DICTIONARY
The Chinese word kong - 空 - kōng
(empty in Chinese)
Phonetic transcription (Hanyu Pinyin)
kōng
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
Note: This Chinese character can also be pronounced kòng. However, with a different pronunciation, the meaning of the character will change as well (not yet available in this dictionary).
English translations
empty, hollow, in vain, sky, air, free,
spare time, free time
Chinese character and stroke order animation"How do I write 空 ( kōng ) correctly?"
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The traditional Chinese characters of kōng are identical with the modern (simplified) characters displayed above.
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 空 ( kong / kōng ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Zhege pingzi shi kong de.
Zhège píngzi shì kōng de.– English translation: This bottle is empty.
Character complexity
空 is composed of 8 strokes and therefore is of low complexity compared to the other simplified Chinese characters (average: 13.1 strokes).
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
hole | space
空 ( kong / kōng ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 371)
空 ( kong / kōng ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 371)
Chinese example words containing the character 空 ( kong / kōng )
阿空加瓜山 ( Ākòngjiāguāshān = Aconcagua ), 航空 ( hángkōng = airmail ), 空气 ( kōngqì = air ), 空手道 ( Kōngshǒudào = Karate ), 空调 ( kōngtiáo = air conditioning ), 空中 ( kōngzhōng = air ), 空缺 ( kòngquē = vacancy ), 空儿 ( kòngr = spare time ), 填空 ( tiānkòng = to fill in the blank ), 天空 ( tiánkōng = sky ), 有空 ( yǒukòng = to have time )
More words that mean empty in Chinese
gān ( 干 )
Report missing or erroneous translation of kong in English
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Version 5.65 / Last updated: 2026-11-08