%%
%% The LaTeX Companion, 3ed
%%
%% Example 6-7-7 on page I-479 in "multirow --- Vertical alignment in tables".
%%
%% Copyright (C) 2022 Frank Mittelbach
%%
%% It may be distributed and/or modified under the conditions
%% of the LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3c
%% of this license or (at your option) any later version.
%%
%% See https://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt for details.
%%

\documentclass{tlc3exa}
\pagestyle{empty}
\setcounter{page}{6}
\setlength\textwidth{183.0pt}
%StartShownPreambleCommands
\usepackage{colortbl,multirow}
%StopShownPreambleCommands

\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{*2{c>{\columncolor{yellow}}c}}
  C1 &   C2 & C3  &  C4                      \\
  C1 &  \multirow{2}*{partly hidden} & C3  & \\
  C1 &      & C3  & \multirow{-2}*{visible}
\end{tabular}
\end{document}