HSK 1 vocabulary list

• 好听hǎo tīngpleasant to hear
• 开会kāi huìto hold a meeting; to attend a meeting
• 钱包qián bāopurse; wallet
• 大学生dà xué shēnguniversity student; college student
• 车站chē zhànrail station; bus stop
• 走路zǒu lùto walk; to go on foot
• 小朋友xiǎo péng yǒuchild
• 有用yǒu yònguseful
• 不大bù dànot very; not too; not often
• 午饭wǔ fànlunch
• 上车shàng chēto get on or into (a bus, train, car etc)
• 马路mǎ lùstreet; road
• 门票mén piàoticket (for theater, cinema etc)
• 机票jī piàoair ticket; passenger ticket
• 楼上lóu shàngupstairs; (Internet slang) previous poster in a forum thread
• 打球dǎ qiúto play ball; to play with a ball
• 下车xià chēto get off or out of (a bus, train, car etc)
• 放假fàng jiàto have a holiday or vacation
• 路口lù kǒucrossing; intersection (of roads)
• 弟dìyounger brother; junior male; I (modest word in letter)
• 电视机diàn shì jītelevision set
• 早饭zǎo fànbreakfast
• 书店shū diànbookstore
• 放学fàng xuéto dismiss students at the end of the school day
• 关上guān shàngto close (a door); to turn off (light, electrical equipment etc)
• 玩儿wán rto play; to have fun; to hang out
• 半天bàn tiānhalf of the day; a long time; quite a while; midair
• 星期天xīng qī tiānSunday
• 车票chē piàoticket (for a bus or train)
• 看病kàn bìngto visit a doctor; to see a patient
• 电影院diàn yǐng yuàncinema; movie theater
• 前天qián tiānthe day before yesterday
• 后天hòu tiānthe day after tomorrow; life after birth (the period in which one develops through experiences, contrasted with 天); acquired (not innate or congenital); a posteriori
• 下课xià kèto finish class; to get out of class; (fig.) (esp. of a sports coach) to be dismissed; to be fired
• 里边lǐ bianinside
• 外语wài yǔforeign language
• 没事儿méi shì rto have spare time; free from work; it's not important; it's nothing; never mind
• 一块儿yī kuài rerhua variant of 一块; a piece; a chunk; (coll.) one yuan; one dollar
• 书包shū bāoschoolbag; satchel; bookbag
• 小学生xiǎo xué shēngprimary school student; schoolchild; (fig.) beginner
• 外边wài bianoutside; outer surface; abroad; place other than one's home
• 中学生zhōng xué shēngmiddle-school student; high school student
• 本子běn zibook; notebook; Japanese-style self-published comic (esp. an erotic one), aka "dōjinshi"; edition
• 星期日xīng qī rìSunday
• 课本kè běntextbook
• 后边hòu bianthe back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards
• 西边xī biānwest; west side; western part; to the west of
• 上边shàng bianthe top; above; overhead; upwards; the top margin; above-mentioned; those higher up
• 打车dǎ chēto take a taxi (in town); to hitch a lift
• 东边dōng bianeast; east side; eastern part; to the east of
• 南边nán biansouth; south side; southern part; to the south of
• 北边běi biānnorth; north side; northern part; to the north of
• 女孩儿nǚ hái rerhua variant of 女孩; girl
• 下边xià bianunder; the underside; below
• 汉字hàn zìChinese character; Japanese: kanji; Korean: hanja; Vietnamese: hán tự
• 请进qǐng jìn"please come in"
• 好玩儿hǎo wán rerhua variant of 好玩; amusing; fun; interesting
• 前边qián bianfront; the front side; in front of
• 小孩儿xiǎo hái rerhua variant of 小孩; child
• 教学楼jiào xué lóuteaching block; school building

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.