ConjunctionsHSK 6
Expressing "in short" with 总之
总之 (zǒngzhī) is an advanced conjunction that means 'in short' or 'to sum up'. It is placed at the beginning of a sentence or after a comma, following a list of details, to present a concluding statement. Common pitfall: using it without any prior context, as it inherently summarizes preceding information.
Structure
（⋯⋯，）总之，⋯⋯
Examples
- 总之，我觉得这个决定是正确的。Zǒng zhī, wǒ jué de zhè ge jué dìng shì zhèng què de.In short, I think this decision is correct.
- 他喜欢旅行、美食、音乐，总之，他热爱生活。Tā xǐ huan lǚ xíng, měi shí, yīn yuè, zǒng zhī, tā rè ài shēng huó.He likes traveling, food, music; in short, he loves life.
- 这次会议讨论了很多问题，总之，效果不太理想。Zhè cì huì yì tǎo lùn le hěn duō wèn tí, zǒng zhī, xiào guǒ bú tài lǐ xiǎng.The meeting discussed many issues; in short, the outcome wasn't ideal.
- 总之，我们应该采取行动，而不是等待。Zǒng zhī, wǒ men yīng gāi cǎi qǔ xíng dòng, ér bú shì děng dài.In short, we should take action rather than wait.
- 无论多么困难，总之，坚持下去就会成功。Wú lùn duō me kùn nan, zǒng zhī, jiān chí xià qù jiù huì chéng gōng.No matter how difficult, in short, if you persist you will succeed.