HSK 3.0 Level 4 · Everyday Verbs

通 tōng “to go through” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 通 means

  1. to go through
  2. to connect
  3. to know well
  4. (suffix) expert
  5. to communicate
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • open

How to say 通

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale通tōng1st tone, high and level

通 in a sentence

  1. 好好努力，你就能通过考试。

    Hǎohǎo nǔlì, nǐ jiù néng tōngguò kǎoshì.

    Work hard and you’ll pass the exam.

    Sentence #334668 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 如果你要改变主意，通知我。

    Rúguǒ nǐ yào gǎibiàn zhǔyi, tōngzhī wǒ.

    If you change your mind, let me know.

    Sentence #1325048 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 司机应该遵守交通规则。

    Sījī yīnggāi zūnshǒu jiāotōng guīzé.

    Drivers should obey the road rules.

    Sentence #424522 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 通 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 通 (tōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
通tōngto go through
  • 甬path · tǒngSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 甬 (tǒng) hints at the sound. Compare it with tōng.

How to write 通

通 10 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

通 (tōng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the character in the order you write it
Stroke order chart for 通 (tōng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 通

Words with 通

通知tōngzhī · to notify通过tōngguò · to pass through交通jiāotōng · traffic普通话pǔtōnghuà · Mandarin沟通gōutōng · to communicate通常tōngcháng · regular畅通chàngtōng · unimpeded通俗tōngsú · popular通用tōngyòng · in common use精通jīngtōng · to be proficient in

More words: Everyday Verbs

按àn · to press入rù · to enter约yuē · to arrange to meet加入jiārù · to join排pái · to line up留下liúxia · to leave behind待dāi · to stay值zhí · to be worth

FAQs

通 (tōng) means “to go through” or “to connect”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word.
Say it tōng: tōng with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 通 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 通 from the suggestions. Typing tong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
通 is an HSK 3.0 Level 4 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 6 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.