HSK 1 vocabulary list

• 还háisurname Huan
• 喝hēto drink; variant of 嗬
• 去qùto go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part); (when used either before or after a verb) to go in order to do sth; (after a verb of motion indicates movement away from the speaker); (used after certain verbs to indicate detachment or separation)
• 她tāshe
• 着zhe(chess) move; trick; all right!; (dialect) to add
• 后面hòu mianthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards
• 回huíto circle; to go back; to turn around; to answer; to return; to revolve; Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims); time; classifier for acts of a play; section or chapter (of a classic book)
• 几jǐsmall table
• 想xiǎngto think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that); to desire; to want (to); to miss (feel wistful about the absence of)
• 家jiāused in 家伙 and 家俱
• 给gěito; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier)
• 叫jiàoto shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood)
• 没有méi yǒuhaven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be
• 能néngsurname Neng
• 今天jīn tiāntoday; at the present; now
• 九jiǔnine; 9
• 那nàsurname Na
• 开kāito open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to operate; to run; to boil; to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc); (directional complement) away; off; carat (gold); abbr. for Kelvin, 开尔文; abbr. for 开本, book format
• 他们tā menthey
• 看见kàn jiànto see; to catch sight of
• 看kànto look after; to take care of; to watch; to guard
• 块kuàilump; chunk; piece; classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc; (coll.) classifier for money and currency units
• 做zuòto make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, friends etc); (of a thing) to serve as; to be used for; to assume (an air or manner)
• 老师lǎo shīteacher
• 什么shén mewhat?; something; anything
• 冷lěngsurname Leng
• 吧babar (loanword) (serving drinks, or providing Internet access etc); to puff (on a pipe etc); (onom.) bang; abbr. for 贴吧
• 点diǎnpoint; dot; drop; speck; o'clock; point (in space or time); to draw a dot; to check on a list; to choose; to order (food in a restaurant); to touch briefly; to hint; to light; to ignite; to pour a liquid drop by drop; (old) one fifth of a two-hour watch 更; dot stroke in Chinese characters; classifier for items
• 六liùsix; 6
• 妈妈mā mamama; mommy; mother
• 吗ma(coll.) what?
• 过guòsurname Guo
• 买mǎito buy; to purchase
• 猫māocat; (dialect) to hide oneself; (coll.) modem
• 没méi(negative prefix for verbs) have not; not
• 没关系méi guān xiit doesn't matter
• 米饭mǐ fàn(cooked) rice
• 大dàbig; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 姐); greatly; freely; fully; (dialect) father; (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
• 名字míng ziname (of a person or thing)
• 明天míng tiāntomorrow
• 哪nǎhow; which
• 哪儿nǎ rwhere?; wherever; anywhere; somewhere; (used in rhetorical questions) how can ...?; how could ...?
• 从cóngvariant of 从
• 下xiàdown; downwards; below; lower; later; next (week etc); second (of two parts); to decline; to go down; to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc); measure word to show the frequency of an action
• 呢neparticle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ...?"); particle for inquiring about location ("Where is ...?"); particle signaling a pause, to emphasize the preceding words and allow the listener time to take them on board ("ok?", "are you with me?"); (at the end of a declarative sentence) particle indicating continuation of a state or action; particle indicating strong affirmation
• 中zhōngChina; Chinese; surname Zhong
• 年niánsurname Nian
• 里lǐvariant of 里
• 女儿nǚ érdaughter
• 真zhēnreally; truly; indeed; real; true; genuine
• 漂亮piào liangpretty; beautiful
• 苹果píng guǒapple
• 七qīseven; 7
• 前面qián miànahead; in front; preceding; above; also pr. [qián mian]
• 钱qiánsurname Qian
• 请qǐngto ask; to invite; please (do sth); to treat (to a meal etc); to request
• 天tiānday; sky; heaven
• 热rèto warm up; to heat up; hot (of weather); heat; fervent
• 三sānsurname San
• 商店shāng diànstore; shop

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.