HSK 3 Vocabulary List: 298 Words with Pinyin, Tones & Audio
Every word on the HSK 3 list with pinyin, English meaning and audio you can play. Filter by tone pattern, search any character, and export the list to CSV, Anki or PDF.
Word list based on the HSK 2.0 standard.
How many words are in HSK 3?
Under the original HSK 2.0 standard, HSK 3 adds 300 new words, for a cumulative 600 counting every level below it. The 2021 HSK 3.0 standard is bigger: 973 new words at HSK 3, or 2,245 cumulative. This page lists 298 unique entries with pinyin, English meanings and audio — the de-duplicated HSK 2.0 list, so the figure can differ by a word or two from the headline number.
92 are single-syllable words, 198 are two-syllable and 8 are longer — 512 syllables to pronounce in total.
This page shows the first 100 of 298 words. The rest continue in the parts below; search and the exports cover the whole list.
| # | Character | Pinyin | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 啊 | ā | interjection of surprise; Ah!; Oh! | |
| 2 | 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar | |
| 3 | 被 | bèi | quilt; to cover (with); (literary) to suffer (a misfortune) | |
| 4 | 自己 | zì jǐ | oneself; one's own | |
| 5 | 用 | yòng | to use; to employ; to have to | |
| 6 | 如果 | rú guǒ | if; in case; in the event that | |
| 7 | 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and... | |
| 8 | 只 | zhǐ | only; merely; just | |
| 9 | 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided | |
| 10 | 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs | |
| 11 | 地 | de | -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct | |
| 12 | 才 | cái | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual | |
| 13 | 跟 | gēn | heel; to follow closely; to go with | |
| 14 | 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if | |
| 15 | 还是還是 | hái shi | still (as before); had better; unexpectedly | |
| 16 | 认为認為 | rèn wéi | to believe; to think; to consider; to feel | |
| 17 | 应该應該 | yīng gāi | ought to; should; must | |
| 18 | 带帶 | dài | band; belt; girdle | |
| 19 | 位 | wèi | position; location; place | |
| 20 | 种種 | zhǒng | seed; species; kind | |
| 21 | 发现發現 | fā xiàn | to notice; to become aware of; to discover; to find; to detect; a discovery | |
| 22 | 一定 | yī dìng | surely; certainly; necessarily | |
| 23 | 一直 | yī zhí | straight (in a straight line); continuously; always; all the way through | |
| 24 | 为了為了 | wèi le | for; for the purpose of; in order to | |
| 25 | 一样一樣 | yī yàng | same; like; equal to | |
| 26 | 世界 | shì jiè | world | |
| 27 | 而且 | ér qiě | (not only ...) but also; moreover; in addition | |
| 28 | 重要 | zhòng yào | important; significant; major | |
| 29 | 必须必須 | bì xū | to have to; must; compulsory | |
| 30 | 地方 | dì fāng | region; regional (away from the central administration); local | |
| 31 | 老 | lǎo | prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity; old (of people); venerable (person) | |
| 32 | 其他 | qí tā | other; (sth or sb) else; the rest | |
| 33 | 比赛比賽 | bǐ sài | competition (sports etc); match; to compete | |
| 34 | 然后然後 | rán hòu | then; after that; afterwards | |
| 35 | 担心擔心 | dān xīn | anxious; worried; uneasy | |
| 36 | 条條 | tiáo | strip; item; article | |
| 37 | 放 | fàng | to put; to place; to release | |
| 38 | 拿㧱 | ná | old variant of 拿 | |
| 39 | 为什么為什麼 | wèi shén me | why?; for what reason? | |
| 40 | 先 | xiān | early; prior; former | |
| 41 | 关系關係 | guān xi | relation; relationship; to concern | |
| 42 | 出现出現 | chū xiàn | to appear; to arise; to emerge | |
| 43 | 了解 | liǎo jiě | to understand; to realize; to find out | |
| 44 | 过去過去 | guò qù | (in the) past; former; previous | |
