Difference between revisions of "Comparing "zongsuan" and “zhongyu""

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=== Books ===
 
=== Books ===
  
*[[现代汉语
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*[[现代汉语八百词(增订本)]] (终于p. 687) [http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%AF%8D/dp/B001198GSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693275&sr=8-1 →buy]
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*[[现代汉语虚词例释]]  (终于p. 653)
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[http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%AF%8D/dp/B004323J90/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693275&sr=8-1 →buy]
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=== Dictionaries ===
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* [[现代汉语词典(第5版)]] (总算1814 终于1767) [http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E8%AF%8D%E5%85%B8/dp/B001B1RZCI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693609&sr=8-1 →buy]
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[[Category:grammar comparison]]
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{{Basic Grammar|总算|B1|总算 vs 终于|<em>终于</em> 离婚 了,你 很 高兴 是 不 是?你 <em>总算</em> 来 了。|grammar point|ASGT8AUA}}
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{{Rel char|终于}}
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{{Used for|Describing actions}}
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{{Comparison}}

Revision as of 09:49, 22 February 2013

Chinese-grammar-wiki-终于.jpg

One of the challenges of intermediate learners of Chinese is that they start to learn words that are pretty similar, but have different uses. One of pair of confusing words is 总算 and 终于.They both can be translated as "in the end", but they are not quite the same. Here we will learn the similarities and differences between the two.

They have the same grammatical structure

总算 and 终于 arte basically used the same way. They are both adverbs, and they can be placed before the subject or after the subject. However, in comparison to 终于, 总算 is seldom used before the subject.


Subject + 总算/终于 + Verb

Examples

  • 总算来了。
  • 终于来了。

总算 emphasizes subjectivity

Both 总算 and 终于 express an action that happens after a long time, however 总算 implies that the speaker is speaking subjectively, and it has a heavier tone.


Examples

  • 谢天谢地,你 总算 来 了。
  • 总算 没 迟到。
  • 她 的 感冒 总算 好 了。

终于 can emphasizes objectivity or subjectivity

终于 is more formal than 总算 (in other words, 送算 is more for spoken Chinese), and it also has an objective feel or a subjective feel, depending on the context of the sentence.


  • 终于 离婚 了,你 很 高兴 是 不 是?
  • 两 年 以后,这 个 项目 终于 完成 了。
  • 终于 决定 不 去 留学 了?


Sources and further reading

Books

→buy

Dictionaries

HSK4