HSK 1 Vocabulary: All 500 Words You Need (with Pinyin)

沉浸 TeamAugust 13, 202616 min read

The HSK 1 vocabulary list has 500 words under the current HSK 3.0 standard, and the complete list is below with pinyin and meanings. These are the highest-value words in Mandarin: the pronouns, verbs, and everyday nouns that appear in nearly every sentence you'll ever hear.

If you've seen "HSK 1 = 150 words" elsewhere, that's the old HSK 2.0 standard. The 2021 HSK 3.0 overhaul expanded level 1 to 500 words, which is a more honest picture of what "basic Chinese" takes. For how the whole system fits together, see our guide to the HSK levels.

Start with these 20 words

Five hundred words is a project; twenty is an afternoon. These are the HSK 1 words that carry the most weight in real sentences. Each links to its dictionary page, where you can hear it and see it broken down:

For ready-made sentences built from words like these, our essential Chinese phrases guide covers the first 150 phrases every beginner needs.

How to learn 500 words without burning out

Use spaced repetition, not rereading. An SRS (spaced repetition system) shows you each word right before you'd forget it. Twenty minutes a day comfortably covers 10-15 new words plus reviews, which finishes HSK 1 in about six weeks.
Track the list, not your feelings. Chenjin's vocabulary page shows the full HSK 1 grid and colors each word by whether you know it, so "how far along am I?" always has an exact answer.
Read the words in stories immediately. A word you've met in a story sticks far better than a word you've only seen on a card. Even at HSK 1, graded stories exist that stay inside this list.
Learn tones as part of the word. "mai" isn't a word; mǎi (buy) and mài (sell) are two opposite words. If tones are new, start with our Chinese tones guide.
Practice writing the characters you'll use most. Print a few sheets from our free character practice sheet generator, which comes preloaded with stroke-order diagrams.

The full HSK 1 word list

The complete HSK 3.0 level 1 list, sorted by pinyin. Exact totals vary by a few words depending on how entries with multiple uses are split; this is the full level as Chenjin tracks it. To look up any word's characters, examples, and audio, search it in the dictionary, or open the whole level as an interactive grid on the vocabulary page.

A

爱 (ài): to love; to be fond of; to like
爱好 (àihào): to like; to be fond of; to take pleasure in; to be keen on

B

八 (bā): eight
爸 (bà): father
吧 (ba): (modal particle indicating suggestion or surmise)
爸爸 (bàba): (coll.) father; dad
白 (bái): white
百 (bǎi): hundred
白天 (báitiān): daytime
班 (bān): team; class; grade
半 (bàn): half
半年 (bàn nián): half a year
帮 (bāng): to help
帮忙 (bāngmáng): to help
半天 (bàntiān): half of the day
包 (bāo): to cover
包子 (bāozi): baozi; bao (steamed stuffed bun)
杯 (bēi): cup
北 (běi): north
北边 (běibian): north
北京 (Běijīng): Beijing municipality, capital of the People's Republic of China (short name 京)
杯子 (bēizi): cup
本 (běn): (bound form) root; stem
本子 (běnzi): book
比 (bǐ): to compare
别 (bié): to leave; to part (from)
别的 (biéde): else
别人 (biérén): other people; others; other person
病 (bìng): illness
病人 (bìngrén): sick person
不 (bù): no; not so
不大 (bù dà): not very (clear, far away etc); not too
不客气 (bù kèqì): you're welcome
不对 (bùduì): incorrect
不用 (bùyòng): need not

C

菜 (cài): vegetable; greens (CL:棵)
茶 (chá): tea
差 (chà): different
常 (cháng): always
唱 (chàng): to sing
常常 (chángcháng): frequently; often
唱歌 (chànggē): to sing a song
车 (chē): car
车上 (chē shang): Compositional phrase, not a single CC-CEDICT headword: 车 (car) + 上 ((bound form) up; upper; above; previous)
车票 (chēpiào): ticket (for a bus or train)
车站 (chēzhàn): rail station
吃 (chī): to eat; to consume
吃饭 (chīfàn): to have a meal
出 (chū): to go out; to come out
穿 (chuān): to wear
床 (chuáng): bed; couch (furniture that one can lie down on) (CL:張|张)
出来 (chūlái): to come out
出去 (chūqù): to go out
次 (cì): next in sequence
从 (cóng): from; through; via
错 (cuò): mistake