| 45 | 参加參加 | cān jiā | to participate; to take part; to join | |
| 46 | 国家國家 | guó jiā | country; nation; state | |
| 47 | 决定決定 | jué dìng | to decide (to do something); to resolve; decision | |
| 48 | 分 | fēn | to divide; to separate; to distribute; to allocate; to distinguish (good and bad) | |
| 49 | 选择選擇 | xuǎn zé | to select; to pick; choice | |
| 50 | 或者 | huò zhě | or; possibly; maybe; perhaps | |
| 51 | 机会機會 | jī huì | opportunity; chance; occasion | |
| 52 | 别人別人 | bié ren | other people; others; other person | |
| 53 | 站 | zhàn | station; to stand; to halt | |
| 54 | 使 | shǐ | to make; to cause; to enable | |
| 55 | 其实其實 | qí shí | actually; in fact; really | |
| 56 | 以后以後 | yǐ hòu | after; later; afterwards | |
| 57 | 要求 | yāo qiú | to request; to require; requirement | |
| 58 | 信 | xìn | letter; mail; to trust | |
| 59 | 当然當然 | dāng rán | only natural; as it should be; certainly | |
| 60 | 接 | jiē | to receive; to answer (the phone); to meet or welcome sb | |
| 61 | 相信 | xiāng xìn | to be convinced (that sth is true); to believe; to accept sth as true | |
| 62 | 花 | Huā | surname Hua | |
| 63 | 虽然雖然 | suī rán | although; even though (often used correlatively with 是 or 是 etc) | |
| 64 | 解决解決 | jiě jué | to solve; to resolve; to settle (a problem); to eliminate; to wipe out (an enemy, bandits etc) | |
| 65 | 关于關於 | guān yú | pertaining to; concerning; with regard to | |
| 66 | 完成 | wán chéng | to complete; to accomplish | |
| 67 | 结束結束 | jié shù | termination; to finish; to end | |
| 68 | 努力 | nǔ lì | to make an effort; to try hard; to strive; hard-working; conscientious | |
| 69 | 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous | |
| 70 | 办法辦法 | bàn fǎ | means; method; way (of doing sth) | |
| 71 | 特别特別 | tè bié | unusual; special; very; especially; particularly; expressly; for a specific purpose | |
| 72 | 难難 | nán | difficult (to...); problem; difficulty | |
| 73 | 注意 | zhù yì | to take note of; to pay attention to | |
| 74 | 讲講 | jiǎng | to speak; to explain; to negotiate | |
| 75 | 离开離開 | lí kāi | to depart; to leave | |
| 76 | 万 | mò | used in 俟 | |
| 77 | 以为以為 | yǐ wéi | to think (i.e. to take it to be true that ...) (Usually there is an implication that the notion is mistaken – except when expressing one's own current opinion.) | |
| 78 | 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 | |
| 79 | 城市 | chéng shì | city; town | |
| 80 | 影响影響 | yǐng xiǎng | influence; effect; to influence | |
| 81 | 游戏遊戲 | yóu xì | game; to play | |
| 82 | 马馬 | Mǎ | surname Ma; abbr. for Malaysia 马来西亚 | |
| 83 | 比较比較 | bǐ jiào | to compare; to contrast; comparatively | |
| 84 | 最近 | zuì jìn | recently; soon; nearest | |
| 85 | 换換 | huàn | to exchange; to change (clothes etc); to substitute | |
| 86 | 终于終於 | zhōng yú | at last; in the end; finally | |
| 87 | 脸臉 | liǎn | face | |
| 88 | 口 | kǒu | mouth; classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc); classifier for bites or mouthfuls | |
| 89 | 除了 | chú le | besides; apart from (... also...); in addition to | |
| 90 | 总是總是 | zǒng shì | always | |
| 91 | 双雙 | Shuāng | surname Shuang | |
| 92 | 突然 | tū rán | sudden; abrupt; unexpected | |
| 93 | 段 | Duàn | surname Duan | |
| 94 | 检查檢查 | jiǎn chá | inspection; to examine; to inspect | |
| 95 | 米 | Mǐ | surname Mi | |
| 96 | 容易 | róng yì | easy; straightforward; likely; liable to; apt to | |
| 97 | 明白 | míng bai | clear; obvious; unequivocal | |
| 98 | 根据根據 | gēn jù | according to; based on; basis | |
| 99 | 记得記得 | jì de | to remember | |
| 100 | 辆輛 | liàng | classifier for vehicles |
Tones in HSK 3
Vocabulary lists tell you what to memorize. Tone counts tell you what to practise. Here is how the 512 syllables of HSK 3 break down.
