Pinyin Syllable

Chinese characters pronounced zong

Learn common Chinese characters pronounced zong, including 从 cōng / cóng / zòng, 总 zǒng, 宗 zōng, 纵 zōng / zòng, 综 zōng. Compare tones, meanings…

How to Pronounce This Syllable

For zong, start with the flat z and let it flow into ong, holding the tone over the joined syllable.

Initial z

Use a flat tongue. It is not English “z”.

Final ong

ong sounds close to “ung”, not English “ong”.

Study Tip

Start with the most common characters (从 cōng / cóng / zòng, 总 zǒng, 宗 zōng, 纵 zōng / zòng, 综 zōng) and lock in their tones. 6 common characters share the sound zong, so lean on words to tell the rest apart.

Learn by Tone

zong turns up here with 2 different tones; a change of tone usually means a different character, so the groups below are split by tone.

1st tone

Taking the 1st tone here: 从, 宗, 纵… (5 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

从cōng / cóng / zònglax; yielding; unhurried; from; obey; observe 宗zōngschool; sect; purpose; model; ancestor; family 纵zōng / zòngvertical; even if; release 综zōngto sum up 踪zōngfootprint; trace; tracks

3rd tone

Taking the 3rd tone here: 总 (1 in total). Lock this tone in your ear before the meaning.

总zǒngalways; to assemble; gather; total; overall; head

Common Words With This Sound

Seeing zong inside whole words makes it clear which character is meant — here are common ones.

从小cóng xiǎofrom childhood; from a young age 从来cóng láialways; at all times; never (if used in negative sentence)自从zì cóngsince (a time); ever since 总是zǒng shìalways 总结zǒng jiéto sum up; to conclude; summary; résumé 总统zǒng tǒngpresident (of a country)宗教zōng jiàoreligion 宗旨zōng zhǐobjective; aim; goal 正宗zhèng zōngorthodox school; fig. traditional; old school; authentic 操纵cāo zòngto operate; to control; to rig; to manipulate

Characters

6 common characters in this group.

Character#1 从 cōng / cóng / zònglax; yielding; unhurried; from; obey; observeTraditional: 從 Character#2 总 zǒngalways; to assemble; gather; total; overall; headTraditional: 總 Character#3 宗 zōngschool; sect; purpose; model; ancestor; familyTraditional: 宗 Character#4 纵 zōng / zòngvertical; even if; releaseTraditional: 縱 Character#5 综 zōngto sum upTraditional: 綜 Character#6 踪 zōngfootprint; trace; tracksTraditional: 蹤