HSK 3 Vocabulary
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 751–800 of 988 · page 16 of 20
工作gōngzuòHSK 1to work
- to work
- (of a machine) to operate
- job
- work
- task
- CL:个,份,项
公司gōngsīHSK 1company
- company
- firm
- corporation
- CL:家
狗gǒuHSK 1dog
贵guìHSK 1expensive
- expensive
- (bound form) highly valued
- precious
- (bound form) noble
- of high rank
- (prefix) (honorific) your
- short name for Guizhou 贵州
国guóHSK 1country
- country
- nation
- state
- (bound form) national
- surname Guo
还hái / huánHSK 1still
- still
- still in progress
- still more
- yet
- even more
- in addition
- fairly
- passably (good)
- as early as
- even
- also
- else
- to pay back
- to return
- surname Huan
孩子háiziHSK 1child
汉语HànyǔHSK 1Chinese language
- Chinese language
汉字HànzìHSK 1Chinese character(s)
- Chinese character(s)
好hǎoHSK 1good
- good
- appropriate
- proper
- all right!
- (before a verb) easy to
- (before a verb) good to
- (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so
- (verb complement indicating completion)
- (of two people) close
- on intimate terms
- (after a form of address) hello
- to be fond of
- to have a tendency to
- to be prone to
好吃hǎochīHSK 1tasty
- tasty
- delicious
好看hǎokànHSK 1good-looking
- good-looking
- nice-looking
- (of a movie, book, TV show etc) good
- in an embarrassing situation
好听hǎotīngHSK 1pleasant to hear
- pleasant to hear
好玩儿hǎowánrHSK 1amusing
- amusing
- fun
- interesting
号hàoHSK 1number
- number
- date (of the month)
- (bound form) bugle
- trumpet
- (bound form) signal
- bugle call (e.g. 起床号)
- (bound form) mark
- sign
- to mark
- to label
- to assign a number
- (bound form) name
- appellation (e.g. 国号, 年号, 辽宁号)
- (after a numeral) number designation (e.g. 237號房間|237号房间 "Room 237")
- day of the month (e.g. 七号 "the 7th")
- (bound form) size
- type
- category (e.g. 五号电池)
- (TCM) to feel (the pulse) (used in 号脉)
- classifier for numbered people or items
- (literary) to call out
- to command
- (bound form) to wail
- to howl
喝hēHSK 1to drink
- to drink
- to shout
- variant of 嗬
和héHSK 1(joining two nouns) and
- (joining two nouns) and
- together with
- with (Taiwan pr. )
- (math.) sum
- to make peace
- (sports) to draw
- to tie
- (bound form) harmonious
- (bound form) Japan
- Japanese
- to compose a poem in reply (to sb's poem) using the same rhyme sequence
- to join in the singing
- to chime in with others
- to complete a set in mahjong or playing cards
- to combine a powdery substance (flour, plaster etc) with water
- Taiwan pr.