D

打 (dǎ): (loanword) dozen
大 (dà): big; large; great
打电话 (dǎ diànhuà): to make a telephone call
打球 (dǎ qiú): to play ball
打车 (dǎchē): to take a taxi (in town)
打开 (dǎkāi): to open
到 (dào): to reach; to arrive
大学 (dàxué): university
大学生 (dàxuéshēng): university student; college student
地 (de): -ly
的 (de): of; ~'s (possessive particle)
得到 (dédào): to get; to obtain; to receive
等 (děng): to wait for; to await
弟 (dì): younger brother
第 (dì): (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")
第二 (dì-èr): second
点 (diǎn): to touch briefly; to tap
电 (diàn): lightning
电话 (diànhuà): telephone
电脑 (diànnǎo): computer
电视 (diànshì): television; TV
电视机 (diànshìjī): television set
电影 (diànyǐng): movie; film
电影院 (diànyǐngyuàn): cinema; movie theater
弟弟 (dìdi): younger brother
地点 (dìdiǎn): place
地方 (dìfang): region
地上 (dìshang): on the ground
地图 (dìtú): map
东 (dōng): east
动 (dòng): (of sth) to move
东边 (dōngbian): east
东西 (dōngxi): thing
动作 (dòngzuò): movement; motion; action
都 (dōu): all; both; entirely
读 (dú): to read out; to read aloud
对 (duì): right; correct
对不起 (duìbuqǐ): I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon
多 (duō): many; much; more; a lot of
多少 (duōshao): how much?; how many?
读书 (dúshū): to read a book

E

饿 (è): hungry
二 (èr): two
儿子 (érzi): son

F

饭 (fàn): cooked rice
饭店 (fàndiàn): restaurant
放 (fàng): to put
放假 (fàngjià): to have a holiday or vacation
房间 (fángjiān): room
放学 (fàngxué): to dismiss students at the end of the school day
房子 (fángzi): house
飞 (fēi): to fly
非常 (fēicháng): very; really
飞机 (fēijī): airplane
分 (fēn): to divide; to separate
风 (fēng): wind

G

干 (gān): dry
干什么 (gàn shénme): what are you doing?
干净 (gānjìng): clean
高 (gāo): high
告诉 (gàosu): to tell; to inform; to let know
高兴 (gāoxìng): happy
哥 (gē): elder brother
歌 (gē): song (CL:首,支)
个 (gè): (classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier)
哥哥 (gēge): older brother
给 (gěi): to
跟 (gēn): heel
工人 (gōngrén): worker
工作 (gōngzuò): to work
关 (guān): mountain pass
关上 (guānshang): to close (a door)
贵 (guì): expensive
国 (guó): country; nation; state
过 (guò): to cross
国外 (guó wài): abroad
国家 (guójiā): country; nation; state

H

还 (hái): still
还有 (hái yǒu): there still remain(s); there is (or are) still
还是 (háishi): still (as before)
孩子 (háizi): child
汉语 (Hànyǔ): Chinese language
汉字 (Hànzì): Chinese character(s)
好 (hǎo): good
号 (hào): (literary) to call out; to command
好吃 (hǎochī): tasty; delicious
好看 (hǎokàn): good-looking; nice-looking
好听 (hǎotīng): pleasant to hear
好玩儿 (hǎowánr): erhua variant of 好玩
喝 (hē): to drink
和 (hé): (joining two nouns) and; together with; with (Taiwan pr. )
很 (hěn): very; quite
后 (hòu): empress
后边 (hòubian): the back; the rear; the last bit
后天 (hòutiān): the day after tomorrow
花 (huā): flower
话 (huà): dialect
坏 (huài): bad
回 (huí): to go back; to return; to turn back; to turn around
会 (huì): can; to have the skill; to know how to
回家 (huí jiā): to return home
回答 (huídá): to reply; to answer
回到 (huídào): to return to
回来 (huílái): to return; to come back
回去 (huíqù): to return
火车 (huǒchē): train

J

几 (jǐ): how many; how much
记 (jì): to record
家 (jiā): used in 傢伙|家伙 and 傢俱|家俱
家里 (jiā li): home
间 (jiān): between
见 (jiàn): to see
见面 (jiànmiàn): to meet; to see each other
教 (jiāo): to teach; to instruct
叫 (jiào): to shout
教学楼 (jiàoxuélóu): school building; academic building
家人 (jiārén): family member
机场 (jīchǎng): airport; airfield
鸡蛋 (jīdàn): (chicken) egg
记得 (jìde): to remember
姐 (jiě): older sister
姐姐 (jiějie): older sister
介绍 (jièshào): to introduce (sb to sb)
进 (jìn): to go forward
进来 (jìnlái): to come in
今年 (jīnnián): this year
进去 (jìnqù): to go in
今天 (jīntiān): today
机票 (jīpiào): plane ticket; airline ticket
九 (jiǔ): nine
就 (jiù): (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then
记住 (jìzhù): to remember
觉得 (juéde): to think that ...; to feel that ...

