HSK 3 vocabulary list

• 问题wèn tíquestion; problem; issue; topic
• 最近zuì jìnrecently; soon; nearest
• 作业zuò yèschool assignment; homework; work; task; operation; to operate
• 已yǐalready; to stop; then; afterwards
• 总zǒnggeneral; overall; to sum up; in every case; always; invariably; anyway; after all; eventually; sooner or later; surely; (after a person's name) abbr. for 总经理 or 总编 etc
• 美měi(bound form) the Americas (abbr. for 洲); (bound form) USA (abbr. for 美国)
• 受shòuto receive; to accept; to suffer; subjected to; to bear; to stand; pleasant; (passive marker)
• 部bùministry; department; section; part; division; troops; board; classifier for works of literature, films, machines etc
• 者zhě(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ...; (after a noun) person involved in ...; -er; -ist; (used after a number or 后 or 前 to refer to sth mentioned previously); (used after a term, to mark a pause before defining the term); (old) (used at the end of a command); (old) this
• 美元měi yuánAmerican dollar; US dollar
• 强qiángsurname Qiang
• 管guǎnvariant of 管
• 活huóto live; alive; living; work; workmanship
• 极了jí leextremely; exceedingly
• 下来xià laito come down; (completed action marker); (after verb of motion, indicates motion down and towards us, also fig.); (indicates continuation from the past towards us); to be harvested (of crops); to be over (of a period of time); to go among the masses (said of leaders)
• 区oūsurname Ou
• 里面lǐ miàninside; interior; also pr. [lǐ mian]
• 按ànto press; to push; to leave aside or shelve; to control; to restrain; to keep one's hand on; to check or refer to; according to; in the light of; (of an editor or author) to make a comment
• 线xiànvariant of 线
• 伤shāngto injure; injury; wound
• 好好hǎo hǎowell; carefully; nicely; properly
• 性xìngnature; character; property; quality; attribute; sexuality; sex; gender; suffix forming adjective from verb; suffix forming noun from adjective, corresponding to -ness or -ity; essence
• 各位gè wèieverybody; all (guests, colleagues etc); all of you
• 约yāoto weigh in a balance or on a scale
• 金jīnsurname Jin; surname Kim (Korean); Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115-1234)
• 下去xià qùto go down; to descend; to go on; to continue; (of a servant) to withdraw
• 力lìsurname Li
• 父母fù mǔfather and mother; parents
• 城chéngcity walls; city; town
• 随suísurname Sui
• 报bàoto announce; to inform; report; newspaper; recompense; revenge
• 人民rén mínthe people
• 步bùsurname Bu
• 亲qīnparent; one's own (flesh and blood); relative; related; marriage; bride; close; intimate; in person; first-hand; in favor of; pro-; to kiss; (Internet slang) dear
• 仍réngstill; yet; to remain; (literary) frequently; often
• 仅jǐnbarely; only; merely
• 类lèikind; type; class; category; similar; like; to resemble
• 跳tiàoto jump; to hop; to skip over; to bounce; to palpitate
• 关注guān zhùto pay attention to; to follow sth closely; to follow (on social media); concern; interest; attention
• 牛niúsurname Niu
• 更加gèng jiāmore (than sth else); even more
• 祝zhùsurname Zhu
• 图túdiagram; picture; drawing; chart; map; to plan; to scheme; to attempt; to pursue; to seek
• 实际上shí jì shàngin fact; in reality; as a matter of fact; in practice
• 上面shàng miànon top of; above-mentioned; also pr. [shàng mian]
• 痛tòngache; pain; sorrow; deeply; thoroughly
• 直到zhí dàountil
• 传chuánto pass on; to spread; to transmit; to infect; to transfer; to circulate; to conduct (electricity)
• 整zhěngexactly; in good order; whole; complete; entire; in order; orderly; to repair; to mend; to renovate; (coll.) to fix sb; to give sb a hard time; to mess with sb
• 值zhívalue; (to be) worth; to happen to; to be on duty
• 外面wài miànoutside (also pr. [wài mian] for this sense); surface; exterior; external appearance
• 架jiàto support; frame; rack; framework; classifier for planes, large vehicles, radios etc
• 有效yǒu xiàoeffective; in effect; valid
• 室shìsurname Shi
• 哈哈hā hā(onom.) laughing out loud
• 准zhǔnto allow; to grant; in accordance with; in the light of
• 皮písurname Pi
• 代dàito substitute; to act on behalf of others; to replace; generation; dynasty; age; period; (historical) era; (geological) eon
• 下面xià miànbelow; under; next; the following; also pr. [xià mian]
• 期qīvariant of 期; period; cycle

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.