HSK 3 Vocabulary List: 1,000 Words (HSK 3.0)
HSK 3 has 1,000 words in HSK 3.0, 500 of them new at this level (the old HSK 2.0 list had 600). Fluentide has 289 free stories at the Elementary (HSK 3) level that use them, with transcript and pinyin.
By Haoshan Hong · Native Mandarin speaker · Updated October 2026
Hear HSK 3 words in a real story
美国佛州李尔喷气机坠毁 九人全部遇难
Learjet 60 Crashes in Palm Beach County, Florida, Killing All Nine On Board
2 min
What is on the HSK 3 word list?
The other 500 come from HSK 1–2. They cover work, study, money, transport, and basic cause-and-effect. This is the bridge from survival phrases into actual conversation.
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HSK 3 word list
All 988 words from the official HSK 3.0 syllabus, the 491 new at HSK 3 first. The syllabus counts 1,000 because a few words are listed once per reading; here each appears once.
Pinyin from the syllabus, definitions from CC-CEDICT. Tap a word for its other senses.
Showing 701–750 of 988 · page 15 of 20
病bìngHSK 1illness
- illness
- CL:场
- disease
- to fall ill
- defect
不bùHSK 1no
- no
- not so
- (bound form) not
- un-
不客气bú kèqiHSK 1you're welcome
- you're welcome
- don't mention it
- impolite
- rude
- blunt
不要búyàoHSK 1don't!
- don't!
- must not
菜càiHSK 1vegetable
- vegetable
- greens (CL:棵)
- dish (of food) (CL:样,道,盘)
- (of one's skills etc) weak
- poor
- (coll.) (one's) type
茶cháHSK 1tea
- tea
- tea plant
- CL:杯,壶
唱chàngHSK 1to sing
- to sing
- to call loudly
- to chant
超市chāoshìHSK 1supermarket (abbr. for 超级市场)
- supermarket (abbr. for 超级市场)
- CL:家
车chēHSK 1car
- car
- vehicle
- CL:辆
- machine
- to shape with a lathe
- Kangxi radical 159
- war chariot (archaic)
- rook (in Chinese chess)
- rook (in chess)
- surname Che
吃chīHSK 1to eat
- to eat
- to consume
- to eat at (a cafeteria etc)
- to eradicate
- to destroy
- to absorb
- to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
- variant of 吃
出租车chūzūchēHSK 1taxi
- taxi
- (Tw) rental car
穿chuānHSK 1to wear
- to wear
- to put on
- to bore through
- to pierce
- to perforate
- to go through (e.g. a tunnel)
- to cross (e.g. a street)
- to thread
- to string together
- to wear
- to put on (clothes, shoes etc.)
- verb complement indicating thoroughness or completion
打电话dǎ diànhuàHSK 1to make a telephone call
- to make a telephone call
大dàHSK 1big
- big
- large
- great
- older (than another person)
- eldest (as in 大姐)
- greatly
- freely
- fully
- (dialect) father
- (dialect) uncle (father's brother)
- see 大夫
大家dàjiāHSK 1everyone
- everyone
- influential family
- great expert
大学dàxuéHSK 1university
- university
- college
- CL:所
大学生dàxuéshēngHSK 1university student
- university student
- college student
到dàoHSK 1to reach
- to reach
- to arrive
- to leave for
- to go to
- to (a place)
- until (a time)
- up to (a point)
- (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point)
- considerate
- thoughtful
- thorough
的deHSK 1of
- of
- ~'s (possessive particle)
- (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun)
- (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis)
- (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的 "one made of leather" or 跑堂儿的 "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的 "new one")
- also pr. or in poetry and songs
- (bound form) a taxi
- a cab (abbr. for 的士)
- really and truly
- (bound form) bull's-eye
- target
弟弟dìdiHSK 1younger brother
- younger brother
- CL:个,位
第dìHSK 1(prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")
- (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六 "sixth")
- (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed
- (old) residence of a high official
- (literary) but
- however
- (literary) only
- just
点diǎnHSK 1o'clock
- o'clock
- a little
- point
- to touch briefly
- to tap
- to mark with a dot
- to check off (on a list)
- to order (food etc)
- to select
- to mention
- to bring up (a topic or person)
- to hint at
- to imply
- to administer (eye medicine etc) in drops
- to light (a fire, a lamp etc)
- to ignite
