fill in

Meaning

This phrasal verb primarily means to write or type information in the blank spaces of a document. It also means to temporarily do someone else's job while they are away, or to give someone the details and updates they missed.

Examples

• Please fill in your name and email address at the top of the form.

  Please fill in your name and email address at the top of the form.

• Can you fill me in on what happened during the morning meeting?

  Can you fill me in on what happened during the morning meeting?

• She had to fill in for her coworker who went on sick leave.

  She had to fill in for her coworker who went on sick leave.

• Just fill in the blanks on this application and sign it at the bottom.

  Just fill in the blanks on this application and sign it at the bottom.

• I missed the first half of the movie, so my brother filled me in.

  I missed the first half of the movie, so my brother filled me in.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ You need to fill out your name in this blank space.

  ✓ You need to fill in your name in this blank space.

  While 'fill out' is used for an entire document, 'fill in' is used for specific blank spaces or individual fields.

• ✗ She filled in her sick colleague yesterday.

  ✓ She filled in for her sick colleague yesterday.

  To do someone else's job temporarily, you must use the preposition 'for' after 'fill in'. Without 'for', it means updating someone with information.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Could you ___ for me at the reception desk for ten minutes?

  💡 Do my job temporarily.

  Show answer

  fill in

• Please ___ the registration form before the event starts.

  💡 Complete the blank spaces.

  Show answer

  fill in