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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.

Browse 289 stories ↓

By Haoshan HongNative Mandarin speakerUpdated 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.

HSK proficiency ladderHSK 3.0 levels 1 to 6 with cumulative vocabulary requirements: HSK 1 requires 300 words, HSK 2 requires 500, HSK 3 requires 1,000, HSK 4 requires 2,000, HSK 5 about 3,600, and HSK 6 about 5,400 words. Word counts follow the official HSK 3.0 exam syllabus.HSK levels by cumulative vocabularyHSK 1beginner300 wordsHSK 2elementary500 wordsHSK 3pre-intermediate1,000 wordsHSK 4intermediate2,000 wordsHSK 5upper-intermediate~3,600 wordsHSK 6advanced~5,400 wordsSource: HSK 3.0 exam syllabus, chinesetest.cn
Words needed at each level, counting the levels below it.

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 151–200 of 988 · page 4 of 20

关系guānxìHSK 3

relation

  • relation
  • relationship
  • connection
  • to concern
  • to involve
  • to affect
  • guanxi (personal connections)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
关心guānxīnHSK 3

to be concerned about

  • to be concerned about
  • to care about
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
关于guānyúHSK 3

pertaining to

  • pertaining to
  • concerning
  • with regard to
  • about
  • a matter of
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
关注guānzhùHSK 3

to pay attention to

  • to pay attention to
  • to follow sth closely
  • to follow (on social media)
  • concern
  • interest
  • attention
国家guójiāHSK 3

country

过节guòjiéHSK 3

to celebrate a festival

  • to celebrate a festival
  • after the celebrations (i.e. once the festival is over)
海hǎiHSK 3

ocean

  • ocean
  • sea
  • CL:个,片
  • great number of people or things
  • (dialect) numerous
  • surname Hai
害怕hàipàHSK 3

to be afraid

好多hǎoduōHSK 3

many

  • many
  • quite a lot
  • much better
好久hǎojiǔHSK 3

(coll.) a long time

  • (coll.) a long time
好像hǎoxiàngHSK 3

as if

  • as if
  • to seem like
号码hàomǎHSK 3

number

合适héshìHSK 3

suitable

河héHSK 3

river (CL:条,道)

  • river (CL:条,道)
  • (bound form) the Yellow River
  • (bound form) the Milky Way
  • (bound form) (on restaurant menus) rice noodles 河粉
黑板hēibǎnHSK 3

blackboard

红绿灯hóng-lǜdēngHSK 3

traffic light

  • traffic light
  • traffic signal
后来hòuláiHSK 3

afterwards

后年hòuniánHSK 3

the year after next

  • the year after next
后天hòutiānHSK 3

the day after tomorrow

  • the day after tomorrow
  • life after birth (the period in which one develops through experiences, contrasted with 先天)
  • acquired (not innate or congenital)
  • a posteriori
护照hùzhàoHSK 3

passport

花园huāyuánHSK 3

garden (for flowers, ornamental plants etc)

  • garden (for flowers, ornamental plants etc)
  • (landscaped) park
  • yard with decorative plants
  • CL:座
画家huàjiāHSK 3

painter

  • painter
  • CL:个
欢迎huānyíngHSK 3

to welcome

环境huánjìngHSK 3

environment

  • environment
  • circumstances
  • surroundings
  • CL:个
  • ambient
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
换huànHSK 3

to exchange

  • to exchange
  • to change (clothes etc)
  • to substitute
  • to switch
  • to convert (currency)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
黄色huángsèHSK 3

yellow

  • yellow
  • vulgar
  • lewd
  • pornographic
回答huídáHSK 3

to reply

会议huìyìHSK 3

meeting

或huòHSK 3

maybe

  • maybe
  • perhaps
  • might
  • possibly
  • or
或者huòzhěHSK 3

or

机会jīhuìHSK 3

opportunity

鸡jīHSK 3

fowl

  • fowl
  • chicken
  • CL:只
  • (slang) prostitute
  • variant of 鸡
极jíHSK 3

extremely

  • extremely
  • pole (geography, physics)
  • utmost
  • top
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
急jíHSK 3

urgent

  • urgent
  • pressing
  • rapid
  • hurried
  • worried
  • to make (sb) anxious
几乎jīhūHSK 3

almost

记jìHSK 3

to record

  • to record
  • to note
  • to memorize
  • to remember
  • mark
  • sign
  • classifier for blows, kicks, shots
季jìHSK 3

season

  • season
  • the last month of a season
  • fourth or youngest amongst brothers
  • classifier for seasonal crop yields
  • surname Ji
季节jìjiéHSK 3

time

加jiāHSK 3

to add

  • to add
  • (math.) plus
  • to increase
  • to augment
  • (used before a disyllabic verb, often after an adverb like 不, 大, 稍 etc, to indicate that the action applies to sth previously mentioned, as in 稍加改良 "make some minor improvements to (it)")
  • Canada (abbr. for 加拿大)
  • surname Jia
假期jiàqīHSK 3

holiday period

  • holiday period
  • vacation
坚持jiānchíHSK 3

to persevere with

  • to persevere with
  • to persist in
  • to insist on
检查jiǎncháHSK 3

inspection

  • inspection
  • to examine
  • to inspect
  • CL:次
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
检票jiǎnpiàoHSK 3

to inspect a ticket

  • to inspect a ticket
  • to examine a ballot
简单jiǎndānHSK 3

simple

见面jiànmiànHSK 3

to meet

健康jiànkāngHSK 3

health

讲jiǎngHSK 3

to speak

  • to speak
  • to explain
  • to negotiate
  • to emphasize
  • to be particular about
  • as far as sth is concerned
  • speech
  • lecture
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
角jiǎoHSK 3

angle

  • angle
  • corner
  • horn
  • horn-shaped
  • unit of money equal to 0.1 yuan, or 10 cents (a dime)
  • CL:个
  • role (theater)
  • to compete
  • ancient three legged wine vessel
  • third note of pentatonic scale
  • surname Jue
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
脚jiǎoHSK 3

foot

  • foot
  • leg (of an animal or an object)
  • base (of an object)
  • CL:双,只
  • classifier for kicks
  • role (variant of 角)
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →
接jiēHSK 3

to receive

  • to receive
  • to answer (the phone)
  • to meet or welcome sb
  • to connect
  • to catch
  • to join
  • to extend
  • to take one's turn on duty
  • to take over for sb
Character breakdown, usage notes and examples →

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 3 Chinese listening episodes

Showing 12 of 289

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.

Four steps in a loop. One: skim this list and note which words feel unfamiliar. Two: hear them in HSK 3 stories every day. Three: look a word up only after you have heard it. Four: check the list monthly; the gaps show what to listen for next. Then repeat.Hear a word first, look it up second1Skim this listNote the wordsyou don't know2Hear themHSK 3 stories,every day3Look up afteronly once youhave heard it4Check monthlyGaps show whatto listen forrepeat
Use the list as a checklist, and do the learning by ear.

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.

More HSK 3