HSK 4 vocabulary list

• 拒绝jù juéto refuse; to decline; to reject
• 距离jù lídistance; to be apart from
• 聚会jù huìparty; gathering; to meet; to get together
• 开玩笑kāi wán xiàoto play a joke; to make fun of; to joke
• 开心kāi xīnto feel happy; to rejoice; to have a great time; to make fun of sb
• 看法kàn fǎway of looking at a thing; view; opinion
• 考虑kǎo lüto think over; to consider; consideration
• 烤鸭kǎo yāroast duck
• 科学kē xuéscience; scientific knowledge; scientific; rational
• 棵kēclassifier for trees, cabbages, plants etc
• 咳嗽ké souto cough; CL:陣|阵[zhen4]
• 可怜kě liánpitiful; pathetic; to have pity on
• 可是kě shìbut; however; (used for emphasis) indeed
• 可惜kě xīit is a pity; what a pity; unfortunately
• 客厅kè tīngdrawing room (room for arriving guests); living room
• 肯定kěn dìngto be certain; to be positive; assuredly; definitely; to give recognition; to affirm; affirmative (answer)
• 空kōngempty; air; sky; in vain
• 空气kōng qìair; atmosphere
• 恐怕kǒng pàfear; to dread; I'm afraid that...; perhaps; maybe
• 苦kǔbitter; hardship; pain; to suffer; to bring suffering to; painstakingly
• 矿泉水kuàng quán shuǐmineral water
• 困kùnto trap; to surround; hard-pressed; stranded; destitute
• 困难kùn nandifficult; challenging; straitened circumstances; difficult situation
• 垃圾桶lā jī tǒngrubbish bin; trash can; garbage can
• 拉lāto pull; to play (a bowed instrument); to drag; to draw; to chat; (coll.) to empty one's bowels
• 辣làold variant of 辣
• 来不及lái bu jíthere's not enough time (to do sth); it's too late (to do sth)
• 来得及lái de jíto have enough time; can do it in time; can still make it
• 来自lái zìto come from (a place); From: (in email header)
• 懒lǎnvariant of 懒
• 浪费làng fèito waste; to squander
• 浪漫làng mànromantic
• 老虎lǎo hǔtiger; CL:隻|只[zhi1]
• 冷静lěng jìngcalm; cool-headed; dispassionate; (of a place) deserted; quiet
• 礼拜天lǐ bài tiānSunday
• 礼貌lǐ màocourtesy; politeness; manners; courteous; polite
• 理发lǐ fàto get a haircut; to have one's hair done; to cut (sb's) hair; to give (sb) a haircut
• 理解lǐ jiěto comprehend; to understand
• 理想lǐ xiǎngan ideal; a dream; ideal; perfect
• 力气lì qistrength
• 厉害lì hai(used to describe sb or sth that makes a very strong impression, whether favorable or unfavorable) terrible; intense; severe; devastating; amazing; awesome; outstanding; (of a person) stern; strict; harsh; shrewd; tough; (of an animal) fierce; (of a resemblance) striking; (of liquor or chili pepper) strong; (of bacteria) virulent
• 例如lì rúfor example; for instance; such as
• 俩liǎtwo (colloquial equivalent of 两个); both; some
• 连liánsurname Lian
• 联系lián xìvariant of 联系
• 凉快liáng kuainice and cold; pleasantly cool
• 零钱líng qiánchange (of money); small change; pocket money
• 另外lìng wàiadditional; in addition; besides; separate; other; moreover; furthermore
• 留liúold variant of 留
• 流利liú lìfluent
• 流行liú xíng(of a contagious disease etc) to spread; to propagate; (of a style of clothing, song etc) popular; fashionable
• 旅行lü xíngto travel; journey; trip
• 律师lü shīlawyer
• 乱luànin confusion or disorder; in a confused state of mind; disorder; upheaval; riot; illicit sexual relations; to throw into disorder; to mix up; indiscriminate; random; arbitrary
• 麻烦má fantrouble; inconvenience; inconvenient; troublesome; annoying; to bother sb; to put sb to trouble
• 马虎mǎ hucareless; sloppy; negligent
• 满mǎnManchu ethnic group
• 毛máosurname Mao
• 毛巾máo jīntowel
• 美丽měi lìbeautiful

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.