Difference 总算 and 终于?

[MengJiaSheng]

I was wondering recently whether there is any difference between the use of 终于 and 总算。 When checking my dictionaries I found something like"finally,eventually" for both words. So are they really synonyms or is there a difference?

[miss_China_so_much]

They are the same. Maybe 终于 is slightly more formal than 总算

[HashiriKata]

Like many synonyms, they have something in common plus something different.

They both mean "finally/ in the end" but 总算 also means "generally/ on the whole":

虽然不理想，总算过得去。(Although not ideal but it's ok on the whole)

(You can't replace 总算 here with 终于! )

[Sarevok]

They both share the meaning of "something finally happening according to your wish or plan" (usually after waiting or exerting yourself for quite some time, making efforts to make it happen). They are therefore interchangeable in the following sentences:

试验终于成功了。

一连下了六七天的雨，今天总算清了。

他白天想，夜里想，最后总算想到了一个好办法。

But 总算 has one more meaning - you can use it when you want to express, that something is generally okay/acceptable... it cannot be substituted by 终于 when used in this way:

小孩子的字能写成这样，总算不错了。

EDIT: Not fast enough

[renzhe]

I was also told that 总算 is more formal.

[Inkfish]

no, 終于 is more formal.

小孩子的字能写成这样，总算不错了。

this sounds weird. i figure the 縂算 here is a simplified version of some other expressions like 終究還算 or 總歸也算

[Sarevok]

Well, that sentence was taken from 现代汉语词典 as an example of the other usage of 总算 (explanation given by said dictionary is "表示大体上还过得去")

[Inkfish]

yea, i saw that

(2)（副）表示大体上还过得去。

# [构成] 偏正式：总〔算

# [例句] 小孩子的字能写成这样；～不错了。（作状语）

偏正式, so it's basically a combo of two words, 縂(means 大體上) and 算