

More examples

这次考试总共有四十道题。zhè cì kǎo shì zǒng gòng yǒu sì shí dào tí

There were forty questions in total on this exam.

Core concept

Several entries converge on a single summed result.

Common phrases

  • 总共花了五十块zǒng gòng huā le wǔ shí kuài

    cost 50 yuan in total

  • 总共六个人zǒng gòng liù gè rén

    six people in total

  • 总共用了三个月zǒng gòng yòng le sān gè yuè

    took three months in total

  • 总共只有两张票zǒng gòng zhí yǒu liǎng zhāng piào

    only two tickets in total

Similar words

一共yí gòng: Says the whole amount or number when speaking in an ordinary way.
合计hé jì: Summarizes a computed amount or number as a formal total.
总计zǒng jì: Summarizes the completed total in a formal written style.

Definition in Chinese

用作副词，表示若干项合并计算后得到的总和，用于陈述费用、人数、时间等的合计结果。yòng zuò fù cí biǎo shì ruò gān xiàng hé bìng jì suàn hòu dé dào de zǒng hé yòng yú chén shù fèi yòng rén shù shí jiān děng de hé jì jié guǒ

Word origin

总共 (zǒnggòng, "in total") is formed from 总 (zǒng, "whole") and 共 (gòng, "together"), expressing the idea of treating separate things as one whole.

Usage tips

  • It can stand before a number, a cost, a time span, or a count of people, making the same sentence pattern useful across many daily situations.

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word