HSK 5 · Objects

洞 dòng “cave” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 洞 means

  1. cave
  2. hole
  3. zero (unambiguous spoken form when spelling out numbers)

Measure word 个 gè · 一个洞 yí ge dòng

How to say 洞

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale洞dòng4th tone, falling

洞 in a sentence

  1. 你的袜子上有个洞。

    Nǐ de wàzi shàng yǒu ge dòng.

    There is a hole in your sock.

    Sentence #1878281 from Tatoeba

  2. 他挖了一个洞。

    Tā wā le yí ge dòng.

    He dug a hole.

    Sentence #414486 from Tatoeba

  3. 我们在山洞里迷了路。

    Wǒmen zài shāndòng lǐ mí le lù.

    We got lost in the cave.

    Sentence #10305639 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

How 洞 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 洞 (dòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
洞dòngcave
  • 氵water form of 水 · shuǐMeaning part
  • 同same · tóngSound part

氵 hints at the meaning (water); 同 (tóng) hints at the sound. Compare it with dòng.

How to write 洞

洞 9 strokes

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

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

Words related to 洞

Words with 洞

空洞kōngdòng · empty

More words: Objects & Materials

尺子chǐzi · ruler (measuring instrument)抽屉chōuti · drawer窗帘chuānglián · window curtains地毯dìtǎn · carpet肥皂féizào · soap钢铁gāngtiě · steel工具gōngjù · tool管子guǎnzi · tube

FAQs

洞 (dòng) means “cave” or “hole”. It is an HSK 5 word.
Say it dòng: dòng with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 洞 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Use 个 (gè). For example, one cave is 一个洞 (yí ge dòng).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type dong with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 洞 from the suggestions. Typing dong into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
洞 is an HSK 5 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 from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.