HSK 3 vocabulary list

• 调diàoto transfer; to move (troops or cadres); to investigate; to enquire into; accent; view; argument; key (in music); mode (music); tune; tone; melody
• 美好měi hǎobeautiful; fine
• 抓住zhuā zhùto grab hold of; to capture
• 各种gè zhǒngevery kind of; all kinds of; various
• 配pèito join; to fit; to mate; to mix; to match; to deserve; to make up (a prescription); to allocate
• 乐lèsurname Le
• 事实上shì shí shàngin fact; in reality; actually; as a matter of fact; de facto; ipso facto
• 保bǎoBulgaria; Bulgarian; abbr. for 保加利亚
• 紧jǐntight; strict; close at hand; near; urgent; tense; hard up; short of money; to tighten
• 证zhèngto admonish; variant of 证
• 演yǎnto develop; to evolve; to practice; to perform; to play; to act
• 停止tíng zhǐto stop; to halt; to cease
• 合gě100 ml; one-tenth of a peck; measure for dry grain equal to one-tenth of sheng 升 or liter, or one-hundredth dou 斗
• 胜shèngvictory; success; to beat; to defeat; to surpass; victorious; superior to; to get the better of; better than; surpassing; superb (of vista); beautiful (scenery); wonderful (view); (Taiwan pr. [shēng]) able to bear; equal to (a task)
• 慢慢màn mànslowly
• 压yāto press; to push down; to keep under (control); pressure
• 建jiànto establish; to found; to set up; to build; to construct
• 队员duì yuánteam member
• 足够zú gòuenough; sufficient
• 钟zhōngsurname Zhong
• 具有jù yǒuto have; to possess
• 板bǎnboard; plank; plate; shutter; table tennis bat; clappers (music); accented beat in Chinese music; hard; stiff; to stop smiling or look serious
• 修xiūsurname Xiu
• 强大qiáng dàlarge; formidable; powerful; strong
• 付fùsurname Fu
• 全球quán qiúentire; total; global; the (whole) world; worldwide
• 初chūat first; (at the) beginning; first; junior; basic
• 员yuánperson; employee; member
• 任rénsurname Ren; Ren County 任县 in Hebei
• 内心nèi xīnheart; innermost being; (math.) incenter
• 发出fā chūto issue (an order, decree etc); to send out; to dispatch; to produce (a sound); to let out (a laugh)
• 进一步jìn yī bùto go a step further; (develop, understand, improve etc) more; further
• 费fèisurname Fei
• 防fángto protect; to defend; to guard against; to prevent
• 舞台wǔ tái(lit. and fig.) stage; arena
• 化huāvariant of 花
• 不必bù bìneed not; does not have to; not necessarily
• 领lǐngneck; collar; to lead; to receive; classifier for clothes, mats, screens etc
• 科技kē jìscience and technology
• 烟yāncigarette or pipe tobacco; smoke; mist; vapour; tobacco plant; (of the eyes) to be irritated by smoke
• 迷míto bewilder; crazy about; fan; enthusiast; lost; confused
• 上去shàng qùto go up
• 仅仅jǐn jǐnbarely; only; merely; only (this and nothing more)
• 游yóusurname You
• 食品shí pǐnfoodstuff; food; provisions
• 铁tiěsurname Tie
• 录lùto carve wood
• 女子nǚ zǐwoman; female
• 快速kuài sùfast; high-speed; rapid
• 厂chǎng"cliff" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 27), occurring in 原, 历, 压 etc
• 背后bèi hòubehind; at the back; in the rear; behind sb's back
• 公共gōng gòngpublic; common; communal
• 费用fèi yòngcost; expenditure; expense
• 当中dāng zhōngamong; in the middle; in the center
• 男子nán zǐa man; a male
• 土tǔTu (ethnic group); surname Tu
• 村cūnvillage
• 缺quēdeficiency; lack; scarce; vacant post; to run short of
• 前往qián wǎngto leave for; to proceed towards; to go to
• 相互xiāng hùeach other; mutual

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.