通 (tōng): through, to communicate
通 (tōng) is a Chinese character meaning “through, to communicate.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 辶 (semantic) and 甬 (phonetic). It ranks #190 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 通 walk. Its radical form 辶 (walk) appears in many related characters such as 边 (biān, side), 过 (guò, to pass, past), 还 (hái, still, return).
Definitions
- through, to communicate
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 通 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 通
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 通过verb/preposition | tōng guò | to pass through | 4 |
| 通知verb/noun | tōng zhī | to notify | 4 |
| 通常adjective/adverb | tōng cháng | regular | 5 |
| 普通adjective | pǔ tōng | common | 4 |
| 通话verb | tōng huà | to hold a conversation | 6 |
| 交通noun | jiāo tōng | to be connected | 4 |
| 通道noun | tōng dào | (communications) channel | 6 |
| 通讯noun | tōng xùn | communications | 6 |
| 沟通verb | gōu tōng | to join | 5 |
| 开通verb | kāi tōng | to open (a new road or railway line) | 5 |
| 通信verb | tōng xìn | to correspond (by letter, email etc) | 6 |
| 通风verb | tōng fēng | airy | 6 |
| 精通verb | jīng tōng | to be proficient in | 6 |
| 通行verb | tōng xíng | to go through | 5 |
| 通用verb | tōng yòng | to use anywhere, anytime (card, ticket etc) | 6 |
| 流通verb | liú tōng | to circulate | 6 |
| 畅通adjective | chàng tōng | unobstructed | 6 |
| 普通话noun | pǔ tōng huà | Putonghua | 4 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 接通verb | jiē tōng | to connect |
| 普通人noun | pǔ tōng rén | ordinary person |
| 通往verb | tōng wǎng | to lead to |
| 行不通 | xíng bu tōng | won't work |
| 通行证 | tōng xíng zhèng | a pass (authority to enter) |
| 通向verb | tōng xiàng | to lead to |
| 通告verb | tōng gào | to announce |
| 卡通noun | kǎ tōng | cartoon (loanword) |
| 通缉verb | tōng jī | to order the arrest of sb as criminal |
| 不通verb | bù tōng | to be obstructed |
| 通宵noun | tōng xiāo | all night |
| 通报verb | tōng bào | to inform |
| 通奸verb | tōng jiān | adultery |
| 行得通 | xíng de tōng | practicable |
| 通心粉 | tōng xīn fěn | macaroni |
通 appears in 118 compound words: 53 as the first character, 43 as the last, and 3 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 通 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (31)
to possess a wide knowledge of things ancient and modern; erudite and informed
to display one's remarkable skill or prowess; to give full play to one's brilliant abilities
Stories to Caution the World, vernacular short stories by Feng Menglong 馮夢龍|冯梦龙 published in 1624
Stories to Caution the World, vernacular short stories by Feng Menglong 馮夢龍|冯梦龙 published in 1624
Showing 12 of 31 idioms containing 通.
Example Sentences
电话打不通，可能是信号不好。
Diànhuà dǎ bù tōng, kěnéng shì xìnhào bù hǎo.
The phone can't get through; the signal may be poor.
“新春走基层”国外游客称赞贵州“秒通关”
xīn chūn zǒu jī céng guó wài yóu kè chèn zàn guì zhōu miǎo tōng guān
"New Year at the grassroots level" foreign tourists praise Guizhou for "customs clearance in seconds"
豪赌AI却让普通员工买单?Meta据称连续两年削减..
háo dǔ A I què ràng pǔ tōng yuán gōng mǎi dān ? M e t a jù chèn lián xù liǎng nián xiāo jiǎn . .
Gambling on AI but making ordinary employees pay? Meta is said to have cut for two consecutive years:
千城百县看中国·护航春运丨河北交通:智慧高速守护假..
qiān chéng bǎi xiàn kàn zhōng guó hù háng chūn yùn 丨 hé běi jiāo tōng : zhì huì gāo sù shǒu hù jiǎ . .
Thousands of cities and counties look at China and escort the Spring Festival丨Hebei Transportation: Smart highway guards the holiday:
普通人也能开飞机回家过年了?飞2小时油费只要...
pǔ tōng rén yě néng kāi fēi jī huí jiā guò nián le ? fēi xiǎo shí yóu fèi zhī yāo . . .
Can ordinary people fly home for the New Year now? A two-hour flight costs only...
盘核桃、叠衣服、穿烤肠,银河通用春晚机器人是怎么“..
pán hé táo dié yī fú chuān kǎo cháng , yín hé tōng yòng chūn wǎn jī qì rén shì zěn má . .
Cracking walnuts, folding clothes, threading sausages—how does the Galaxy Universal Spring Festival Gala robot manage to...
那个名字很普通吗？
Nàge míngzi hěn pǔtōng ma?
Is that a common name?
秘鲁的共通语言是什么？
Bìlǔ de gòngtōng yǔyán shì shénme?
What is the common language in Peru?
您能用英语沟通您想要说的话吗？
Nín néng yòng Yīngyǔ gōutōng nín xiǎngyào shuō dehuà ma?
Can you communicate in English what you want to say?
你通常什么时候起床？
Nǐ tōngcháng shénmeshíhou qǐchuáng?
What time do you usually get up?
Character Family
Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 辶 (walk) component
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 通 (tōng) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 通 and 勇?
How many strokes does 通 have?
What is the radical of 通?
What are the components of 通?
What are common words containing 通?
What characters sound the same as 通 (tōng)?
Is 通 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 通 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.