HSK 1 vocabulary list

• 的deof; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); also pr. [dì] or [di] in poetry and songs
• 爱àito love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen)
• 八bāeight; 8
• 爸爸bà ba(coll.) father; dad
• 了le(completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
• 我wǒI; me; my
• 杯子bēi zicup; glass
• 是shìto be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion)
• 你好nǐ hǎohello
• 北京běi jīngBeijing, capital of the People's Republic of China
• 你nǐyou (informal, as opposed to courteous 您)
• 在zàito exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)
• 本běnroot; stem; origin; source; this; the current; original; inherent; originally; classifier for books, periodicals, files etc
• 中国zhōng guóChina
• 不客气bù kè qiyou're welcome; don't mention it; impolite; rude; blunt
• 不bùno; not so; (bound form) not; un-
• 菜càidish (type of food); vegetable; cuisine; (coll.) (one's) type; (of one's skills etc) weak; poor
• 有yǒuto have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 意 intentional)
• 他tāhe; him (used for either sex when the sex is unknown or unimportant); (used before sb's name for emphasis); (used as a meaningless mock object); (literary) other
• 茶chátea; tea plant
• 谢谢xiè xieto thank; thanks; thank you
• 吃chīto eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy; to absorb; to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
• 这zhè(pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhèi], esp. in Beijing)
• 出租车chū zū chētaxi; (Tw) rental car
• 打电话dǎ diàn huàto make a telephone call
• 就jiù(after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 是) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly; only; as little as; as much as; as many as; to approach; to move towards; to undertake; to engage in; (often followed by 着) taking advantage of; (of food) to go with; with regard to; concerning; (pattern: 就 ... 也 ...) even if ... still ...; (pattern: 不 ... 就 ...) if not ... then must be ...
• 电脑diàn nǎocomputer
• 电视diàn shìtelevision; TV
• 电影diàn yǐngmovie; film
• 个gèused in 自个儿
• 和héold variant of 和
• 人rénperson; people
• 说shuōto persuade
• 我们wǒ menwe; us; ourselves; our
• 要yào(bound form) to demand; to coerce
• 东西dōng xīeast and west
• 好hǎogood; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (of two people) close; on intimate terms; (after a personal pronoun) hello
• 一yīone; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
• 读dúcomma; phrase marked by pause
• 对不起duì bu qǐI'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint
• 会huìcan; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Taiwan pr. [huǐ])
• 也yěsurname Ye
• 多duōmany; much; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duó]); (bound form) multi-; poly-
• 多少duō shǎonumber; amount; somewhat
• 都dōusurname Du
• 儿子ér zison
• 二èrtwo; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid
• 对duìright; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to suit; to answer; to reply; to add; to pour in (a fluid); to check; to compare; classifier: couple; pair
• 饭店fàn diànrestaurant; hotel
• 到dàoto reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoughtful; thorough
• 飞机fēi jīairplane
• 上shàngused in 上声
• 分钟fēn zhōngminute
• 高兴gāo xìnghappy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood
• 来láito come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来); ever since (as in 自古以来); for the past (amount of time); (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 来世); (between two verbs) in order to; (after a round number) approximately; (used after 得 to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来, or after 不 to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来)
• 工作gōng zuòto work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task
• 狗gǒudog
• 汉语hàn yǔChinese language
• 很hěn(adverb of degree); quite; very; awfully
• 号hàoroar; cry

Frequently asked questions

How many words do you need for HSK 1?

On the current exam (HSK 2.0), HSK 1 requires 150 words in total. Under the new HSK 3.0 standard, level 1 covers 500 words in total.

What is in this HSK 1 vocabulary list?

369 Chinese words that the HSK Ace dictionary places at HSK 1, sorted by frequency. Each one has pinyin, an English meaning, audio and a stroke-order animation. The set draws on both HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0, so its size differs from the official counts.

Practice HSK 1

See how many of these words you can use under exam conditions, or learn to write them stroke by stroke.