- to mix (ingredients) together
- to blend
- classifier for rinses of clothes
- classifier for boilings of medicinal herbs
- surname He
- (literary) harmonious (variant of 和)
- old variant of 和
很hěnHSK 1very
- very
- quite
- (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element)
后hòuHSK 1after
- after
- behind
- back
- empress
- queen
- ruler
- (archaic) monarch
- back
- behind
- rear
- afterwards
- after
- later
- post-
- surname Hou
回huíHSK 1to go back
- to go back
- to return
- to turn back
- to turn around
- to reply
- to answer
- classifier for literary divisions (acts of a play, sections or chapters of a classic book)
- classifier for occurrences or times
- to curve
- to return
- to revolve
- Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims)
- variant of 回
会huìHSK 1can
- can
- to have the skill
- to know how to
- to be likely to
- to be sure to
- to meet
- to get together
- meeting
- gathering
- (suffix) union
- group
- association
- (bound form) a moment (Taiwan pr. )
- (bound form) to reckon accounts
火车huǒchēHSK 1train
- train
- CL:列,节,班,趟
鸡蛋jīdànHSK 1(chicken) egg
- (chicken) egg
- hen's egg
- CL:个,打
几jǐHSK 1how many
- how many
- how much
- several
- a few
- small table
- (literary) almost
家jiāHSK 1home
- home
- family
- (polite) my (sister, uncle etc)
- classifier for families or businesses
- refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China
- noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian
- CL:个
- used in 家伙 and 家俱
家人jiārénHSK 1family member
- family member
- (old) servant
见jiànHSK 1to see
- to see
- to meet
- to appear (to be sth)
- to interview
- opinion
- view
- to appear
- also written 现
件jiànHSK 1item
- item
- component
- classifier for events, things, clothes etc
饺子jiǎoziHSK 1dumpling
- dumpling
- pot-sticker
- CL:个,只
叫jiàoHSK 1to call
- to call
- to be called
- to shout
- to call
- to order
- to ask
- to be called
- by (indicates agent in the passive mood)
- variant of 叫
姐姐jiějieHSK 1older sister
- older sister
- CL:个
今年jīnniánHSK 1this year
- this year
今天jīntiānHSK 1today
- today
- the present time
- now
九jiǔHSK 1nine
觉得juédeHSK 1to think that ...
- to think that ...
- to feel that ...
- to feel (uncomfortable etc)
开kāiHSK 1to open (transitive or intransitive)
- to open (transitive or intransitive)
- (of ships, vehicles, troops etc) to start
- to turn on
- to put in operation
- to operate
- to run
- to boil
- to write out (a prescription, check, invoice etc)
- (directional complement) away
- off
- carat (gold)
- abbr. for Kelvin, 开尔文
- abbr. for 开本, book format
开车kāichēHSK 1to drive a car (or train etc)
- to drive a car (or train etc)
- (slang) to post sexual content online
- to make a sexual joke
看kàn / kānHSK 1to see
- to see
- to look at
- to read
- to watch
- to visit
- to call on
- to consider
- to regard as
- to look after
- to treat (a patient or illness)
- to depend on
- to feel (that)
- (after a verb) to give it a try
- to watch out for
- to look after
- to take care of
- to watch
- to guard
看病kànbìngHSK 1to visit a doctor
- to visit a doctor
- to see a patient
看见kànjiànHSK 1to see
- to see
- to catch sight of
可以kěyǐHSK 1can
- can
- may
- possible
- able to
- not bad
- pretty good
课kèHSK 1subject
- subject
- course
- CL:门
- class
- lesson
- CL:堂,节
- to levy
- tax
- form of divination
口kǒuHSK 1mouth
- mouth
- classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc)
- classifier for bites or mouthfuls
块kuàiHSK 1lump
- lump
- chunk
- piece
- classifier for pieces of cloth, cake, soap etc
- (coll.) classifier for money and currency units
来láiHSK 1to come
- to come
- (used as a substitute for a more specific verb)
- hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来)
- ever since (as in 自古以来)
- for the past (amount of time)
- (prefix) the coming ...
- the next ... (as in 来世)
- (between two verbs) in order to
- (after a round number) approximately
- (used after 得 to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来, or after 不 to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来)
老师lǎoshīHSK 1teacher
了leHSK 1(particle) completed action
- (particle) completed action
- change of state
- (completed action marker)
- (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
- (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
- to finish
- (used with 得 or 不 after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 "cannot forget")
- (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 无 or 不) completely (not)
- entirely (not)
- (not) in the least
- (bound form) clear in one's mind
- to understand clearly
- unofficial variant of 瞭
- variant of 了
冷lěngHSK 1cold
- cold
- surname Leng
里lǐHSK 1inside
- inside
- in
- lining
- interior
- inside
- internal
- also written 里
- li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m
- neighborhood
- ancient administrative unit of 25 families
- (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 镇 and neighborhood 邻 levels
- surname Li
- variant of 里
两liǎngHSK 1two
- two
- both
- some
- a few
- tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old)
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.