Level 5 · Advanced
In short: 总之
…，总之，+ Conclusion · Traditional: …，總之，+ Conclusion
总之 (zǒngzhī) wraps up everything said so far into one bottom line: 菜好吃，服务也好，总之这家餐厅值得再来 "the food's great, the service too — in short, this restaurant is worth another visit."
It also ends debates: 不管你怎么想，总之我不同意 "think what you like — bottom line, I don't agree." Unlike 最后, which marks the last item in time, 总之 marks the summary of an argument.
Examples
菜好吃，服务也好，总之这家餐厅值得再来。
菜好吃，服務也好，總之這家餐廳值得再來。
cài hǎo chī fú wù yě hǎo zǒng zhī zhè jiā cān tīng zhí de zài lái
Great food, great service — in short, this restaurant is worth a second visit.
不管你怎么想，总之我不同意。
不管你怎麼想，總之我不同意。
bù guǎn nǐ zěn me xiǎng zǒng zhī wǒ bù tóng yì
Think whatever you want — bottom line, I don't agree.
总之，这次活动非常成功。
總之，這次活動非常成功。
zǒng zhī zhè cì huó dòng fēi cháng chéng gōng
All in all, the event was a great success.
总之，先把眼前的事做完再说。
總之，先把眼前的事做完再說。
zǒng zhī xiān bǎ yǎn qián de shì zuò wán zài shuō
In any case, let's finish what's in front of us first.
Common mistakes
✗ 我们先吃饭，总之去看电影。
✓ 我们先吃饭，然后去看电影。
总之 summarizes an argument. For the next event in a sequence, use 然后 or 最后.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like Moving Day (Part 6) inside the Literate Chinese app.
