HSK 4 vocabulary list

• 左右zuǒ yòuleft and right; nearby; approximately; attendant; to control; to influence
• 作家zuò jiāauthor
• 作用zuò yòngto act on; to affect; action; function; activity; impact; result; effect; purpose; intent; (suffix) -ation, -tion etc, as in 用, inhibition
• 作者zuò zhěauthor; writer
• 座zuòseat; base; stand; (archaic) suffix used in a respectful form of address, e.g. 师座; classifier for buildings, mountains and similar immovable objects
• 座位zuò wèiseat
• 认识rèn shito know; to recognize; to be familiar with; to get acquainted with sb; knowledge; understanding; awareness; cognition
• 法fǎvariant of 法
• 局júnarrow
• 看来kàn laiapparently; it seems that
• 之一zhī yīone of (sth); one out of a multitude; one (third, quarter, percent etc)
• 单shànsurname Shan
• 应yīngsurname Ying; Taiwan pr. [Yìng]
• 而是ér shìrather
• 王wángsurname Wang
• 加入jiā rùto become a member; to join; to mix into; to participate in; to add in
• 轮lúnwheel; disk; ring; steamship; to take turns; to rotate; classifier for big round objects: disk, or recurring events: round, turn
• 投tóuto cast; to send; to throw oneself (into the river etc); to seek refuge; to place oneself into the hands of
• 停下tíng xiàto stop
• 共gòngcommon; general; to share; together; total; altogether; abbr. for 共产党, Communist party
• 反fǎncontrary; in reverse; inside out or upside down; to reverse; to return; to oppose; opposite; against; anti-; to rebel; to use analogy; instead; abbr. for 切 phonetic system
• 怪guàibewildering; odd; strange; uncanny; devil; monster; to wonder at; to blame; quite; rather
• 型xíngmold; type; style; model
• 盘pánplate; dish; tray; board; hard drive (computing); to build; to coil; to check; to examine; to transfer (property); to make over; classifier for food: dish, helping; to coil; classifier for coils of wire; classifier for games of chess
• 牌páimahjong tile; playing card; game pieces; signboard; plate; tablet; medal
• 测试cè shìto test (machinery etc); to test (a person's skill in a particular area); a test; (computing) beta (version of software)
• 落làto leave out; to be missing; to leave behind or forget to bring; to lag or fall behind
• 烧shāoto burn; to cook; to stew; to bake; to roast; to heat; to boil (tea, water etc); fever; to run a temperature; (coll.) to let things go to one's head
• 安ānsurname An
• 季jìsurname Ji
• 抽chōuto draw out; to pull out from in between; to remove part of the whole; (of certain plants) to sprout or bud; to whip or thrash
• 货huògoods; money; commodity
• 既jìalready; since; both... (and...)
• 手里shǒu lǐin hand; (a situation is) in sb's hands
• 医疗yī liáomedical treatment
• 处于chǔ yúto be in (some state, position, or condition)
• 垃圾lā jītrash; refuse; garbage; (coll.) of poor quality; Taiwan pr. [lè sè]
• 赢得yíng déto win; to gain
• 替tìto substitute for; to take the place of; to replace; for; on behalf of; to stand in for
• 兴趣xìng qùinterest (desire to know about sth); interest (thing in which one is interested); hobby
• 色sècolor; look; appearance; sex
• 编biānto weave; to plait; to organize; to group; to arrange; to edit; to compile; to write; to compose; to fabricate; to make up
• 宝bǎovariant of 宝
• 宝宝bǎo baodarling; baby
• 贴tiēto stick; to paste; to post (e.g. on a blog); to keep close to; to fit snugly; to subsidize; allowance (e.g. money for food or housing); sticker; classifier for sticking plaster: strip
• 美女měi nǚbeautiful woman
• 药物yào wùmedicaments; pharmaceuticals; medication; medicine; drug
• 冰bīngice; to chill sth; (of an object or substance) to feel cold; (of a person) cold; unfriendly; (slang) methamphetamine
• 结jiē(of a plant) to produce (fruit or seeds); Taiwan pr. [jié]
• 烦fánto feel vexed; to bother; to trouble; superfluous and confusing; edgy
• 付出fù chūto pay; to expend; to invest (energy or time)
• 透tòu(bound form) to penetrate; to seep through; to tell secretly; to leak; thoroughly; through and through; to appear; to show
• 治zhìto rule; to govern; to manage; to control; to harness (a river); to treat (a disease); to wipe out (a pest); to punish; to research
• 量liángto measure
• 闹nàovariant of 闹
• 检测jiǎn cèto detect; to test; detection; sensing
• 奖jiǎngprize; award; encouragement
• 列lièto arrange; to line up; file; series; (in data tables) column; (Tw) row
• 户hùa household; door; family
• 归guīsurname Gui

Frequently asked questions

How many words do you need for HSK 4?

On the current exam (HSK 2.0), HSK 4 requires 1,200 words in total, counted from HSK 1. Under the new HSK 3.0 standard, level 4 covers 3,245 words in total.

What is in this HSK 4 vocabulary list?

935 Chinese words that the HSK Ace dictionary places at HSK 4, 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 4

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