(tóng): like, same, similar

(tóng) is a Chinese character meaning “like.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of (structural) and (structural). It ranks #69 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, sharing a common 凡 tongue 口. Its radical form (mouth) appears in many related characters such as (kǒu, mouth), (jiào, to call, to be called), (yòu, (bound form) right).

Native pronunciation

Definitions

  1. like
  2. same
  3. similar

Etymology & Origin

ideographicSharing a common 凡 tongue 口

Decomposition: ⿵凡口 (layout: surround-from-top)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6

Practice writing with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

HSK Vocabulary with

WordPinyinMeaningHSK
verbtóng yìto agree3
bù tóngdifferent3
noun/conjunctiontóng shíat the same time4
adjectivetóng yàngsame4
nountóng shìcolleague3
adjectivexiāng tóngidentical4
nounhé tongcontract5
nountóng xuéto study at the same school1
adjectivegòng tóngcommon4
verbtóng qíngto sympathize with5
nountóng bàncompanion6
verbrú tónglike5
verbzàn tóngvariant of 贊同|赞同[zan4 tong2]6
adjectivetóng yīidentical5
adverbyī tóngtogether6
verbrèn tóngto approve of6
verb/nountóng hángperson of the same profession6
adjective/nountóng lèisimilar6
verbpéi tóngto accompany6
nounhú tònglane5

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
tóng huǒcolleague
tóng bāoborn of the same parents
tóng jūto live together
tóng móuto conspire with sb
tóng méngalliance
tóng bùsynchronous
tóng xìngsame nature
tóng gǎn(have the) same feeling
tóng míngof the same name
tóng liáocolleague
tóng děngequal to
100
Total compounds
70
As first character
30
As last character
0
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 70 as the first character, 30 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Strongest Collocations

Characters that most frequently co-occur with in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

0.5741,609,782 co-occurrences
hán
0.55297 co-occurrences
gòng
0.537696,221 co-occurrences
shí
0.533790,662 co-occurrences
hàn
0.51797 co-occurrences
yàng
0.494149,934 co-occurrences
0.491106 co-occurrences
0.488396,798 co-occurrences
xiāng
0.481495,708 co-occurrences
péi
0.47343,956 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (42)

bùgǎngǒutóngHSK 7+

to beg to differ; to disagree

phrase
bùtóngfánxiǎngHSK 6+

outstanding; out of the ordinary; out of the common run (usually of literary and artistic works)

phrase
bùtóngxúnchángHSK 5+

out of the ordinary; unusual

phrase
cíxióng tóng tǐHSK 7+

hermaphrodite

noun
dǎngtóngfáyìHSK 7+

to unite with those who agree and fight those who differ

phrase
ēn tóng zài zàoHSK 7+

(idiom) a great life-saving favor

phrase
fēi tóng xún chángHSK 5+

(idiom) extraordinary

phrase
fēngyǔtóngzhōuHSK 7+

to work together towards a common goal in a difficult situation; to go through thick and thin together

phrase
gōng zhū tóng hàoHSK 6+

to share pleasure in the company of others (idiom); shared enjoyment with fellow enthusiasts

phrase
gòngtóng gānglǐngHSK 7+

common program; the Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference

noun
gòngtóng jījīnHSK 4+

mutual fund

noun
jītóngyājiǎngHSK 5+

mutually unintelligible; unable to understand one another; to talk past each other; getting one's wires crossed

phrase

Showing 12 of 42 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

我们是大学学,毕业后一直保持着联系。

Wǒmen shì dàxué tóngxué, bìyè hòu yīzhí bǎochízhe liánxì.

We are college classmates and have kept in touch after graduation.

百度新闻Feb 2026

王心迪:在自己圆梦的时,也帮助徐梦桃圆梦了

wáng xīn dí : zài zì jǐ yuán mèng de tóng shí , yě bāng zhù xú mèng táo yuán mèng le

Wang Xindi: While realizing his dream, he also helped Xu Mengtao realize his dream

百度新闻Feb 2026

北京海淀:春晚款机器人返场,硬核科技“打开”庙会

běi jīng hǎi diàn : chūn wǎn tóng kuǎn jī qì rén fǎn chǎng , yìng hé kē jì dǎ kāi miào huì

Beijing Haidian: The same robot returns to the Spring Festival Gala, and hard-core technology "opens" the temple fair

百度新闻Feb 2026

浙江省政府批复意!宁波一大学将设新学院

zhè jiāng shěng zhèng fǔ pī fù tóng yì ! nìng bō yī dà xué jiāng shè xīn xué yuàn

Zhejiang Provincial Government Approved and Agreed! A university in Ningbo will set up a new college

百度新闻Feb 2026

在春晚与沈腾马丽框的机器人 在全国100多个地方..

zài chūn wǎn yú 沈 téng mǎ lí tóng kuàng de jī qì rén zài quán guó duō gě dì fāng . .

The robot that appeared alongside Shen Teng and Ma Li on the Spring Festival Gala has been deployed in over 100 locations nationwide...

百度新闻Feb 2026

青岛恒星科技学院:产教融合协出海,绘就全球化新图..

qīng dǎo héng xīng kē jì xué yuàn chǎn jiào róng gě xié tóng chū hǎi , huì jiù quán qiú huā xīn tú . .

Qingdao Hengxing University of Science and Technology: Integrating Industry and Education for Collaborative Global Expansion, Charting a New Course for Globalization...

Tatoeba

你的想法和她的想法有什么不吗?

Nǐ de xiǎngfǎ hé tā de xiǎngfǎ yǒu shénme bù tóng ma?

Is there any difference between your idea and hers?

Tatoeba

要你在多大程度上意或不意这种说法?

Yào nǐ zài duōdà chéngdù shàng tóngyì huò bù tóngyì zhèzhǒng shuōfa?

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Tatoeba

你有不颜色的外套吗?

Nǐ yǒu bù tóng yánsè de wàitào ma?

Do you have this jacket in different colors?

Tatoeba

我们说的是样的语言,不是吗?

Wǒmen shuō de shì tóngyàng de yǔyán, bùshìma?

We speak the same language, don't we?

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced tóng

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 同 (tóng) mean in Chinese?
同 (tóng) primarily means "like." It is classified as HSK Level 1, making it a beginner-level character. It ranks #69 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 同 have?
同 is written with 6 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 同?
The radical associated with 同 is 口 (mouth). This radical appears in many characters related to mouth.
What are the components of 同?
同 is composed of: 凡 (structural), 口 (structural). Its IDS decomposition is ⿵凡口 with a surround-from-top layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 同?
Common words with 同 include: 同意 (tóng yì, "to agree"); 不同 (bù tóng, "different"); 同时 (tóng shí, "at the same time"); 同样 (tóng yàng, "same"); 同事 (tóng shì, "colleague"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 同 (tóng)?
Several characters share the pronunciation tóng: 通 (through, to communicate), 铜 (copper), 童 (child), 统 (to unite, system), and 4 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 同 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 同 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.