K

开 (kāi): to open (transitive or intransitive)
开玩笑 (kāi wánxiào): to play a joke; to make fun of; to joke
开车 (kāichē): to drive a car (or train etc)
开会 (kāihuì): to hold a meeting
看 (kàn): to look after
看病 (kànbìng): to visit a doctor
看到 (kàndào): to see
看见 (kànjiàn): to see; to catch sight of
考 (kǎo): to beat
考试 (kǎoshì): to take an exam
渴 (kě): thirsty
课 (kè): subject
课本 (kèběn): textbook
课文 (kèwén): text
口 (kǒu): mouth
块 (kuài): lump; chunk; piece
快 (kuài): rapid

L

来 (lái): to come
来到 (láidào): to arrive; to come
老 (lǎo): prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity
老人 (lǎorén): old man or woman
老师 (lǎoshī): teacher
了 (le): (completed action marker)
累 (lèi): tired
冷 (lěng): cold
里 (lǐ): lining
两 (liǎng): two
里边 (lǐbian): inside
零 (líng): zero
〇 (líng): zero
六 (liù): six
楼 (lóu): house with more than 1 story
楼上 (lóu shàng): upstairs
楼下 (lóu xià): downstairs
路 (lù): road (CL:條|条)
路口 (lùkǒu): crossing
路上 (lùshang): on the road

M

妈 (mā): ma
吗 (ma): (question particle for "yes-no" questions)
买 (mǎi): to buy
马路 (mǎlù): street
妈妈 (māma): mama
慢 (màn): slow
忙 (máng): busy
毛 (máo): hair
马上 (mǎshàng): at once
没 (méi): (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not
妹 (mèi): younger sister
没关系 (méi guānxi): it doesn't matter
没什么 (méi shénme): it doesn't matter; it's nothing; never mind
妹妹 (mèimei): younger sister
没事儿 (méishìr): to have spare time
没有 (méiyǒu): haven't
门 (mén): gate; door; doorway; gateway; opening (CL:扇)
们 (men): plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals
门口 (ménkǒu): doorway
门票 (ménpiào): ticket (for theater, cinema etc)
面包 (miànbāo): bread
面条儿 (miàntiáor): erhua variant of 麵條|面条
米饭 (mǐfàn): (cooked) rice
明白 (míngbai): clear; obvious; unequivocal
明年 (míngnián): next year
明天 (míngtiān): tomorrow
名字 (míngzi): name (of a person or thing)

N

拿 (ná): to hold
哪 (nǎ): how
那 (nà): (specifier) that; the; those (colloquial pr. )
那边 (nàbiān): over there
奶 (nǎi): breast
奶奶 (nǎinai): (informal) grandma (paternal grandmother)
哪里 (nǎlǐ): where?
那里 (nàlǐ): there; that place
男 (nán): (bound form) male
南 (nán): south
难 (nán): difficult (to...)
南边 (nánbian): south
男孩儿 (nánháir): erhua form of 男孩
男朋友 (nánpéngyou): boyfriend
男人 (nánrén): a man
男生 (nánshēng): schoolboy
哪儿 (nǎr): where?
那儿 (nàr): there
哪些 (nǎxiē): which ones?
那些 (nàxiē): those
呢 (ne): (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?")
能 (néng): can
你 (nǐ): you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)
年 (nián): year
你们 (nǐmen): you (plural)
您 (nín): you (courteous, as opposed to informal 你)
牛奶 (niúnǎi): cow's milk
女 (nǚ): female
女儿 (nǚ'ér): daughter
女孩儿 (nǚháir): erhua form of 女孩
女朋友 (nǚpéngyou): girlfriend
女人 (nǚrén): woman
女生 (nǚshēng): schoolgirl

P

旁边 (pángbiān): side; adjacent place
跑 (pǎo): to run
朋友 (péngyou): friend
朋友们 (péngyoumen): Compositional phrase, not a single CC-CEDICT headword: 朋友 (friend) + 们 (plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals)
票 (piào): ticket

Q

七 (qī): seven
起 (qǐ): to rise
前 (qián): front
钱 (qián): coin
钱包 (qiánbāo): purse
前边 (qiánbian): front
前天 (qiántiān): the day before yesterday
汽车 (qìchē): car
起床 (qǐchuáng): to get out of bed; to get up
起来 (qǐlái): to stand up; to get up
请 (qǐng): to ask
请进 (qǐng jìn): "please come in"
请坐 (qǐng zuò): please, have a seat
请假 (qǐngjià): to request leave of absence
请问 (qǐngwèn): Excuse me, may I ask...?
球 (qiú): ball used for playing games (variant of 球)
去 (qù): to go
去年 (qùnián): last year

