HSK 1 Complete Word List
All 136 words from the official HSK Level 1 exam — with pinyin, English, and example sentences.
What is HSK 1?
The HSK (汉语水平考试 — Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì) is China's official Mandarin proficiency test, recognized by universities and employers worldwide. HSK 1 is the beginner level — 150 words, covering basic daily communication. After completing this 30-day course, you likely know 80–90% of these words already.
HSK 1: 150 words
HSK 2: 300 words
HSK 3: 600 words
HSK 4: 1,200 words
v verb n noun adj adjective adv adverb pron pronoun num number part particle conj conjunction mw measure word
👤 Pronouns (代词) 10 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 我 | pron | I / me | 我是学生。 | I am a student. | |
| 你 | pron | you | 你好！ | Hello! | |
| 他 | pron | he / him | 他叫什么名字？ | What is his name? | |
| 她 | pron | she / her | 她是我朋友。 | She is my friend. | |
| 我们 | pron | we / us | 我们一起去吧。 | Let's go together. | |
| 你们 | pron | you (plural) | 你们好！ | Hello everyone! | |
| 他们 | pron | they / them | 他们是朋友。 | They are friends. | |
| 这 | pron | this | 这是什么？ | What is this? | |
| 那 | pron | that | 那是我的书。 | That is my book. | |
| 哪 | pron | which | 你是哪国人？ | Which country are you from? |
🔢 Numbers & Quantity (数量) 16 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 零 | num | zero | 零下十度。 | Ten degrees below zero. | |
| 一 | num | one | 一个苹果。 | One apple. | |
| 二 | num | two | 二月。 | February. | |
| 三 | num | three | 三点。 | Three o'clock. | |
| 四 | num | four | 四个人。 | Four people. | |
| 五 | num | five | 五月。 | May. | |
| 六 | num | six | 六点半。 | Half past six. | |
| 七 | num | seven | 七天。 | Seven days. | |
| 八 | num | eight | 八月。 | August. | |
| 九 | num | nine | 九点。 | Nine o'clock. | |
| 十 | num | ten | 十块钱。 | Ten yuan. | |
| 百 | num | hundred | 一百人。 | One hundred people. | |
| 千 | num | thousand | 一千块。 | One thousand yuan. | |
| 两 | num | two (with measure word) | 两个人。 | Two people. | |
| 几 | pron | how many (small number) | 几点了？ | What time is it? | |
| 多少 | pron | how many / how much | 多少钱？ | How much? |
🕐 Time (时间) 13 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 年 | n | year | 今年。 | This year. | |
| 月 | n | month | 这个月。 | This month. | |
| 日 | n | day / date | 一月一日。 | January 1st. | |
| 号 | n | day of month (spoken) | 今天几号？ | What date is today? | |
| 星期 | n | week / day of week | 星期一。 | Monday. | |
| 今天 | n | today | 今天天气很好。 | The weather is nice today. | |
| 明天 | n | tomorrow | 明天见！ | See you tomorrow! | |
| 昨天 | n | yesterday | 昨天我很累。 | I was very tired yesterday. | |
| 上午 | n | morning / a.m. | 上午九点。 | 9 a.m. | |
| 下午 | n | afternoon / p.m. | 下午三点。 | 3 p.m. | |
| 晚上 | n | evening / night | 晚上好！ | Good evening! | |
| 现在 | adv | now | 现在几点？ | What time is it now? | |
| 时候 | n | time / moment | 什么时候？ | When? |
👨👩👧 People & Family (人与家庭) 7 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 人 | n | person / people | 那个人是谁？ | Who is that person? | |
| 朋友 | n | friend | 他是我的朋友。 | He is my friend. | |
| 爸爸 | n | dad / father | 我爸爸是医生。 | My dad is a doctor. | |
| 妈妈 | n | mom / mother | 我妈妈做饭很好吃。 | My mom's cooking is delicious. | |
| 老师 | n | teacher | 老师好！ | Good morning, teacher! | |
