HSK 1 is your very first step in Chinese. Its 500 words (HSK 3.0 standard) give you the building blocks to introduce yourself, use numbers, ask simple questions, and understand short everyday phrases. Plan for around 40 hours of steady study.
507 words loaded from our database (174 unique characters). Search in hanzi, pinyin or English.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| yī | one | |
| yīxiàr | 1. a moment; 2. a little (softened form of 一下) | |
| yīxiē | some; a few | |
| yīhuìr | a moment; a while | |
| yībàn | half | |
| yīkuàir | together; in the same place | |
| yīyàng | same; alike | |
| yīdiǎnr | a little; a bit | |
| yī bǎi | one hundred | |
| yīqǐ | together | |
| yībiān | one side; at the same time | |
| qī | seven | |
| sān | three | |
| shàng | go up; board; previous | |
| shàngwǔ | morning | |
| shàngxué | go to school | |
| shàng cì | last time | |
| shàngbān | go to work; start work | |
| shàngwǎng | go online; surf the internet | |
| shàngkè | attend class; go to class | |
| shàng chē | get on a car; board a vehicle | |
| shàngbian | on top; above | |
| xià | under; below; next | |
| xiàwǔ | afternoon | |
| xià cì | next time | |
| xiàbān | get off work | |
| xiàkè | finish class; leave class | |
| xià chē | get off (bus, train, car, etc.) | |
| xiàbian | underneath | |
| xià yǔ | rain | |
| bù | not; no | |
| bù dà | not big; not very | |
| bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it | |
| bùduì | incorrect; wrong | |
| bùyòng | no need; it's not necessary | |
| dōng | east | |
| dōngxi | thing; something | |
| dōngbian | east side; east | |
| liǎng | two (units) | |
| gè | individual; (measure word for many things) | |
| zhōng | middle; center | |
| zhōngwǔ | noon | |
| Zhōngguó | China; Middle Kingdom | |
| zhōngxué | middle school | |
| zhōngxuéshēng | middle school student | |
| Zhōngwén | Chinese language | |
| zhōngjiān | middle; in between | |
| jiǔ | nine | |
| yě | also; too | |
| shū | book | |
| shūbāo | schoolbag | |
| shūdiàn | bookstore | |
| mǎi | buy | |
| le | (modal particle indicating completed action); (particle indicating change of state) | |
| shì | matter; affair | |
| èr | two | |
| wǔ | five | |
| rén | person; human | |
| shénme | what | |
| jīntiān | today | |
| jīnnián | this year | |
| jièshào | to introduce (somebody to somebody); to present; introduction | |
| cóng | from; since | |
| tā | he; him | |
| tāmen | they; them (male or mixed group) | |
| men | plural suffix (people) | |
| men (péngyoumen) | (suffix for plurals) | |
| xiūxi | rest; take a break | |
| huì | can; to be able to; to be likely to; to meet; to see; union; group; association; understand; a moment | |
| zhù | live; reside | |
| nǐ | you (singular) | |
| nǐmen | you (plural) | |
| zuò | do; make | |
| érzi | son | |
| yuán | yuan; dollar | |
| xiān | first; before | |
| xiānsheng | mister; Mr. | |
| bā | eight | |
| liù | six | |
| guān | close; turn off | |
| guānshang | close; turn off | |
| zài | again; once more | |
| zàijiàn | goodbye | |
| zuì | most | |
| zuìhòu | last; final | |
| zuìhǎo | best; had better | |
| xiě | write; compose | |
| lěng | cold | |
| zhǔnbèi | prepare; get ready | |
| jǐ | how many; a few; some; how much | |
| chū | go out; emerge | |
| chūqù | go out; exit | |
| chūlái | come out; appear | |
| fēn | minute; cent; distinguish | |
| bié | don't | |
| biérén | other people; others | |
| biéde | other; different | |
| dào | to; arrive | |
| qián | before; front | |
| qiántiān | day before yesterday |
Free resources to work on the basics alongside vocabulary.
With 15–20 minutes a day of spaced repetition, 6 to 8 weeks is enough to memorize all 500 words for the long term. HanziMemo schedules your reviews automatically based on the forgetting curve.
For basic tourism (greeting, ordering, asking directions), HSK 1 covers the essentials. For real conversations, aim at HSK 2 or higher.
This list follows the HSK 3.0 standard (in effect since July 2026), which is 500 words. The old HSK 1 only had 150.
HSK uses simplified characters (mainland China). This list ships them with traditional variants as extra reference.