HSK 3 · Common Objects

空调 kōngtiáo “air conditioning” in Chinese

Traditional 空調

What 空调 means

  1. air conditioning
  2. air conditioner (including units that have a heating mode)

Measure word 台 tái · 一台空调 yì tái kōngtiáo

How to say 空调

  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale空kōng1st tone, high and level
  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale调tiáo2nd tone, rising

空调 in a sentence

  1. 空调坏了。

    Kōngtiáo huài le.

    The air conditioner is broken.

    Sentence #7773214 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我想要个有空调的房间。

    Wǒ xiǎngyào ge yǒu kōngtiáo de fángjiān.

    I’d like a room with air conditioning.

    Sentence #736531 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 昨天，我爸爸来帮我家装了空调。

    Zuótiān, wǒ bàba lái bāng wǒ jiā zhuāng le kōngtiáo.

    Yesterday my dad came over and installed air conditioning for us.

    Sentence #688062 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 空调 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 空 (kōng) with each of its parts in a different colour
空kōngempty
  • 穴cave · xuéMeaning part
  • 工work · gōngSound part

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

The character 调 (tiáo) with each of its parts in a different colour
调tiáoto harmonise
  • 讠speech form of 言 · yánMeaning part
  • 周Zhou dynasty · zhōuSound part

讠 hints at the meaning (speech); 周 (zhōu) hints at the sound. Compare it with tiáo.

How to write 空调

空 8 strokes · 调 10 strokes

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

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

Words related to 空调

Words with 空

空kōng · empty填空tiánkòng · to fill in the blanks (on a form or test)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

Words with 调

调查diàochá · investigation强调qiángdiào · to emphasise (a statement)调整tiáozhěng · to adjust单调dāndiào · monotonous调皮tiáopí · naughty声调shēngdiào · tone (of a syllable)调料tiáoliào · seasoning调和tiáohé · to reconcile调剂tiáojì · to adjust调节tiáojié · to adjust

More words: Everyday Things

机会jīhuì · opportunity角jiǎo · horn节日jiérì · holiday刻kè · quarter hour筷子kuàizi · chopsticks礼物lǐwù · gift米mǐ · rice盘子pánzi · plate

FAQs

空调 (kōngtiáo) means “air conditioning” or “air conditioner (including units that have a heating mode)”. It is an HSK 3 word.
Say it kōngtiáo: kōng with a 1st tone, then tiáo with a 2nd 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, 空调 is written 空調. The pronunciation is the same.
Use 台 (tái). For example, one air conditioning is 一台空调 (yì tái kōngtiáo).
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type kongtiao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 空调 from the suggestions. Typing kongtiao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
空调 is an HSK 3 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.