P3 Chinese character choice practice
Singapore Primary 3 Chinese, character choice (选字填空): pick the right character for a blank from several that look or sound alike, testing accurate use of characters so that homophones and look-alikes do not creep in. Everything here follows the MOE syllabus. You can try one set free without signing up, and it is marked as you go — get one wrong and the same point comes back asked a different way, so your child can make steady progress on telling characters apart. This page has 17 skill points and 105 questions.
What is tested in P3 character choice
In P3 and P4 the question starts using families built on a shared phonetic element — 清, 晴, 请, 情 or 抱, 饱, 跑, 炮 — and tests whether a child can read meaning off the radical. Sentences get longer, so the words either side of the blank become a clue in their own right.
Common traps
- One phonetic element with four different radicals: all four options sound alike and only the radical separates them.
- The character is right but wrong for this particular word — 作 and 做 in 作业 and 做作业.
- One option is a more common character, put there to attract a guess.
How to practise
Group by radical: characters with the water radical have to do with water, those with the hand radical are actions. When answering, read the words either side of the blank first, then check which radical fits that meaning.
P3 character choice · worked examples
小乐上课时在（ ）子下偷偷看漫画，被老师发现了。
- ・捉
- ・卓
- ・啄
- ✓ 桌
Why: The answer is "桌". The sentence says "桌下", meaning under the desk. "卓" means outstanding, "捉" means catch, "啄" means peck, none fit.
小明不小心把铅笔（ ）断了，他赶紧向同学借了一支。
- ✓ 弄
- ・砍
- ・拱
- ・供
Why: The answer is "弄". 弄断 means causing something to break. Xiaoming breaks the pencil by accident, so 弄 fits. "砍" means chopping hard with a knife on purpose, which does not match 不小心. "拱" (arch) and "供" (to provide) make no sense before 断了.
小乐看到有人在公园里（ ）花，马上上前阻止。
- ✓ 摘
- ・招
- ・追
- ・捉
Why: The answer is '摘'. Picking flowers in the park means taking them off the branch with your hand, so we use '摘'. '追' means to chase. '招' means to wave. '捉' means to catch. None of these are correct.
Read each candidate into the sentence and check the meaning and the pairing; only the one that fits both is right.
Skill points on this page (17)
- 下L13·大家都用环保袋 · 7 questions
- 下L11·环保小天使 · 9 questions
- 下L16·学习要认真 · 12 questions
- 上L01·美丽的愿望 · 8 questions
- 上L02·我的朋友和家人 · 2 questions
- 上L03·我的好伙伴 · 8 questions
- 上L04·奇妙的变化 · 6 questions
- 上L05·难忘的一天 · 4 questions
- 上L06·是我不好 · 5 questions
- 上L07·留张便条 · 4 questions
- 上L08·我真能干 · 6 questions
- 上L09·我有办法 · 5 questions
- 下L12·我爱新加坡 · 4 questions
- 下L14·奇妙的动物 · 5 questions
- 下L15·华文真有趣 · 8 questions
- 下L17·好孩子 · 7 questions
- 下L10·我住的地方真干净 · 5 questions
老师耐心地（ ）我们怎么把垃圾分类回收，我们都学会了。