HSK 6 · Function Words

总而言之 zǒng'éryánzhī “in short” in Chinese

Traditional 總而言之

What 总而言之 means

  1. in short
  2. in a word
  3. in brief

How to say 总而言之

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale总zǒng3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale而ér2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale言yán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale之zhī1st tone, high and level

总而言之 in a sentence

  1. 总而言之，生命是很短的。

    Zǒng'éryánzhī, shēngmìng shì hěn duǎn de.

    In short, life is short.

    Sentence #902811 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 总而言之 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 总 (zǒng) with each of its parts in a different colour
总zǒnggeneral; overall
  • 丷eight form of 八 · bā
  • 口mouth · kǒu
  • 心heart · xīn
The character 而 (ér) drawn as one shape
而érand

而 is a single shape of 6 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidDrawn from a beard. Today it links ideas: and, but.

The character 言 (yán) with each of its parts in a different colour
言yánwords
  • 亠lid · tóu
  • 二two · èr
  • 口mouth · kǒu
The character 之 (zhī) drawn as one shape
之zhīhim

之 is a single shape of 3 strokes. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

How to write 总而言之

总 9 strokes · 而 6 strokes · 言 7 strokes · 之 3 strokes

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

总而言之 (zǒng'éryánzhī) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 总而言之 (zǒng'éryánzhī). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 总而言之

Words with 总

总zǒng · always总是zǒngshì · always总结zǒngjié · to sum up总裁zǒngcái · president (of a company)总理zǒnglǐ · premier总统zǒngtǒng · president (of a country)总共zǒnggòng · altogether总算zǒngsuàn · at long last总之zǒngzhī · in a word总和zǒnghé · sum

Words with 而

而且érqiě · moreover而ér · and然而rán'ér · however从而cóng'ér · thus反而fǎn'ér · on the contrary因而yīn'ér · therefore时而shí'ér · sometimes而已éryǐ · that’s all进而jìn'ér · and then侃侃而谈kǎnkǎn'értán · to speak with ease and confidence

Words with 言

语言yǔyán · language发言fāyán · to make a speech预言yùyán · to predict方言fāngyán · dialect言论yánlùn · speech谣言yáoyán · rumour序言xùyán · preface寓言yùyán · fable不言而喻bùyán'éryù · self-evident

Words with 之

之zhī · of (formal equivalent of 的)之后zhīhòu · after之前zhīqián · before之间zhījiān · between百分之bǎifēnzhī · per cent总之zǒngzhī · in a word反之fǎnzhī · conversely之际zhījì · at the time of天伦之乐tiānlúnzhīlè · family happiness后顾之忧hòugùzhīyōu · worries back home

More words: Function Words & Grammar

哎āi · hey唉āi · (sigh) oh彼此bǐcǐ · each other致使zhìshǐ · to cause终究zhōngjiū · after all众所周知zhòngsuǒzhōuzhī · as everyone knows幢zhuàng · (measure word for buildings)足以zúyǐ · enough to

FAQs

总而言之 (zǒng’éryánzhī) means “in short” or “in a word”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it zǒng’éryánzhī: zǒng with a 3rd tone, then ér with a 2nd tone, then yán with a 2nd tone, then zhī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 总而言之 is written 總而言之. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zongeryanzhi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 总而言之 from the suggestions. Typing zongeryanzhi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
总而言之 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

A dictionary gives you the words. A native teacher shows you how to use them. Start with a free 30-minute intro call.

Book a free intro call

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.