HSK 3.0 Level 2 · Everyday Verbs

考 kǎo “to take an exam” in Chinese

Traditional 攷

What 考 means

  1. to take an exam
  2. to test
  3. to beat
  4. to hit
  5. to inspect

How to say 考

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale考kǎo3rd tone, dipping

考 in a sentence

  1. 这次考试比较容易。

    Zhè cì kǎoshì bǐjiào róngyì.

    This exam was fairly easy.

    Sentence #6451949 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 你不需要考试。

    Nǐ bù xūyào kǎoshì.

    You don’t need to sit an exam.

    Sentence #5581609 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我正在准备明天的数学考试。

    Wǒ zhèngzài zhǔnbèi míngtiān de shùxué kǎoshì.

    I’m preparing for tomorrow’s maths exam.

    Sentence #11837364 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 考 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 考 (kǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
考kǎoto beat
  • 耂old form of 老 · lǎoMeaning part
  • 丂part of the characterSound part

Memory aid考 and 老 share the top 耂 and once both meant “old”. Today 考 means to test.

How to write 考

考 6 strokes

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

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

Words related to 考

Words with 考

考试kǎoshì · exam考虑kǎolǜ · to think over参考cānkǎo · to consult思考sīkǎo · to reflect on考察kǎochá · to investigate考古kǎogǔ · archaeology考核kǎohé · to assess考验kǎoyàn · to test

More words: Everyday Verbs

打dǎ · to hit打开dǎkāi · to open动dòng · to move飞fēi · to fly跑pǎo · to run踢tī · to kick忘wàng · to forget下来xiàlai · to come down

FAQs

考 (kǎo) means “to take an exam” or “to test”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word.
Say it kǎo: kǎo with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 考 is written 攷. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 考 from the suggestions. Typing kao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
考 is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 2 word list. It is not on the older 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.