| 学生 | n | student | 我是学生。 | I am a student. | |
| 医生 | n | doctor | 我需要看医生。 | I need to see a doctor. |
🍜 Food & Drink (饮食) 8 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 吃 | v | eat | 你吃了吗？ | Have you eaten? | |
| 喝 | v | drink | 我想喝水。 | I want to drink water. | |
| 饭 | n | meal / cooked rice | 吃饭了！ | Time to eat! | |
| 水 | n | water | 一杯水。 | A glass of water. | |
| 茶 | n | tea | 喝茶。 | Drink tea. | |
| 米饭 | n | cooked rice | 我要米饭。 | I want rice. | |
| 面条 | n | noodles | 一碗面条。 | A bowl of noodles. | |
| 苹果 | n | apple | 吃苹果。 | Eat an apple. |
📍 Places (地点) 8 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 中国 | n | China | 我在中国。 | I am in China. | |
| 北京 | n | Beijing | 我去北京。 | I am going to Beijing. | |
| 上海 | n | Shanghai | 上海很大。 | Shanghai is very big. | |
| 学校 | n | school | 我去学校。 | I am going to school. | |
| 商店 | n | shop / store | 商店在哪里？ | Where is the shop? | |
| 医院 | n | hospital | 去医院。 | Go to the hospital. | |
| 饭店 | n | restaurant / hotel | 去饭店吃饭。 | Go to the restaurant to eat. | |
| 家 | n | home / family | 回家。 | Go home. |
⚡ Core Verbs (动词) 23 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 是 | v | to be (am/is/are) | 我是老师。 | I am a teacher. | |
| 有 | v | to have / there is | 我有一个朋友。 | I have a friend. | |
| 没有 | v | don't have / there isn't | 我没有钱。 | I don't have money. | |
| 要 | v | to want / need / will | 我要一杯茶。 | I want a cup of tea. | |
| 去 | v | to go | 我去图书馆。 | I am going to the library. | |
| 来 | v | to come | 你来吗？ | Are you coming? | |
| 说 | v | to say / speak | 你说中文。 | You speak Chinese. | |
| 看 | v | to look / watch / read | 看书。 | Read a book. | |
| 听 | v | to listen / hear | 听音乐。 | Listen to music. | |
| 做 | v | to do / make | 做作业。 | Do homework. | |
| 买 | v | to buy | 买东西。 | Buy things / go shopping. | |
| 喜欢 | v | to like | 我喜欢中文。 | I like Chinese. | |
| 认识 | v | to know (a person) | 很高兴认识你。 | Nice to meet you. | |
| 叫 | v | to be called / call | 我叫小明。 | My name is Xiao Ming. | |
| 住 | v | to live / reside | 我住北京。 | I live in Beijing. | |
| 坐 | v | to sit / travel by | 坐地铁。 | Take the subway. | |
| 工作 | v/n | to work / job | 我工作很忙。 | My work is very busy. | |
| 学习 | v | to study / learn | 学习中文。 | Study Chinese. | |
| 写 | v | to write | 写汉字。 | Write Chinese characters. | |
| 读 | v | to read (aloud) | 读课文。 | Read the lesson text. | |
| 回 | v | to return / go back | 回家。 | Go home. | |
| 打电话 | v | to make a phone call | 给我打电话。 | Give me a call. | |
| 睡觉 | v | to sleep | 我要睡觉了。 | I'm going to sleep. |
✨ Adjectives (形容词) 12 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 好 | adj | good / well | 今天天气很好。 | Today's weather is very good. | |
| 大 | adj | big / large | 这个苹果很大。 | This apple is very big. | |
| 小 | adj | small / little | 一个小问题。 | A small question. | |
| 多 | adj | many / much / a lot | 人很多。 | There are many people. | |
| 少 | adj | few / little / less | 钱太少了。 | The money is too little. | |
| 冷 | adj | cold | 今天很冷。 | It's very cold today. | |
| 热 | adj | hot | 天气很热。 | The weather is very hot. | |
| 高兴 | adj | happy / glad | 我很高兴。 | I am very happy. | |
| 漂亮 | adj | beautiful / pretty | 她很漂亮。 | She is very pretty. | |
| 贵 | adj | expensive | 太贵了！ | Too expensive! | |
