common; joint; together
HSK level
共同 is written with 12 strokes (共: 6, 同: 6). The animation replays automatically.
共同 (gòngtóng) means 'common, joint, or shared,' and as an adverb 'jointly / together.'
As an adjective it describes something belonging to or involving more than one party — 共同利益 'common interests,' 共同语言 'a shared language / common ground.' As an adverb it modifies a verb to mean the action is done together by several parties — 共同努力 'to work hard together.' Two differences from English: first, 共同 (adverb) stresses a shared, cooperative effort toward one goal, while the plain 'together' 一起 (yìqǐ) just means doing something at the same time or place; 一起吃饭 is eating together, 共同奋斗 is jointly striving.
Second, as an adjective 共同 means 'held in common' — closer to English 'mutual/shared' than to the everyday 'common' meaning 'ordinary,' which is 普通 (pǔtōng). Register is neutral to formal.
Note: Leans slightly formal/written. In casual speech 一起 (yìqǐ) covers 'together'; 共同 sounds more deliberate and is common in formal or official contexts.
Character by character
Memory hook: 共 (together) + 同 (same) = the same, shared by all — common and joint.
我们有共同的爱好。
Wǒmen yǒu gòngtóng de àihào.
We have common hobbies.
neutral
让我们共同努力吧。
Ràng wǒmen gòngtóng nǔlì ba.
Let's work hard together.
neutral
两个国家有共同的目标。
Liǎng ge guójiā yǒu gòngtóng de mùbiāo.
The two countries share a common goal.
formal
他们俩没什么共同点。
Tāmen liǎ méi shénme gòngtóng diǎn.
The two of them don't have much in common.
spoken
一起 means 'together' in the sense of same time/place, casual and concrete (一起去 'go together'). 共同 stresses jointly sharing a goal or possession, more formal. Use 一起 for everyday company; 共同 for shared purpose or ownership.
共有 means 'to jointly own / hold in common' (a verb-ish sense, often about property). 共同 is an adjective/adverb ('common; jointly'). They 共有 a house; they have a 共同 goal.
普通 means 'ordinary / common' in the sense of unremarkable or average. 共同 means 'shared / joint.' English 'common' can mean both, but 一个普通人 is 'an ordinary person,' not 一个共同人.
相同 means 'identical / the same' (comparing two things). 共同 means 'shared by both parties.' Two answers can be 相同 (the same); two people can have a 共同 goal (one goal they share).
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