Kilo Lingo

(zǒng shì) - always, all the time in Mandarin

zǒngshì

Traditional: 總是

Line drawing of 总是
Coloured illustration of 总是
HSK 3
#343 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

always, all the time

Word origin

A two-character compound. 总 (zǒng) means general, overall or always, and 是 (shì) is the verb to be; together they form an adverb meaning always or all the time. 是 combines 日 (sun) over 正 (upright, correct), while 总 carries the 心 heart radical beneath a phonetic upper component.

Origin
compound
Root
总 (zǒng, general / always) + 是 (shì, to be)

Stroke order

Stroke order for 总

Stroke order for 是

Examples

He is always late.

You are always worrying about one thing or another.

Mum always cares about me.

Mum always cares about us.

总是 (zǒng shì) - always, all the time.

Used in

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

This word is part of lesson 7.