HSK 4 · Verbs

填空 tiánkòng “to fill in the blanks (on a form or test)” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 填空 means

  1. to fill in the blanks (on a form or test)
  2. to fill a job vacancy
  3. to fill in a blank (e.g. on a form, questionnaire or exam paper)

How to say 填空

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale填tián2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale空kòng4th tone, falling

填空 in a sentence

  1. 请用下面的词填空。

    Qǐng yòng xiàmiàn de cí tiánkòng.

    Fill in the blanks with the words below.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 这次考试有二十道填空题。

    Zhè cì kǎoshì yǒu èrshí dào tiánkòngtí.

    This exam has twenty fill-in-the-blank questions.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 填空 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 填 (tián) with each of its parts in a different colour
填tiánto fill or stuff
  • 土earth · tǔMeaning part
  • 真real · zhēnSound part

土 hints at the meaning (earth); 真 (zhēn) hints at the sound. Compare it with tián.

The character 空 (kōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
空kòngto empty
  • 穴cave · xuéMeaning part
  • 工work · gōngSound part

穴 hints at the meaning (cave); 工 (gōng) hints at the sound. Compare it with kòng.

How to write 填空

填 13 strokes · 空 8 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

填空 (tiánkòng) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 填空 (tiánkòng). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 填空

Words with 空

空调kōngtiáo · air conditioning空kōng · empty空气kōngqì · air空闲kòngxián · free time天空tiānkōng · sky空间kōngjiān · space空想kōngxiǎng · fantasy空洞kōngdòng · empty空虚kōngxū · empty太空tàikōng · outer space

More words: Thinking & Talking

说明shuōmíng · to explain谈tán · to speak讨论tǎolùn · to discuss提醒tíxǐng · to remind通知tōngzhī · to notify误会wùhuì · to misunderstand邀请yāoqǐng · to invite意见yìjiàn · idea

FAQs

填空 (tiánkòng) means “to fill in the blanks (on a form or test)” or “to fill a job vacancy”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it tiánkòng: tián with a 2nd tone, then kòng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 填空 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type tiankong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 填空 from the suggestions. Typing tiankong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
填空 is an HSK 4 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.