Comparing "zongsuan" and “zhongyu"

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 are 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

• 你总算来了。I finally came.
• 你终于来了。I finally came.

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。Thank God, you finally came.
• 总算 没 迟到。Your finally not late.
• 她 的 感冒 总算 好 了。She finally got over her cold.

终于 can emphasizes objectivity or subjectivity

终于 is more formal than 总算 (in other words, 总算 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？You finally divorced. Are you happy about it?
• 两 年 以后，这 个 项目 终于 完成 了。After two years, this thing was finally completed.
• 你 终于 决定 不 去 留学 了？You finally decided not to study abroad?

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (终于p. 687) →buy

• 现代汉语虚词例释 (终于p. 653)

→buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (总算1814 终于1767) →buy

Websites

• Chinesegrammar.info: A blog with some information on 终于 by comparing it to 最后.

HSK4