(kōng) - empty, hollow, sky, air in Mandarin
kōngTraditional: 空
Translation
empty, hollow, sky, air
Word origin
A phono-semantic character built from 穴 (xué, cave, hole) over 工 (gōng) as the phonetic element, the cave giving the sense of hollowness.
- Origin
- phonetic
- Root
- 穴 (xué, cave) + 工 (gōng, phonetic)
Stroke order
空
Examples
。
The room is empty.
瓶。
This bottle is already empty.
。
He came back empty-handed.
。
The plane is flying in the air.
冰，菜。
The fridge is empty, let us go and buy food.
空 (kōng) in first tone means empty or hollow, and by extension the empty space overhead: 天空 (tiān kōng) the sky, 空气 (kōng qì) air, 空中 (kōng zhōng) in mid-air, 航空 (háng kōng) aviation.
The same character read in fourth tone, kòng, means a gap or spare time, which is a different word in practice. 有空 (yǒu kòng) is to be free, 空儿 (kòngr) is a spare moment, 填空 (tián kòng) is to fill in a blank. Same graph, different reading, different meaning.
That split is the main trap. 我有空 (wǒ yǒu kòng) means I am free; reading it as kōng gets you nowhere. As a rough guide, physical emptiness and the sky take kōng, while an available slot of time or space takes kòng.
Where this fits
Used in
Grammar articles
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空: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "空" (empty, hollow, sky, air): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 44.