HSK 1 vocabulary list
HSK 1 adds 150 new words, bringing the cumulative total to about 150. That is the level where you can handle the first 150 words: greetings, numbers, family, time. Every word below links to its full dictionary entry — meaning, the characters it is built from, and example sentences.
A word list is not a syllabus. These 150 words are not independent: most HSK 1 words are built from characters and patterns introduced below this level, which is why drilling a list top-to-bottom stalls so often. The levels are a dependency chain, not six equal buckets.
All 150 HSK 1 words
| Word | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 爸爸 | bà ba | (coll.) father; dad |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 不客气 | bù kè qi | you're welcome; don't mention it; impolite |
| 八 | bā | eight; 8 |
| 杯子 | bēi zi | cup; glass |
| 北京 | Běi jīng | Beijing, capital of the People's Republic of China |
| 本 | běn | root; stem; origin |
| 茶 | chá | tea; tea plant |
| 吃 | chī | to eat; to consume; to eat at (a cafeteria etc); to eradicate; to destroy |
| 出租车 | chū zū chē | taxi; (Tw) rental car |
| 菜 | cài | dish (type of food); vegetable; cuisine |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute); (used to form a nominal expression) |
| 电脑 | diàn nǎo | computer |
| 电视 | diàn shì | television; TV |
| 电影 | diàn yǐng | movie; film |
| 点 | diǎn | point; dot; drop |
| 对不起 | duì bu qǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 多 | duō | many; much; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd |
| 多少 | duō shǎo | number; amount; somewhat |
| 大 | dà | big; large; great; older (than another person); eldest (as in 姐) |
| 读 | dú | to read; to read aloud; to study (a subject in school); to attend (school); to pronounce |
| 东西 | dōng xī | east and west; thing; stuff |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du; all; both; entirely; (used for emphasis) even |
| 打电话 | dǎ diàn huà | to make a telephone call |
| 饭馆 | fàn guǎn | restaurant |
| 飞机 | fēi jī | airplane |
| 分钟 | fēn zhōng | minute |
| 个 | gè | (classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier); individual; (bound form) |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth) |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job |
| 狗 | gǒu | dog |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together |
| 回 | huí | to circle; to go back; to turn around |
| 火车站 | huǒ chē zhàn | train station |
| 汉语 | Hàn yǔ | Chinese language |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和; surname He; (joining two nouns) and; together with; with (Taiwan pr. [hàn]) |
| 后面 | hòu mian | the back; the rear; the last bit; behind; near the end; at the back; later; afterwards |
| 喝 | hē | to drink; variant of 嗬; to shout |
| 很 | hěn | (adverb of degree); quite; very |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right! |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order |
| 家 | jiā | used in 家伙 and 家俱; home; family |
| 九 | jiǔ | nine; 9 |
| 今天 | jīn tiān | today; at the present; now |
| 几 | jǐ | how many; several; a few |
| 块 | kuài | lump; chunk; piece; classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc; (coll.) classifier for money and currency units |
| 看 | kàn | to see; to look at; to read; to watch |
| 看见 | kàn jiàn | to see; to catch sight of |
| 开 | kāi | to open (transitive or intransitive); (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start; to turn on; to put in operation; to ope |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying prec |
| 六 | liù | six; 6 |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, |
| 零 | líng | zero; nought; zero sign |
| 冷 | Lěng | surname Leng; cold |
| 老师 | lǎo shī | teacher |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 里; lining; interior |
| 吗 | ma | (question particle for "yes-no" questions); (coll.) what?; used in 吗啡 |
| 没 | méi | (negative prefix for verbs) have not; not; drowned; to end |
| 没关系 | méi guān xi | it doesn't matter |
| 明天 | míng tiān | tomorrow |
| 名字 | míng zi | name (of a person or thing) |
| 妈妈 | mā ma | mama; mommy; mother |
| 猫 | māo | cat; (dialect) to hide oneself; (coll.) modem |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 米饭 | mǐ fàn | (cooked) rice |
| 呢 | ne | particle indicating that a previously asked question is to be applied to the preceding word ("What about ...?", "And ... |
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; year; grain |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng; can; to be able to |
| 那 | Nā | surname Na; surname Nuo; variant of 哪 |
