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Practice

Everyday English · Work & study

Fill in

Add the information requested on a form.

You write or type the missing information requested by a form, such as your name, address or contact details.

Plain-English lessonVisual explanation3 practice steps

01 · Picture the situation

Understand it in three steps

Cartoon of a woman writing her details in the empty boxes on a form.
Picture the meaningShe fills in the form with her details.
01Empty form
02Add your details
03Completed form

Imagine this: A library gives you a membership form. The boxes for your name and address are empty. You add the requested details. You fill in the form.

02 · Hear it in everyday life

Examples you can use

Three natural sentences

  1. Please fill in this form before the appointment.
  2. I filled my details in online.
  3. Here is the form. You can fill it in now.

A short conversation

PERSON AWhat should I write here?
PERSON BFill in your name and telephone number.

Read the conversation aloud. Then swap roles and try it again without looking.

03 · Build your sentence

How to use fill in

Say fill in the form or fill the form in. With it, say fill it in. You can also fill in details or blanks. Filling in a form does not necessarily mean submitting it.

BASE FORMfill in
PAST SIMPLEfilled in
AFTER HAVE / HASfilled in

The base form is used after can, will and to. The past simple describes a finished past event. The third form follows have or has, for example when connecting an earlier action to now.

A common mistake to avoid

Use thisPlease fill it in.
Avoid this in this meaningPlease fill in it.

When it replaces the form, it belongs between fill and in.

Do not confuse it: Fill in a form means complete its details. Hand in a form means submit it. You may need to do both, in that order.

Does it have another meaning?

Fill out a form is another common expression, especially in American English. Fill in for someone means temporarily do their job; that is a different pattern.

Learn the meaning and sentence pattern together. Small words such as up and off do not have one fixed meaning in every expression.

04 · Make it stick

Try it for yourself

Choose an answer before opening the explanation. Then make a sentence about your own life.

1. You type your name into the empty box on a form. You are…
  1. handing in the form
  2. filling in the form
  3. turning up late
Check answer 1

B. filling in the form

You are adding the required information, so you are filling it in.

2. The form is blank. Please ___.
  1. fill it in
  2. fill in it
  3. filled it in
Check answer 2

A. fill it in

Use fill it in for a request with the pronoun it.

3. Your turn

Which form did you last fill in?

See a possible model and self-check

Please fill in this form before the appointment.

This is one model, not the only correct answer. Check that your sentence uses the meaning taught here, the right verb form and the word order above. Change the person, place or time to make it your own.