HSK 2 vocabulary list

• 一下yī xià(after a verb) a bit; a little (indicating brief duration, or softening the tone, or suggesting giving sth a try); all at once; suddenly
• 已经yǐ jīngalready
• 意思yì siidea; opinion; meaning; wish; desire; interest; fun; token of appreciation, affection etc; to give as a small token; to do sth as a gesture of goodwill etc
• 因为yīn wèibecause; owing to; on account of
• 所以suǒ yǐtherefore; as a result; so; the reason why
• 阴yīnsurname Yin
• 游泳yóu yǒngswimming; to swim
• 右边yòu bianright side; right, to the right
• 鱼yúsurname Yu
• 远yuǎnfar; distant; remote; (intensifier in a comparison) by far; much (lower etc)
• 运动yùn dòngto move; to exercise; sports; exercise; motion; movement; campaign
• 再zàiagain; once more; re-; second; another; then (after sth, and not until then); no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也 or 都 for emphasis)
• 早上zǎo shangearly morning
• 丈夫zhàng fuhusband
• 找zhǎoto try to find; to look for; to call on sb; to find; to seek; to return; to give change
• 正在zhèng zàijust at (that time); right in (that place); right in the middle of (doing sth)
• 知道zhī dàoto know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhī dao]
• 准备zhǔn bèipreparation; to prepare; to intend; to be about to; reserve (fund)
• 走zǒuto walk; to go; to run; to move (of vehicle); to visit; to leave; to go away; to die (euph.); from; through; away (in compound verbs, such as 走); to change (shape, form, meaning)
• 最zuìvariant of 最
• 左边zuǒ bianleft; the left side; to the left of
• 那么nà melike that; in that way; or so; so; so very much; about; in that case
• 这么zhè meso much; this much; how much?; this way; like this
• 不要bù yàodon't!; must not
• 成chéngsurname Cheng
• 名míngname; noun (part of speech); place (e.g. among winners); famous; classifier for people
• 或huòmaybe; perhaps; might; possibly; or
• 头tóuhead; hair style; the top; end; beginning or end; a stub; remnant; chief; boss; side; aspect; first; leading; classifier for pigs or livestock
• 见到jiàn dàoto see
• 周zhōusurname Zhou; Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC)
• 不错bù cuòcorrect; right; not bad; pretty good
• 全quánsurname Quan
• 以后yǐ hòuafter; later; afterwards; following; later on; in the future
• 信xìnletter; mail; to trust; to believe; to profess faith in; truthful; confidence; trust; at will; at random
• 队duìsquadron; team; group
• 不同bù tóngdifferent; distinct; not the same; not alike
• 进入jìn rùto enter; to join; to go into
• 有人yǒu rénsomeone; people; anyone; there is someone there; occupied (as in restroom)
• 人们rén menpeople
• 道dàoroad; path; principle; truth; morality; reason; skill; method; Dao (of Daoism); to say; to speak; to talk; classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process; (old) circuit (administrative division)
• 能够néng gòuto be capable of; to be able to; can
• 求qiúto seek; to look for; to request; to demand; to beseech
• 变biànto change; to become different; to transform; to vary; rebellion
• 加jiāCanada (abbr. for 大); surname Jia
• 生shēngto be born; to give birth; life; to grow; raw; uncooked; student
• 选xuǎnto choose; to pick; to select; to elect
• 句jùvariant of 勾
• 面miànface; side; surface; aspect; top; classifier for objects with flat surfaces such as drums, mirrors, flags etc
• 卡kǎto stop; to block; (computing) (coll.) slow; (loanword) card; truck (from "car"); calorie (abbr. for 里); cassette
• 带来dài láito bring; (fig.) to bring about; to produce
• 办bànto do; to manage; to handle; to go about; to run; to set up; to deal with
• 过来guò láito come over; to manage; to handle; to be able to take care of
• 算suànto regard as; to figure; to calculate; to compute
• 刚刚gāng gangjust recently; just a moment ago
• 店diàninn; old-style hotel; (bound form) shop; store
• 服务fú wùto serve; service
• 想到xiǎng dàoto think of; to call to mind; to anticipate
• 那样nà yàngthat kind; that sort
• 眼yǎneye; small hole; crux (of a matter); classifier for big hollow things (wells, stoves, pots etc)
• 感到gǎn dàoto feel; to sense; to perceive

Frequently asked questions

How many words do you need for HSK 2?

On the current exam (HSK 2.0), HSK 2 requires 300 words in total, counted from HSK 1. Under the new HSK 3.0 standard, level 2 covers 1,272 words in total.

What is in this HSK 2 vocabulary list?

481 Chinese words that the HSK Ace dictionary places at HSK 2, 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 2

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