Comparing "zongsuan" and “zhongyu"

Level

B2 / HSK5
Level

B2
Level

HSK5
Similar to
- Expressing "finally" with "zhongyu" (B1)
Similar to
- Expressing "finally" with "zhongyu" (HSK3)
Used for

Describing actions
Keywords

总算, 终于

One pair of confusing adverbs is 总算 (zǒngsuàn) and 终于 (zhōngyú). They both can be translated as "finally" or "in the end," but they subtly different in tone.

They have the same grammatical structure

Grammatically, 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。You finally came.
你终于来了。You finally came.

总算 is more informal and impatient

Both 总算 and 终于 express that an action has finally happened after a long wait, however 总算 implies that the speaker had a bit of an agonizing wait, and it has a heavier tone better suited to complaints.

Examples

谢天谢地，你总算来了。Thank God, you finally came.
总算没迟到。You finally didn't arrive late.
她的感冒总算好了。She finally got over her cold.

终于 is more formal and objective

终于 is more formal than 总算 (in other words, 总算 is more for spoken Chinese), and it also has a more objective feel (meaning that there was indeed a long wait for this thing that finally happened).

终于涨工资了，你很高兴是不是？You finally got a pay raise. You're happy about it, aren't you?
这个项目终于要在这个月底完成了。This project is finally going to be completed at the end of this month.
你终于决定要考研了？You finally decided to go to take postgraduate entrance exams?

Sources and further reading

Comparing "zongsuan" and “zhongyu"

Contents

They have the same grammatical structure

Examples

总算 is more informal and impatient

Examples

终于 is more formal and objective

Sources and further reading

Books

Dictionaries

Websites