Tone distribution
Fourth tone is the workhorse of Mandarin, and HSK 3 is no exception: tone 4 covers 33% of the syllables on this list.
Most common tone pairs
198 of these words are two syllables long, and a handful of tone pairs account for most of them. Tap a pattern to filter the list.
- 4–422 wordse.g. 世界 shì jiè
- 1–418 wordse.g. 需要 xū yào
- 2–417 wordse.g. 然后 rán hòu
- 1–216 wordse.g. 一直 yī zhí
- 3–415 wordse.g. 比赛 bǐ sài
- 1–114 wordse.g. 应该 yīng gāi
- 2–010 wordse.g. 还是 hái shi
- 4–110 wordse.g. 必须 bì xū
0 = neutral tone
Pronunciation traps in this list
Counted straight from the pinyin above — these are the words worth recording yourself on.
HSK 2.0 vs HSK 3.0 at level 3
Two vocabulary standards are in circulation, which is why you will see wildly different word counts for the same level.
| Standard | New words | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| HSK 2.0 (2009) | 300 | 600 |
| HSK 3.0 (2021) | 973 | 2,245 |
HSK 2.0 (2009) is the six-level standard nearly every textbook, course and exam-prep book on the market still teaches. HSK 3.0 — officially the Chinese Proficiency Grading Standards, published in 2021 — keeps the level names but roughly doubles the vocabulary and adds a 7–9 band for advanced learners. Exam centres are still migrating, so unless your course explicitly says HSK 3.0, the 2.0 list is the one you are being tested on.
This page follows the HSK 2.0 list, the version most HSK 3 courses and exam papers still use.
How many words are in HSK 3?
HSK 3 adds 300 new words under the HSK 2.0 standard (600 cumulative from HSK 1), or 973 under HSK 3.0 (2,245 cumulative). This page lists 298 unique entries with pinyin, meaning and audio.
What is HSK?
HSK (汉语水平考试) is the official Chinese proficiency test. Each level has a set vocabulary list you are expected to know, and the test assumes you can both read and say every word on it.
Can I download the HSK 3 word list?
Yes, three ways and none of them need an account: Download CSV opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers; Anki deck gives you a tab-separated file you can import straight into Anki or Quizlet; Print / PDF produces a clean printable list with no site furniture.
What is the difference between HSK 2.0 and HSK 3.0 for HSK 3?
HSK 2.0 (2009) sets HSK 3 at 300 new words. The 2021 HSK 3.0 standard raises it to 973 and adds an advanced 7–9 band. Most courses and exam papers still follow the 2.0 list, which is the one on this page.
Does the HSK 3 list include pinyin?
Every entry shows pinyin with tone marks next to the simplified and traditional characters and the English meaning, and the speaker icon plays the word out loud.
Which tones matter most in HSK 3?
Tone 4 is the most frequent, covering 33% of the 512 syllables on this list. 6 of the words contain two third tones in a row, where third-tone sandhi applies.
How long does it take to learn the HSK 3 vocabulary?
At ten new words a day, 298 words is roughly 5 weeks of study — but recognising a word is not the same as saying it. Learners who record themselves from day one hit the speaking sections far more comfortably.
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