HSK 3 · Time

总是 zǒngshì “always” in Chinese

Traditional 總是

What 总是 means

  1. always
  2. eventually

How to say 总是

  • 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 fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale是shì4th tone, falling

总是 in a sentence

  1. 我弟弟的房间总是很乱。

    Wǒ dìdi de fángjiān zǒngshì hěn luàn.

    My younger brother’s room is always messy.

    Sentence #405132 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 他总是准时到。

    Tā zǒngshì zhǔnshí dào.

    He’s always punctual.

    Sentence #3493108 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 最近总是下雨。

    Zuìjìn zǒngshì xiàyǔ.

    It’s been raining all the time lately.

    Sentence #4257054 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 总是 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 是 (shì) with each of its parts in a different colour
是shìto be
  • 日sun · rì
  • 疋roll of cloth · pǐ

How to write 总是

总 9 strokes · 是 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 总是

Words with 总

总zǒng · 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总而言之zǒng'éryánzhī · in short

Words with 是

是shì · to be但是dànshì · but还是háishi · or只是zhǐshì · only可是kěshì · but是否shìfǒu · whether (or not)要是yàoshi · if于是yúshì · thereupon就是jiùshì · exactly是非shìfēi · right and wrong

More words: Time

一直yìzhí · always以前yǐqián · before终于zhōngyú · at last周末zhōumò · weekend最后zuìhòu · last最近zuìjìn · recently本来běnlái · original当时dāngshí · then

FAQs

总是 (zǒngshì) means “always” or “eventually”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it zǒngshì: zǒng with a 3rd tone, then shì with a 4th 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, 总是 is written 總是. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type zongshi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 总是 from the suggestions. Typing zongshi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
总是 is an HSK 3 word in the 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.