HSK 4 Vocabulary List: 2,000 Words (HSK 3.0)
HSK 4 has 2,000 words in HSK 3.0, 1,000 of them new at this level (the old HSK 2.0 list had 1,200). Fluentide has 302 free stories at the Intermediate (HSK 4) level that use them, with transcript and pinyin.
By Haoshan Hong · Native Mandarin speaker · Updated October 2026
Hear HSK 4 words in a real story
胡迪尼的大象与好奇心
Economist Bartleby Column: Andrew Palmer on the Hidden Costs of Workplace Curiosity
2 min
What is on the HSK 4 word list?
The other 1,000 come from HSK 1–3. They cover opinion, comparison, and evaluation: the words you need to say what you think, not just what happened.
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HSK 4 word list
All 1,978 words from the official HSK 3.0 syllabus, the 990 new at HSK 4 first. The syllabus counts 2,000 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 501–550 of 1,978 · page 11 of 40
密码mìmǎHSK 4cipher
- cipher
- secret code
- password
- PIN
免费miǎnfèiHSK 4free (of charge)
- free (of charge)
面对miànduìHSK 4to face
- to face
- to confront
面试miànshìHSK 4to be interviewed (as a candidate)
- to be interviewed (as a candidate)
- interview
秒miǎoHSK 4second (unit of time)
- second (unit of time)
- arc second (angular measurement unit)
- (coll.) instantly
民族mínzúHSK 4nationality
- nationality
- ethnic group
末mòHSK 4tip
- tip
- end
- final stage
- latter part
- inessential detail
- powder
- dust
- opera role of old man
- variant of 么
母女mǔnǚHSK 4mother and daughter
- mother and daughter
- mother-daughter
母亲mǔqīnHSK 4mother
母子mǔzǐHSK 4mother and child
- mother and child
- parent and subsidiary (companies)
- principal and interest
目标mùbiāoHSK 4target
- target
- goal
- objective
- CL:个
目的mùdìHSK 4purpose
- purpose
- aim
- goal
- target
- objective
目的地mùdìdìHSK 4destination (location)
- destination (location)
目前mùqiánHSK 4at the present time
- at the present time
- currently
耐心nàixīnHSK 4to be patient
- to be patient
- patience
男士nánshìHSK 4man
- man
- gentleman
男性nánxìngHSK 4the male sex
- the male sex
- a male
南部nánbùHSK 4southern part
- southern part
难道nándàoHSK 4don't tell me ...
- don't tell me ...
- could it be that...?
难受nánshòuHSK 4to feel unwell
- to feel unwell
- to suffer pain
- to be difficult to bear
难忘nánwàngHSK 4unforgettable
- unforgettable
内nèiHSK 4inside
- inside
- inner
- internal
- within
- interior
内容nèiróngHSK 4content
- content
- substance
- details
- CL:项
内心nèixīnHSK 4heart
- heart
- innermost being
- (math.) incenter
能否néng fǒuHSK 4whether one can
- whether one can
- whether it is possible
能够nénggòuHSK 4to be capable of
- to be capable of
- to be able to
- can
能力nénglìHSK 4capability
- capability
- ability
- CL:个
嗯ǹgHSK 4(a groaning sound)
- (a groaning sound)
- (nonverbal grunt as interjection)
- OK, yeah
- what?
- interjection indicating approval, appreciation or agreement
年底niándǐHSK 4end of the year
- end of the year
年龄niánlíngHSK 4(a person's) age
- (a person's) age
- CL:把,个
农村nóngcūnHSK 4rural area
- rural area
- village
- CL:个
弄nòngHSK 4to do
- to do
- to manage
- to handle
- to play with
- to fool with
- to mess with
- to fix
- to toy with
- lane
- alley
- old variant of 弄
- variant of 弄
女性nǚxìngHSK 4woman
- woman
- the female sex
暖和nuǎnhuoHSK 4warm
- warm
- nice and warm
偶尔ǒu’ěrHSK 4occasionally
- occasionally
- once in a while
- sometimes
拍pāiHSK 4to pat
- to pat
- to clap
- to slap
- to swat
- to take (a photo)
- to shoot (a film)
- racket (sports)
- beat (music)
排páiHSK 4to arrange in order
- to arrange in order
- to line up
- to exclude
- to eliminate
- to repel
- to expel
- to discharge
- to rehearse
- row
- line
- platoon
- (bound form) steak
- chop
- (bound form) raft
- classifier for rows or lines (of people or things)
- (literary) to push aside
- to force open
排队páiduìHSK 4to line up
- to line up
排球páiqiúHSK 4volleyball
- volleyball
- CL:个
牌páiHSK 4signboard
- signboard
- plaque
- plate
- tablet (CL:块)
- brand
- trademark
- mahjong tile
- domino
- playing card (CL:张)
- (bound form) fixed pattern for lyrics or set melody in classical poetry or music (used in 词牌 and 曲牌)
牌子páiziHSK 4sign
- sign
- trademark
- brand
判断pànduànHSK 4to judge
- to judge
- to determine
- judgment
陪péiHSK 4to accompany
- to accompany
- to keep sb company
- to assist
- old variant of 赔
批评pīpíngHSK 4to criticize
- to criticize
- criticism
- CL:次,番
皮肤pífūHSK 4skin
- skin
- CL:层,块
皮鞋píxiéHSK 4leather shoes
- leather shoes
脾气píqiHSK 4character
- character
- temperament
- disposition
- bad temper
- CL:股
篇piānHSK 4sheet
- sheet
- piece of writing
- bound set of bamboo slips used for record keeping (old)
- classifier for written items: chapter, article
片piànHSK 4thin piece
- thin piece
- flake
- a slice
- film
- TV play
- to slice
- to carve thin
- partial
- incomplete
- one-sided
- classifier for slices, tablets, tract of land, area of water
- classifier for CDs, movies, DVDs etc
- used with numeral 一: classifier for scenario, scene, feeling, atmosphere, sound etc
- Kangxi radical 91
- disk
- sheet
乒乓球pīngpāngqiúHSK 4table tennis
- table tennis
- ping-pong
- table tennis ball
- CL:个
Stories that use these HSK 4 words
Each one is a Fluentide Intermediate (HSK 4) 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 4 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 4 vocabulary in real Mandarin
Each HSK 4 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.