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.

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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.

Listed here

298

HSK 2.0

New at this level

300

HSK 2.0

Cumulative

600

HSK 2.0

Unique characters

393

Most common tone

Tone 4

33%

92 are single-syllable words, 198 are two-syllable and 8 are longer — 512 syllables to pronounce in total.

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自己zì jǐ

oneself

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Tone pattern0 = neutral tone

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

Tone 124% · 125

Tone 221% · 107

Tone 316% · 82

Tone 433% · 167

Neutral6% · 31

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.

third-tone sandhi (3–3)

Two third tones in a row: the first becomes a rising tone.

with a neutral tone

An unstressed syllable with no tone of its own — easy to over-pronounce.

containing 一 or 不

Both change tone depending on what follows them.

with zh / ch / sh / r

The retroflex initials, routinely confused with z / c / s.

100

with j / q / x

The palatal series, where the written u is really ü.

with the ü sound

Rounded lips, front tongue — no English equivalent.

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.

Practise readingRead HSK 3 stories with pinyinFree graded Chinese stories on ReadNative, our sister app: tap any character for pinyin and meaning, with narration on every book.Read free stories →

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.

← Previous: HSK 2 All HSK levels Next: HSK 4 →

Other HSK levels

HSK 1 150 words HSK 2 147 words HSK 4 598 words HSK 5 1,298 words HSK 6 2,500 words HSK 7–9 5,606 words

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