R

热 (rè): to warm up
人 (rén): person; people
认识 (rènshi): to know
认真 (rènzhēn): conscientious
日 (rì): (bound form) sun
日期 (rìqī): date
肉 (ròu): meat

S

三 (sān): three
山 (shān): mountain; hill (CL:座)
上 (shàng): (bound form) up; upper; above; previous
上车 (shàng chē): to get on or into (a bus, train, car etc)
上次 (shàng cì): last time
上班 (shàngbān): to go to work
上边 (shàngbian): the top
商场 (shāngchǎng): shopping mall
商店 (shāngdiàn): store; shop
上课 (shàngkè): to go to class
上网 (shàngwǎng): to go online
上午 (shàngwǔ): morning
上学 (shàngxué): to go to school
少 (shǎo): few
谁 (shéi): who
生病 (shēngbìng): to fall ill
生气 (shēngqì): to get angry; to be furious
生日 (shēngrì): birthday
什么 (shénme): what?
身上 (shēnshang): on the body
身体 (shēntǐ): the body
十 (shí): ten
事 (shì): matter
试 (shì): to test
是 (shì): to be (followed by substantives only)
是不是 (shì bu shì): is or is not (used to form yes-no questions)
时候 (shíhou): time
时间 (shíjiān): (concept of) time
手 (shǒu): hand
手机 (shǒujī): cell phone; mobile phone
书 (shū): book
树 (shù): tree
书包 (shūbāo): schoolbag
书店 (shūdiàn): bookstore
水 (shuǐ): water
睡 (shuì): to sleep
水果 (shuǐguǒ): fruit
睡觉 (shuìjiào): to go to bed
说 (shuō): to speak; to talk; to say
说话 (shuōhuà): to speak
四 (sì): four
送 (sòng): to send; to deliver; to transmit
岁 (suì): classifier for years (of age)

T

他 (tā): (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his
她 (tā): she
太 (tài): highest
他们 (tāmen): they; them
她们 (tāmen): they; them (females)
天 (tiān): day
天气 (tiānqì): weather
听 (tīng): to listen to; to hear
听到 (tīngdào): to hear
听见 (tīngjiàn): to hear
听写 (tīngxiě): (of a pupil) to write down (in a dictation exercise); dictation
同学 (tóngxué): to study at the same school
图书馆 (túshūguǎn): library

W

外 (wài): outside
外边 (wàibian): outside
外国 (wàiguó): foreign country
外语 (wàiyǔ): foreign language
晚 (wǎn): evening
晚饭 (wǎnfàn): evening meal
忘 (wàng): to forget
网上 (wǎng shang): online
忘记 (wàngjì): to forget
网友 (wǎngyǒu): online friend
玩儿 (wánr): to play
晚上 (wǎnshang): evening
问 (wèn): to ask; to inquire
我 (wǒ): I; me; my
我们 (wǒmen): we; us; ourselves; our
五 (wǔ): five
午饭 (wǔfàn): lunch

X

西 (xī): west
洗 (xǐ): to wash; to bathe
下 (xià): down
下车 (xià chē): to get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc)
下次 (xià cì): next time
下雨 (xià yǔ): to rain
下班 (xiàbān): to finish work; to get off work
下边 (xiàbian): under
下课 (xiàkè): to finish class
先 (xiān): beforehand; first; earlier
想 (xiǎng): to think (about)
先生 (xiānsheng): teacher
现在 (xiànzài): now; at present; currently
小 (xiǎo): small
笑 (xiào): to laugh; to smile
小孩儿 (xiǎoháir): erhua variant of 小孩
小姐 (xiǎojiě): young lady
小朋友 (xiǎopéngyǒu): child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to refer to sb's own child)
小时 (xiǎoshí): hour
小学 (xiǎoxué): elementary school; primary school
小学生 (xiǎoxuéshēng): primary school student
下午 (xiàwǔ): afternoon
西边 (xībian): west
写 (xiě): to write
谢谢 (xièxie): to thank
喜欢 (xǐhuan): to like; to be fond of
新 (xīn): new
行 (xíng): (bound form) row; line
星期 (xīngqī): week
星期日 (xīngqīrì): Sunday
星期天 (xīngqītiān): Sunday
新年 (xīnnián): New Year
洗手间 (xǐshǒujiān): toilet
休息 (xiūxi): rest
学 (xué): to learn
学生 (xuéshēng): student
学习 (xuéxí): to learn
学校 (xuéxiào): school
学院 (xuéyuàn): college

