总得 (zǒng děi) — must, have to, be bound to (indicating inevitability or necessity after all considerations)

Definition

总得 (zǒng děi) means 'must / have to after all' — it signals a settled conclusion after weighing the situation, weaker than 必须 and softer than the plain modal 得.

adverb
musthave tobe bound to (indicating inevitability or necessity after all considerations)

Examples

  • 总得，。
    Zhè jiàn shì nǐ zǒng děi qù zuò, bié tuī le.
    You have to do this—don't put it off.
  • ，总得。
    Jì rán dā ying le, zǒng děi zuò dào.
    Since you promised, you must follow through.
  • ，总得。
    Bù guǎn duō nán, wǒ men zǒng děi jiān chí xià qù.
    No matter how hard it is, we have to persevere.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

总zǒngafter all or in general
得démust

总 adds the sense of after all to 得, which means must, giving the idea of being bound to do something.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 總; 总 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糸糸mìrope
Sound part声符shēngfú
悤
悤cōng總zǒng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 總 has 糸, a rope, and 悤 as a sound part; the rope part is for binding together. This account is for 總, not for 总.

Open 总 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The old form 㝵 showed a hand picking up a cowry, meaning to obtain; later changes turned that picture into 得.

Open 得 →

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