- to nod (one's head) in agreement
- to beckon by moving (one's hand) up and down
- point
- dot
- spot
- speck
- dot stroke in Chinese characters
- (math.) decimal point
- point in time or space
- (after a number) o'clock
- a small amount
- a bit
- (after a verb or adjective) a bit more
- classifier for small amounts
电话diànhuàHSK 1telephone
- telephone
- CL:部
- phone call
- CL:通
- phone number
电脑diànnǎoHSK 1computer
- computer
- CL:台
电视diànshìHSK 1television
- television
- TV
- CL:台,部
电影diànyǐngHSK 1movie
- movie
- film
- CL:部
电影院diànyǐngyuànHSK 1cinema
- cinema
- movie theater
- CL:家,座
店diànHSK 1inn
- inn
- old-style hotel (CL:家)
- (bound form) shop
- store
东西dōngxiHSK 1thing
- thing
- stuff
- person
- CL:个,件
都dōuHSK 1all
- all
- both
- entirely
- (used for emphasis) even
- already
- (not) at all
- capital city
- metropolis
- surname Du
读dúHSK 1to read out
- to read out
- to read aloud
- to read
- to attend (school)
- to study (a subject in school)
- to pronounce
- comma
- phrase marked by pause
读书dúshūHSK 1to read a book
- to read a book
- to study
- to attend school
对duìHSK 1right
- right
- correct
- towards
- at
- for
- concerning
- regarding
- to treat (sb a certain way)
- to face
- (bound form) opposite
- facing
- matching
- to match together
- to adjust
- to fit
- to suit
- to answer
- to reply
- to add
- to pour in (a fluid)
- to check
- to compare
- classifier: couple
- pair
对不起duìbuqǐHSK 1I'm sorry
- I'm sorry
- excuse me
- I beg your pardon
- to let (sb) down
- to disappoint
多duōHSK 1many
- many
- much
- more
- a lot of
- too many
- in excess
- (after a numeral) ... odd
- how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. )
- (bound form) multi-
- poly-
多少duōshaoHSK 1how much?
- how much?
- how many?
- (phone number, student ID etc) what number?
儿子érziHSK 1son
二èrHSK 1two
- two
- 2
- (Beijing dialect) stupid
饭fànHSK 1cooked rice
- cooked rice
- CL:碗
- meal
- CL:顿
- (loanword) fan
- devotee
饭店fàndiànHSK 1restaurant
- restaurant
- hotel
- CL:家
房间fángjiānHSK 1room
飞机fēijīHSK 1airplane
- airplane
- CL:架
非常fēichángHSK 1very
- very
- really
- unusual
- extraordinary
分fēnHSK 1to divide
- to divide
- to separate
- to distribute
- to allocate
- to distinguish (good and bad)
- (bound form) branch of (an organization)
- sub- (as in 分局)
- fraction
- one tenth (of certain units)
- unit of length equivalent to 0.33 cm
- minute (unit of time)
- minute (angular measurement unit)
- a point (in sports or games)
- 0.01 yuan (unit of money)
- part
- share
- ingredient
- component
分钟fēnzhōngHSK 1minute
高兴gāoxìngHSK 1happy
- happy
- glad
- willing (to do sth)
- in a cheerful mood
哥哥gēgeHSK 1older brother
- older brother
- CL:个,位
歌gēHSK 1song (CL:首,支)
- song (CL:首,支)
- (bound form) to sing
- variant of 歌
个gèHSK 1(classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier)
- (classifier used before a noun that has no specific classifier)
- (bound form) individual
- used in 自个儿
- variant of 个
给gěiHSK 1to give
- to give
- for
- to (sb)
- to
- for
- for the benefit of
- to give
- to allow
- to do sth (for sb)
- (grammatical equivalent of 被)
- (grammatical equivalent of 把)
- (sentence intensifier)
- (bound form) to supply
- to provide
- (literary) sufficient
- abundant
Stories that use these HSK 3 words
Each one is a Fluentide Elementary (HSK 3) story, written inside that word band. Press play; the first few need no account.
HSK 2 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 3 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 4 Chinese listening episodes
HSK 5+ Chinese listening episodes
How to actually learn HSK 3 vocabulary
Reading a word on a page and catching it at speed in a sentence are different skills. The HSK listening section tests the second.
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The method in practice
Hear HSK 3 vocabulary in real Mandarin
Each HSK 3 episode uses this word band, with the transcript, pinyin and line-by-line English. Five free episodes after a one-tap magic-link sign-in — no password, no payment.