Y

要 (yào): to want; to need; to ask for
也 (yě): also; too; as well; (not ...) either
页 (yè): page
爷爷 (yéye): (coll.) paternal grandfather; grandpa
一 (yī): one
一半 (yībàn): half
一边 (yībiān): one side
一点儿 (yīdiǎnr): erhua variant of 一點|一点
衣服 (yīfu): clothes
一会儿 (yīhuìr): a moment
一块儿 (yīkuàir): erhua variant of 一塊|一块
一起 (yīqǐ): (in) the same place
医生 (yīshēng): doctor
一下儿 (yīxiàr): erhua form of 一下
一些 (yīxiē): some; a few; a little; (following an adjective) slightly ...er
一样 (yīyàng): same
医院 (yīyuàn): hospital
用 (yòng): to use; to make use of; to employ
有 (yǒu): to have; there is
右 (yòu): (bound form) right; right-hand side
右边 (yòubian): right side
有的 (yǒude): (there are) some (who are...)
有名 (yǒumíng): famous
有时 (yǒushí): sometimes
有时候 (yǒushíhou): sometimes
有些 (yǒuxiē): some
有一些 (yǒuyīxiē): somewhat
有用 (yǒuyòng): useful
雨 (yǔ): rain
元 (yuán): currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan)
远 (yuǎn): far
月 (yuè): moon

Z

再 (zài): again; once more; re-
在 (zài): to exist; to be alive
在家 (zàijiā): to be at home
再见 (zàijiàn): goodbye
早 (zǎo): early
早饭 (zǎofàn): breakfast
早上 (zǎoshang): early morning
怎么 (zěnme): how?
站 (zhàn): station
找 (zhǎo): to try to find
找到 (zhǎodào): to find
这 (zhè): (pronoun) this; these
着 (zhe): to touch
这边 (zhèbiān): this side
这里 (zhèlǐ): here
真 (zhēn): really
真的 (zhēn de): really; truly; indeed
正 (zhèng): straight
正在 (zhèngzài): to be in the process of (doing sth); to be currently ...-ing
这儿 (zhèr): here
这些 (zhèxiē): these
知道 (zhīdào): to know; to become aware of
知识 (zhīshi): knowledge
中 (zhōng): within; among; in
重 (zhòng): to repeat
中国 (Zhōngguó): China
中间 (zhōngjiān): the middle; the inside
中文 (Zhōngwén): Chinese language
中午 (zhōngwǔ): noon
中学 (zhōngxué): middle school
中学生 (zhōngxuéshēng): middle-school student
重要 (zhòngyào): important; significant; major
住 (zhù): to live; to reside; to stay
准备 (zhǔnbèi): preparation
桌子 (zhuōzi): table
字 (zì): letter
子 (zi): noun suffix, as in 椅子 "chair"
走 (zǒu): to walk
走路 (zǒulù): to walk; to go on foot
最 (zuì): (before an adjective or verb) to the highest degree; (the) most ...; -est
最好 (zuìhǎo): best
最后 (zuìhòu): final; last; ultimate
左 (zuǒ): left
坐 (zuò): to sit
做 (zuò): to make; to produce
坐下 (zuò xia): to sit down
左边 (zuǒbian): left
昨天 (zuótiān): yesterday

Frequently asked questions

How many words are in HSK 1?

500 under the current HSK 3.0 standard. The older HSK 2.0 test used a 150-word list, which is why older articles disagree. HSK 3.0 also expects you to recognize about 300 characters at this level.

How long does it take to learn HSK 1 vocabulary?

At 10-15 new words a day with spaced repetition, five to eight weeks. Total beginners should budget extra time for pinyin and tones in the first two weeks; our pronunciation guide covers that groundwork.

Is HSK 1 enough to have a conversation?

Enough for survival exchanges: ordering, shopping, introductions, times and dates. Real back-and-forth conversation becomes comfortable around HSK 3. The HSK levels guide describes what each stage feels like.

Ready to start tracking? Create a free Chenjin account, mark off the HSK 1 words you already know on the vocabulary grid, and let the built-in flashcards handle the rest of the list.

HSK 1 Vocabulary: All 500 Words You Need (with Pinyin)

Start with these 20 words

How to learn 500 words without burning out

The full HSK 1 word list

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

P

Q

R

S

T

W

X

Y

Z

Frequently asked questions

How many words are in HSK 1?

How long does it take to learn HSK 1 vocabulary?

Is HSK 1 enough to have a conversation?

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