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 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, 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

Comparing "zongsuan" and “zhongyu"

Contents

They have the same grammatical structure

Examples

总算 emphasizes subjectivity

Examples

终于 can emphasizes objectivity or subjectivity

Sources and further reading

Books

Dictionaries

Websites