| 快 | adj | fast / quick | 你走得很快。 | You walk very fast. | |
| 忙 | adj | busy | 我最近很忙。 | I've been very busy lately. |
❓ Question Words (疑问词) 7 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 什么 | pron | what | 你叫什么名字？ | What is your name? | |
| 谁 | pron | who | 那是谁？ | Who is that? | |
| 哪里 | pron | where | 你在哪里？ | Where are you? | |
| 哪儿 | pron | where (spoken) | 你去哪儿？ | Where are you going? | |
| 怎么 | adv | how / why | 怎么去？ | How do I get there? | |
| 怎么样 | phr | how about / how is it | 你怎么样？ | How are you doing? | |
| 为什么 | pron | why | 为什么？ | Why? |
🚇 Transport & Directions (交通) 9 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 出租车 | n | taxi | 坐出租车。 | Take a taxi. | |
| 地铁 | n | subway | 坐地铁去。 | Go by subway. | |
| 飞机 | n | airplane | 坐飞机去中国。 | Fly to China. | |
| 火车 | n | train | 坐火车。 | Take the train. | |
| 汽车 | n | car / bus | 他有汽车。 | He has a car. | |
| 上 | prep | above / on / up | 桌子上。 | On the table. | |
| 下 | prep | below / under / down | 椅子下。 | Under the chair. | |
| 前面 | n | in front | 前面右转。 | Turn right ahead. | |
| 后面 | n | behind | 在后面。 | It is behind. |
🔧 Key Particles & Grammar Words (虚词) 14 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 的 | part | possessive particle ('s) | 我的书。 | My book. | |
| 了 | part | completion particle (done/already) | 我吃了。 | I have eaten. | |
| 吗 | part | yes/no question particle | 你好吗？ | How are you? | |
| 呢 | part | and you? / what about? | 你呢？ | And you? | |
| 吧 | part | suggestion / assumption particle | 我们走吧。 | Let's go. | |
| 不 | adv | no / not | 我不去。 | I'm not going. | |
| 没 | adv | not (for 有/past) | 我没去。 | I didn't go. | |
| 很 | adv | very | 很好。 | Very good. | |
| 也 | adv | also / too | 我也是。 | Me too. | |
| 都 | adv | all / both | 我们都是学生。 | We are all students. | |
| 在 | prep/v | at / in / to be at | 我在北京。 | I am in Beijing. | |
| 和 | conj | and | 你和我。 | You and I. | |
| 或者 | conj | or | 茶或者咖啡？ | Tea or coffee? | |
| 但是 | conj | but | 好，但是贵。 | Good, but expensive. |
🛒 Money, Shopping & Objects (物品) 9 words
| Chinese | Pinyin | Type | English | Example Sentence | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 钱 | n | money | 多少钱？ | How much? | |
| 块 | mw | yuan (informal) | 五块钱。 | Five yuan. | |
| 东西 | n | thing / stuff | 买东西。 | Go shopping. | |
| 书 | n | book | 看书。 | Read a book. | |
| 手机 | n | mobile phone | 我的手机。 | My phone. | |
| 电脑 | n | computer | 用电脑工作。 | Work on a computer. | |
| 桌子 | n | table / desk | 桌子上有书。 | There are books on the table. | |
| 椅子 | n | chair | 坐椅子。 | Sit on the chair. | |
| 杯子 | n | cup / glass | 一个杯子。 | A cup. |
How to Study This List
✓
Use spaced repetition
Apps like Anki let you import this list and review words at optimal intervals. 15 minutes per day beats a 2-hour cram session.
✓
Learn words in context
Don't memorize isolated words — study each word with its example sentence. Context makes the meaning stick.
✓
Focus on high-frequency words first
The grammar particles (的, 了, 吗, 在) and core verbs (是, 有, 要, 去, 来) appear in nearly every sentence. Master those first.
✓
Write the characters
Even if you won't write Chinese in daily life, writing a character 5–10 times activates muscle memory and helps recognition massively.
Know your HSK 1 words? Put them to use: