HSK 1 Vocabulary List with Pinyin, Translation & Free PDF Download: A Guide for Beginners

If you want to test your Mandarin Chinese language skills, then HSK is a great opportunity to try it out. Although HSK 1 is the most basic official Chinese test, passing it is still an achievement worth celebrating.

In this article, we will introduce information related to HSK level 1 vocabulary, such as the new HSK 1 vocabulary list and other information about HSK 1, as well as free HSK 1 vocabulary PDF for you to download. Here is a quick guide to learning essential HSK 1 Chinese vocabulary.

The Complete HSK 1 Vocabulary List

The HSK 1 vocabulary list is your go-to resource for learning the most basic Mandarin vocabulary. Below, we have organized the words required for the new HSK Level 1 into a clear and easy-to-understand table. The table includes Chinese characters, pinyin, and English translations, making it perfect for Chinese beginners.

No.	Chinese	Pinyin	English
1	爱	ài	love
2	爱好	ài hào	hobby
3	八	bā	eight
4	爸爸	bàba	dad
5	吧	ba	(interjection particle)
6	白	bái	white
7	白天	bái tiān	day
8	百	bǎi	hundred
9	班	bān	class
10	半	bàn	half
11	半年	bàn nián	half a year
12	半天	bàn tiān	half day
13	帮	bāng	help
14	帮忙	bāng máng	help
15	包	bāo	package
16	包子	bāo zi	bun
17	杯	bēi	cup
18	杯子	bēi zi	cup
19	北	běi	north
20	北边	běi biān	north side
21	北京	běi jīng	Beijing
22	本	běn	(measure word for books or volumes)
23	本子	běn zi	notebook
24	比	bǐ	particle used for comparison
25	别	bié	Don’t
26	别的	bié de	other
27	别人	bié rén	other people
28	病	bìng	disease
29	病人	bìng rén	patient
30	不大	bú dà	not big
31	不对	bú duì	wrong
32	不客气	bú kè qì	You’re welcome
33	不用	bú yòng	No need to
34	不	bù	No
35	菜	cài	dish
36	茶	chá	tea
37	差	chà	differ from; bad; short of
38	常	cháng	often
39	常常	cháng cháng	often
40	唱	chàng	sing
41	唱歌	chàng gē	sing
42	车	chē	car
43	车票	chē piào	ticket
44	车上	chē shàng	in the car
45	车站	chē zhàn	station
46	吃	chī	eat
47	吃饭	chī fàn	have meal
48	出	chū	out
49	出来	chū lái	come
50	出去	chū qù	go out
51	穿	chuān	wear
52	床	chuáng	bed
53	次	cì	(measure word for times, frequency)
54	从	cóng	from
55	错	cuò	wrong
56	打	dǎ	hit, take
57	打车	dǎ chē	take a taxi
58	打电话	dǎ diàn huà	make a phonecall
59	打开	dǎ kāi	turn on
60	打球	dǎ qiú	play ball
61	大	dà	large, big
62	大学	dà xué	university; college
63	大学生	dà xué shēng	university student
64	到	dào	reach
65	得到	dé dào	get
66	地	de	auxiliary word
67	的	de	(aux.)
68	等	děng	wait
69	地	dì	ground
70	地点	dìdiǎn	location
71	地方	dìfang	local
72	地上	dì shàng	on the ground
73	地图	dìtú	Map
74	弟弟	dì di	younger brother
75	第（第二）	dì （ dì èr ）	auxiliary word for ordinal numbers (second )
76	点	diǎn	spot
77	电	diàn	electricity
78	电话	diàn huà	phone
79	电脑	diànnǎo	Computer
80	电视	diànshì	television
81	电视机	diàn shì jī	television
82	电影	diànyǐng	Film
83	电影院	diàn yǐng yuàn	cinema; movie theater
84	东	dōng	east
85	东边	dōng biān	east side
86	东西	dōngxi	thing
87	动	dòng	move
88	动作	dòngzuò	action
89	都	dōu	all
90	读	dú	read
91	读书	dú shū	reading; study
92	对	duì	right
93	对不起	duìbuqǐ	I’m sorry.
94	多	duō	many; much; more
95	多少	duōshao	how much
96	饿	è	hungry
97	儿子	érzi	Son
98	二	èr	Two
99	饭	fàn	rice; meal
100	饭店	fàndiàn	restaurant
101	房间	fángjiān	Room
102	房子	fáng zi	house; building
103	放	fàng	discharge
104	放假	fàng jià	holiday; have a holiday
105	放学	fàng xué	off school
106	飞	fēi	fly
107	飞机	fēijī	aircraft
108	非常	fēicháng	very
109	分	fēn	minute; point; part; (measure word)
110	风	fēng	wind
111	干	gān	dry
112	干净	gānjìng	clean
113	干	gàn	do
114	干什么	gàn shén me	What to do
115	高	gāo	high
116	高兴	gāoxìng	happy
117	告诉	gàosu	tell
118	哥哥	gē ge	elder brother
119	歌	gē	song
120	个	gè	individual
121	给	gěi	give
122	跟	gēn	with
123	工人	gōngrén	worker
124	工作	gōngzuò	work
125	关	guān	shut; close; turn off
126	关上	guān shàng	close;shut to; turn off
127	贵	guì	noble; expansive
128	国	guó	country; state; nation
129	国家	guójiā	Country
130	国外	guó wài	foreign; oversea; abroad
131	过	guò	pass
132	还	hái	also; still; yet
133	还是	háishi	still
134	还有	hái yǒu	also; in addition; besides
135	孩子	háizi	children; kids
136	汉语	hànyǔ	Chinese
137	汉字	hàn zì	Chinese character
138	好	hǎo	good
139	好吃	hǎochī	yummy
140	好看	hǎo kàn	good looking
141	好听	hǎo tīng	pleasant to hear
142	好玩儿	hǎo wánr	fun; interesting
143	号	hào	number; date
144	喝	hē	drink
145	和	hé	and
146	很	hěn	very
147	后	hòu	back; behind; after; later
148	后边	hòu biān	behind; back
149	后天	hòu tiān	day after tomorrow
150	花	huā	flower

To achieve this first level of Chinese language proficiency, you must master basic pronouns, classifiers, nouns, verbs, and other parts of speech. You must also know how to express time, age, money, and numbers using different sentence patterns such as questions, negatives, imperatives, etc.

Once you are able to understand and use the contents of the form, you have met the basic communication needs and can learn Chinese further.

Tips for Studying HSK 1 Vocabulary Effectively

Here are some top tips for getting the most out of your HSK 1 vocabulary study time:

• Learn practical everyday words before academic words
• Say the words out loud when practicing
• Reinforce the meaning of words through pictures, videos, and translations
• Monitoring progress through practice tests

Different Types of HSK 1 Vocabulary List

Below we have categorized the HSK1 vocabulary lists for your quick reference.

HSK 1 Adjectives

Chinese	Pinyin	English
大	dà	big
多	duō	many
高兴	gāoxìng	happy
好	hǎo	good
冷	lěng	cold
漂亮	piàoliang	pretty
热	rè	hot
少	shǎo	few
小	xiǎo	small

HSK 1 Adverbs

Chinese	Pinyin	English
不	bù	no, not
没有	méiyǒu	did not
很	hěn	very
太	tài	too
都	dōu	all

HSK 1 Auxiliary Verbs

Chinese	Pinyin	English
会	huì	can, know to
能	néng	can, be able to
想	xiǎng	would like to

HSK 1 Demonstrative Pron.

Chinese	Pinyin	English
这	zhè	this
那	nà	that

HSK 1 Interrogative Pron.

Chinese	Pinyin	English
多少	duōshǎo	how much
几	jǐ	how many, a few
哪	nǎ	which
哪儿	nǎr	where
什么	shénme	what, why
谁	shéi	who
怎么	zěnme	how
怎么样	zěnmeyàng	how about

HSK 1 Measure Words

Chinese	Pinyin	English
本	běn	[measure word for books]
个	gè	[measure word for people]
块	kuài	[measure word for pieces]
岁	suì	years old
些	xiē	some
一点儿	yīdiǎnr	a little

HSK 1 Nouns

Chinese	Pinyin	English
爸爸	bàba	father; dad
北京	Běijīng	Beijing
杯子	bēizi	cup
菜	cài	vegetable
茶	chá	tea
出租车	chūzūchē	taxi
点	diǎn	point, dot, spot
电脑	diànnǎo	computer
电视	diànshì	television
电影	diànyǐng	movie
东西	dōngxi	thing
儿子	érzi	son
饭店	fàndiàn	restaurant
飞机	fēijī	airplane
分钟	fēnzhōng	minute
狗	gǒu	dog
汉语	hànyǔ	mandarin Chinese
后面	hòumiàn	behind
家	jiā	home
今天	jīntiān	today
老师	lǎoshī	teacher
里面	lǐmiàn	inside
妈妈	māma	mother; mom
猫	māo	cat
米饭	mǐfàn	rice
明天	míngtiān	tomorrow
名字	míngzi	name
年	nián	year
女儿	nǚ ér	daughter
朋友	péngyou	friend
苹果	píngguǒ	apple
钱	qián	money
前面	qiánmiàn	front
人	rén	person
上	shàng	up
商店	shāngdiàn	store
上午	shàngwǔ	morning
时候	shíhou	time
书	shū	book
水	shuǐ	water
水果	shuǐguǒ	fruit
天气	tiānqì	weather
同学	tóngxué	shoolmate
下	xià	down
先生	xiānsheng	sir
现在	xiànzài	now
小姐	xiǎojiě	Miss
下午	xiàwǔ	afternoon
星期	xīngqī	week
学生	xuéshēng	student
学校	xuéxiào	school
衣服	yīfu	cloth
医生	yīshēng	doctor
医院	yīyuàn	hospital
椅子	yǐzi	chair
月	yuè	month
中国	Zhōngguó	China
中午	zhōngwǔ	noon
桌子	zhuōzi	desk
字	zì	character
昨天	zuótiān	yesterday

HSK 1 Numerals

Chinese	Pinyin	English
一	yī	one
二	èr	two
三	sān	three
四	sì	four
五	wǔ	five
六	liù	six
七	qī	seven
八	bā	eight
九	jiǔ	nine
十	shí	ten
号	hào	[day number in a date], number (in a series)

HSK 1 Verbs

Chinese	Pinyin	English
爱	ài	to love
吃	chī	to eat
读	dú	to read
工作	gōngzuò	to work
喝	hē	to drink
回	huí	to return
叫	jiào	to call, to be called
开	kāi	to open
看	kàn	to look (at)
看见	kànjiàn	to see
来	lái	to come
没有	méiyǒu	to not have
买	mǎi	to buy
请	qǐng	please
去	qù	to go
认识	rènshi	to be familiar with
是	shì	to be (am, is, are)
睡觉	shuìjiào	to sleep
说	shuō	to say. to speak
听	tīng	to listen (to)
下雨	xiàyǔ	to rain
写	xiě	to write
谢谢	xièxie	thank you; to thank
喜欢	xǐhuān	to like
学习	xuéxí	to study
有	yǒu	to have
再见	zàijiàn	good-bye
住	zhù	to live (in/at)
做	zuò	to do
坐	zuò	to sit

HSK 1 Personal Pronouns

Chinese	Pinyin	English
你	nǐ	you
他	tā	he, him
她	tā	she, her
我	wǒ	I, me
我们	wǒmen	we, us

HSK 1 Particles

Chinese	Pinyin	English
的	de	[structural particle]
了	le	[aspectual particle]
吗	ma	[question particle]
呢	ne	[question particle]

The Best Way to Memorize HSK 1 Vocabulary

Now that you have seen the HSK 1 vocabulary list, you know what you should be learning. But what is the best way to memorize these words?

The best way to memorize HSK 1 vocabulary (or any other level of vocabulary for that matter) is to use flashcards and ‘touch’ new vocabulary as much as you can in real life, allowing words to naturally move from short-term to long-term memory.

Step 1. Select and create a vocabulary list

Although we have prepared HSK 1 vocabulary lists for you, you will need to create your to remember the words.

Firstly, browse through our vocabulary lists, then write down any words you don’t know in your notebook, and select and create your own vocabulary lists from these. Make them your Chinese vocabulary.

Step 2. Use Flashcards

Flashcards are a powerful way to review Chinese words. The very process of making flashcards exposes you to more unfamiliar vocabulary.

If you don’t have as much time as you’d like, then you can use flashcard apps like Anki. It is convenient for you to use your fragmented time to review new words.

Step 3. Get Out There and Try New Words

To use these words accurately and convincingly, pass the HSK 1 exam, and speak Chinese, you will need to be exposed to many more words!

Practicing with a native Chinese speaker will do the trick. If you can’t find someone to practice with, you can also look up words and read example sentences in some dictionary apps or websites. These sentences will give you more exposure to the words in context.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I have to know all 150 words required to pass the HSK 1 test?

You will not encounter all 150 required words in one test, which means you can take your chances. However, these 150 words are the most basic and important words you need to speak Chinese. You should master them anyway, and build your vocabulary on them.

2. Do I need to know how to write these words to pass the HSK?

In the HSK 1 exam, all questions are provided in a “true or false” and “multiple choice” format. In addition, all questions on the test paper are accompanied by Pinyin and Chinese characters.

Nonetheless, it is still a good idea to master basic Chinese character writing as early as possible. This will help you memorize vocabulary better and read Chinese texts more easily.

Conclusion

Mastering the vocabulary of HSK1 will be a good start for you to begin learning Mandarin. This basic vocabulary lays the foundation for basic communication in Chinese. By focusing on this easy-to-follow vocabulary list, you will build the confidence and skills you need to further your learning of Chinese.

If you are interested in other levels of HSK exams and learning Chinese, WuKong Chinese has a wealth of quality resources for you to explore!