总共

• Pinyin: zǒng gòng
• Hanzi breakdown: 总 = 心 (heart) + 囱 (chimney, phonetic), overall or general; 共 = two hands holding an object together, joint or shared

Meaning

In total; altogether; all together. Used to express the sum or combined quantity of something.

An adverb placed before a verb or number to indicate the grand total. Interchangeable in most contexts with 一共, though 总共 often feels slightly more emphatic or conclusive. Common in both spoken and written Chinese when summarising quantities.

Examples

1. 这次旅行总共花了五天时间，我们去了三座城市。 This trip lasted five days in total, and we visited three cities.
2. 班里总共有三十二名同学，其中有十五名女生。 There are thirty-two students in the class altogether, of whom fifteen are girls.
3. 这个项目总共需要投入大约一百万元的资金。 This project requires a total investment of approximately one million yuan.

Usage Guide

Context: everyday, business, academic

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 我们总共订了四十个座位。(We reserved forty seats in total.)
• 这本书总共有三百页，你估计几天能读完？(This book has three hundred pages in total — how many days do you think it will take to finish?)

Don't Say

• 在'总共'后直接用形容词 (Don't place an adjective directly after 总共 — it must be followed by a verb or numeral)

Origin & History

Compound of 总 (total, overall) and 共 (together, jointly). Together they reinforce the meaning of 'all together as a whole'.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal