Comparing "zongsuan" and “zhongyu"
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Level
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Similar to
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Used for
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Keywords
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.
Contents
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
- 你总算来了。
- 你终于来了。
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。
- 你 终于 决定 不 去 留学 了？
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)
Dictionaries
- 现代汉语词典（第5版） (总算1814 终于1767) →buy
