总而言之 zǒng’éryánzhī in short
in short; in a word; in brief
How to remember 总而言之: 总 always + 而 and yet + 言 words + 之 of = in short.
Characters
How it is used
- A formal connector: "in short / to sum up," wrapping a discussion into a conclusion - 总而言之，我们成功了 (zǒng'ér yánzhī, wǒmen chénggōng le) in short, we succeeded.
- Written/speech-formal; the casual equivalent is 总之 (zǒngzhī) or 反正 (fǎnzheng).
- Sits at the start of a summarizing sentence, like English "all in all."