100 Basic Chinese Words Every Beginner Should Know

沉浸 TeamAugust 6, 20265 min read

These are the 100 Chinese words every beginner should learn first: the highest-value words at HSK 1 level, each with simplified characters, tone-marked pinyin, and a plain meaning. Learn these and you can already build simple sentences about yourself, your day, and what you want.

The list is grouped by theme so it's easier to study, and it pairs well with our essential Chinese phrases guide, which turns words like these into full sentences. Here are the first 10 right away.

Pronouns (10 words)

我 (wǒ): I, me. Same word for both.
你 (nǐ): you (one person).
他 (tā): he, him.
她 (tā): she, her. Sounds identical to 他; only the character changes.
我们 (wǒmen): we, us. 们 makes pronouns plural.
你们 (nǐmen): you (a group).
他们 (tāmen): they, them.
这 (zhè): this.
那 (nà): that.
什么 (shénme): what. Your go-to question word.

People and family (8 words)

人 (rén): person, people.
朋友 (péngyou): friend.
老师 (lǎoshī): teacher.
学生 (xuésheng): student.
妈妈 (māma): mom.
爸爸 (bàba): dad.
孩子 (háizi): child, kid.
家 (jiā): home, family. One word covers both.

Verbs (25 words)

是 (shì): to be. 我是学生 means "I'm a student."
有 (yǒu): to have. Negate it with 没, never 不.
去 (qù): to go.
来 (lái): to come.
看 (kàn): to look, to watch, to read.
听 (tīng): to listen, to hear.
说 (shuō): to speak, to say.
读 (dú): to read, to study.
写 (xiě): to write.
吃 (chī): to eat.
喝 (hē): to drink.
买 (mǎi): to buy.
做 (zuò): to do, to make.
想 (xiǎng): to want to, to think, to miss someone.
要 (yào): to want, to need.
爱 (ài): to love.
喜欢 (xǐhuan): to like.
知道 (zhīdào): to know a fact.
学习 (xuéxí): to study, to learn.
工作 (gōngzuò): to work; also the noun "job."
住 (zhù): to live somewhere.
会 (huì): can (a learned skill, like a language).
能 (néng): can (physically able, possible).
可以 (kěyǐ): may, allowed to.
在 (zài): to be at, in, or on a place.

Numbers (11 words)

一 (yī): one. Its tone shifts in speech before other words, but it's written yī.
二 (èr): two.
三 (sān): three.
四 (sì): four.
五 (wǔ): five.
六 (liù): six.
七 (qī): seven.
八 (bā): eight.
九 (jiǔ): nine.
十 (shí): ten. Stack to count higher: 十一 is 11, 二十 is 20.
百 (bǎi): hundred.

Time (11 words)

今天 (jīntiān): today.
明天 (míngtiān): tomorrow.
昨天 (zuótiān): yesterday.
年 (nián): year.
月 (yuè): month; also moon.
日 (rì): day; also sun.
点 (diǎn): o'clock. 三点 is 3:00.
现在 (xiànzài): now.
上午 (shàngwǔ): morning.
下午 (xiàwǔ): afternoon.
晚上 (wǎnshang): evening, night.

Places and things (14 words)

中国 (Zhōngguó): China. Literally "middle country."
学校 (xuéxiào): school.
商店 (shāngdiàn): shop, store.
饭馆 (fànguǎn): restaurant.
东西 (dōngxi): thing, stuff.
书 (shū): book.
水 (shuǐ): water.
茶 (chá): tea.
饭 (fàn): cooked rice; a meal.
菜 (cài): a dish of food; vegetables.
钱 (qián): money.
车 (chē): car, vehicle.
电脑 (diànnǎo): computer. Literally "electric brain."
手机 (shǒujī): cell phone.

Question and function words (10 words)

These little words do a lot of the grammar work in Chinese.

吗 (ma): turns a statement into a yes-no question.
呢 (ne): bounces a question back, like "and you?"
不 (bù): not. Said bú before a fourth tone.
没 (méi): not, for 有 and for things that didn't happen.
很 (hěn): very; often just links a noun to an adjective.
太 (tài): too, overly. 太好了 means "great!"
都 (dōu): all, both.
和 (hé): and, for joining nouns.
的 (de): possessive marker. 我的书 means "my book."
了 (le): marks a finished action or a change.

Adjectives (11 words)

好 (hǎo): good.
大 (dà): big.
小 (xiǎo): small.
多 (duō): many, much.
少 (shǎo): few, little.
高兴 (gāoxìng): happy, glad.
漂亮 (piàoliang): pretty.
冷 (lěng): cold.
热 (rè): hot.
忙 (máng): busy.
累 (lèi): tired.

How to practice these 100 words

That's exactly 100 words: 10 pronouns, 8 people words, 25 verbs, 11 numbers, 11 time words, 14 places and things, 10 function words, and 11 adjectives.

Two free tools make them stick:

Print any of these words as handwriting worksheets with our Chinese character practice sheet generator. Paste in the characters you're working on and it builds a printable grid sheet with stroke order.
Paste any Chinese sentence into the Chinese to pinyin converter to see tone-marked pinyin for every word.

Frequently asked questions

How many Chinese words do I need to know to hold a conversation?

Around 500 words covers most simple daily conversations, and about 1,000 to 2,000 makes you comfortable. These 100 are the core that everything else builds on.

What are the most common Chinese words?

Function words like 的 (de), 是 (shì), 不 (bù), 了 (le), and 我 (wǒ) top every frequency list. They're all in this list, which is why it's worth learning even the "boring" little words early.

Should I learn Chinese words with characters or just pinyin?

Learn both together. Pinyin tells you the sound, but characters are how you'll see the words everywhere in real life. Reading simple texts with pinyin support is an easy way to get both at once.

Ready to see these words in real sentences? Create a free Chenjin account to save any word as a flashcard, review it with spaced repetition, and read our free graded reader, The Country of the Blind.