HSK 3 vocabulary list

• 接jiēto receive; to answer (the phone); to meet or welcome sb; to connect; to catch; to join; to extend; to take one's turn on duty; to take over for sb
• 街道jiē dàostreet; subdistrict; residential district
• 节目jié mùprogram; item (on a program)
• 节日jié rìholiday; festival
• 结婚jié hūnto marry; to get married
• 结束jié shùtermination; to finish; to end; to conclude; to close
• 解决jiě juéto solve; to resolve; to settle (a problem); to eliminate; to wipe out (an enemy, bandits etc)
• 借jièto lend; to borrow; by means of; to take (an opportunity)
• 经常jīng chángfrequently; constantly; regularly; often; day-to-day; everyday; daily
• 经过jīng guòto pass; to go through; process; course
• 经理jīng lǐmanager; director
• 久jiǔ(long) time; (long) duration of time
• 旧jiùold; opposite: new 新; former; worn (with age)
• 句子jù zisentence
• 决定jué dìngto decide (to do something); to resolve; decision; certainly
• 可爱kě àiadorable; cute; lovely
• 渴kěthirsty
• 刻kèquarter (hour); moment; to carve; to engrave; to cut; oppressive; classifier for short time intervals
• 客人kè rénvisitor; guest; customer; client
• 空调kōng tiáoair conditioning; air conditioner (including units that have a heating mode)
• 口kǒumouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls
• 哭kūto cry; to weep
• 裤子kù zivariant of 裤子, trousers; pants
• 筷子kuài zichopsticks
• 蓝lánsurname Lan
• 老lǎoprefix 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; old (of people); venerable (person); experienced; of long standing; always; all the time; of the past; very; outdated; (of meat etc) tough
• 离开lí kāito depart; to leave
• 并bìngand; furthermore; also; together with; (not) at all; simultaneously; to combine; to join; to merge
• 礼物lǐ wùgift; present
• 历史lì shǐhistory
• 脸liǎnface
• 练习liàn xíto practice; exercise; drill; practice
• 辆liàngclassifier for vehicles
• 聊天liáo tiānto chat; to gossip
• 了解liǎo jiěto understand; to realize; to find out
• 邻居lín jūneighbor; next door
• 留学liú xuéto study abroad
• 楼lóusurname Lou
• 绿lùgreen; (slang) (derived from 绿帽子) to cheat on (one's spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend)
• 马mǎsurname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 马来西亚
• 马上mǎ shàngat once; right away; immediately; on horseback (i.e. by military force)
• 满意mǎn yìsatisfied; pleased; to one's satisfaction
• 帽子mào zihat; cap; (fig.) label; bad name
• 米mǐsurname Mi
• 面包miàn bāobread
• 明白míng baiclear; obvious; unequivocal; to understand; to realize
• 拿náold variant of 拿
• 奶奶nǎi nai(informal) grandma (paternal grandmother); (respectful) mistress of the house; (coll.) boobies; breasts
• 南nánsurname Nan
• 难nándifficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good
• 难过nán guòto feel sad; to feel unwell; (of life) to be difficult
• 年级nián jígrade; year (in school, college etc)
• 年轻nián qīngyoung
• 鸟diǎovariant of 屌; penis
• 努力nǔ lìto make an effort; to try hard; to strive; hard-working; conscientious
• 爬山pá shānto climb a mountain; to mountaineer; hiking; mountaineering
• 盘子pán zitray; plate; dish
• 胖pánhealthy; at ease
• 皮鞋pí xiéleather shoes
• 啤酒pí jiǔbeer (loanword)

Frequently asked questions

How many words do you need for HSK 3?

On the current exam (HSK 2.0), HSK 3 requires 600 words in total, counted from HSK 1. Under the new HSK 3.0 standard, level 3 covers 2,245 words in total.

What is in this HSK 3 vocabulary list?

606 Chinese words that the HSK Ace dictionary places at HSK 3, 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 3

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