| 哪 | nǎ | how; which; (emphatic sentence-final particle, used instead of 啊 after a word ending in "n") |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it |
| 女儿 | nǚ ér | daughter |
| 漂亮 | piào liang | pretty; beautiful |
| 朋友 | péng you | friend |
| 苹果 | píng guǒ | apple |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian; coin; money |
| 前面 | qián miàn | ahead; in front; preceding |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last |
| 七 | qī | seven; 7 |
| 请 | qǐng | to ask; to invite; please (do sth) |
| 热 | rè | to warm up; to heat up; hot (of weather) |
| 认识 | rèn shi | to know; to recognize; to be familiar with |
| 人 | rén | person; people |
| 日 | Rì | abbr. for 本, Japan; sun; day |
| 睡觉 | shuì jiào | to go to bed; to sleep |
| 说话 | shuō huà | to speak; to say; to talk |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; water; river |
| 水果 | shuǐ guǒ | fruit |
| 上 | shàng | up; upper; above; previous; first (of multiple parts); to climb; to get onto; to go up |
| 上午 | shàng wǔ | morning |
| 谁 | shéi | who; also pr. [shuí] |
| 什么 | shén me | what?; something; anything |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well |
| 十 | shí | ten; 10 |
| 时候 | shí hou | time; length of time; moment |
| 商店 | shāng diàn | store; shop |
| 书 | Shū | abbr. for 书经; book; letter |
| 少 | shǎo | few; less; to lack |
| 岁 | suì | variant of 岁, year; years old; classifier for years (of age) |
| 四 | sì | four; 4 |
| 三 | Sān | surname San; three; 3 |
| 天气 | tiān qì | weather |
| 太 | tài | highest; greatest; too (much) |
| 同学 | tóng xué | to study at the same school; fellow student; classmate |
| 他 | tā | he; him (used for either sex when the sex is unknown or unimportant); (used before sb's name for emphasis); (used as a m |
| 她 | tā | she |
| 听 | tīng | to listen to; to hear; to heed; to obey; a can (loanword from English "tin") |
| 喂 | wéi | hello (when answering the phone); hey; to feed (an animal, baby, invalid etc) |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 我们 | wǒ men | we; us; ourselves |
| 五 | wǔ | five; 5 |
| 下 | xià | down; downwards; below |
| 下午 | xià wǔ | afternoon; p.m. |
| 下雨 | xià yǔ | to rain |
| 现在 | xiàn zài | now; at present; at the moment |
| 谢谢 | xiè xie | to thank; thanks; thank you |
| 先生 | xiān sheng | teacher; gentleman; sir; mister (Mr.); husband |
| 些 | xiē | classifier indicating a small amount or small number greater than 1: some, a few, several |
| 写 | xiě | to write |
| 想 | xiǎng | to think (about); to think of; to devise; to think (that); to believe (that) |
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny; few |
| 小姐 | xiǎo jie | young lady; miss; (slang) prostitute |
| 学生 | xué sheng | student; schoolchild |
| 学校 | xué xiào | school |
| 学习 | xué xí | to learn; to study |
| 星期 | xīng qī | week; day of the week; Sunday |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 月 | yuè | moon; month; monthly |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article) |
| 衣服 | yī fu | clothes |
| 医生 | yī shēng | doctor |
| 医院 | yī yuàn | hospital |
| 椅子 | yǐ zi | chair |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 意 intentional) |
| 桌子 | zhuō zi | table; desk |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to dwell; to stay |
| 中国 | Zhōng guó | China |
| 中午 | zhōng wǔ | noon; midday |
| 坐 | Zuò | surname Zuo; to sit; to take a seat |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc) |
| 昨天 | zuó tiān | yesterday |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 再见 | zài jiàn | goodbye; see you again later |
| 字 | zì | letter; symbol; character |
| 怎么 | zěn me | how?; what?; why? |
| 怎么样 | zěn me yàng | how?; how about?; how was it? |
| 爱 | ài | to love; to be fond of; to like; affection; to be inclined (to do sth); to tend to (happen) |
| 二 | èr | two; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid |
| 儿子 | ér zi | son |
Frequently asked questions
How many words are in HSK 1?
HSK 1 introduces 150 new words. Counting everything below it, you are expected to know roughly 150 words by the end of the level.
How long does it take to learn HSK 1 vocabulary?
At fifteen new words a day with spaced review, the 150 new words take about 10 days. The real constraint is rarely how fast you can meet a word — it is whether the material underneath is automatic enough for the new word to attach to anything. That is why learners who skip levels end up re-learning them.
Is this the 2021 nine-band list?
No — this is the six-level HSK 2.0 vocabulary, which is what the exams most learners sit still follow. The HSK levels page explains how the nine-band standard relates to it.
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