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 551–600 of 1,978 · page 12 of 40
平常píngchángHSK 4ordinary
- ordinary
- common
- usually
- ordinarily
破pòHSK 4broken
- broken
- damaged
- worn out
- lousy
- rotten
- to break, split or cleave
- to get rid of
- to destroy
- to break with
- to defeat
- to capture (a city etc)
- to expose the truth of
葡萄pútaoHSK 4grape
葡萄酒pútaojiǔHSK 4(grape) wine
- (grape) wine
普遍pǔbiànHSK 4universal
- universal
- general
- widespread
- common
普通pǔtōngHSK 4common
- common
- ordinary
- general
- average
普通话pǔtōnghuàHSK 4Putonghua
- Putonghua
- standard Mandarin
期qīHSK 4period
- period
- cycle
- a period of time
- phase
- stage
- classifier for issues of a periodical, courses of study
- time
- term
- period
- to hope
- Taiwan pr.
- variant of 期
期末qīmòHSK 4the end of a term or semester (in school)
- the end of a term or semester (in school)
期中qīzhōngHSK 4interim
- interim
- midterm
其次qícìHSK 4next
- next
- secondly
其中qízhōngHSK 4among
- among
- in
- included among these
起到qǐdàoHSK 4(in an expression of the form 起到 + … + 作用) to have (a (motivating etc) effect)
- (in an expression of the form 起到 + … + 作用) to have (a (motivating etc) effect)
- to play (a (stabilizing etc) role)
气qìHSK 4gas
- gas
- air
- smell
- weather
- to make angry
- to annoy
- to get angry
- vital energy
- qi
气候qìhòuHSK 4(meteorology) climate
- (meteorology) climate
- (fig.) climate
- prevailing conditions (in human affairs)
气温qìwēnHSK 4air temperature
- air temperature
汽水qìshuǐHSK 4soda pop
- soda pop
- carbonated soft drink
千克qiānkèHSK 4kilogram
- kilogram
千万qiānwànHSK 4ten million
- ten million
- countless
- many
- one must by all means
签证qiānzhèngHSK 4visa
- visa
- to issue a visa
前方qiánfāngHSK 4ahead
- ahead
- the front
前后qiánhòuHSK 4around
- around
- from beginning to end
- all around
- front and rear
强qiángHSK 4strong
- strong
- powerful
- better
- slightly more than
- vigorous
- violent
- best in their category, e.g. see 百强
- stubborn
- unyielding
- to force
- to compel
- to strive
- to make an effort
- surname Qiang
- variant of 强
- variant of 强
- variant of 强
敲qiāoHSK 4to hit
- to hit
- to strike
- to tap
- to rap
- to knock
- to rip sb off
- to overcharge
桥qiáoHSK 4bridge
- bridge
- CL:座
巧qiǎoHSK 4opportunely
- opportunely
- coincidentally
- as it happens
- skillful
- timely
巧克力qiǎokèlìHSK 4(loanword) chocolate
- (loanword) chocolate
- CL:块
亲戚qīnqiHSK 4a relative (i.e. family relation)
- a relative (i.e. family relation)
- CL:门,个,位
琴qínHSK 4guqin 古琴 (a type of zither)
- guqin 古琴 (a type of zither)
- musical instrument in general
- variant of 琴, guqin or zither
青年qīngniánHSK 4youth
- youth
- youthful years
- young person
- the young
轻qīngHSK 4light
- light
- easy
- gentle
- soft
- reckless
- unimportant
- frivolous
- small in number
- unstressed
- neutral
- to disparage
轻松qīngsōngHSK 4light
- light
- gentle
- relaxed
- effortless
- uncomplicated
- to relax
- to take things less seriously
情况qíngkuàngHSK 4circumstances
- circumstances
- state of affairs
- situation
- CL:种
庆祝qìngzhùHSK 4to celebrate
- to celebrate
球队qiúduìHSK 4sports team (basketball, soccer, football etc)
- sports team (basketball, soccer, football etc)
球迷qiúmíHSK 4fan (ball sports)
- fan (ball sports)
- CL:个
区qūHSK 4area
- area
- region
- district
- small
- distinguish
- CL:个
- surname Ou
区别qūbiéHSK 4difference
- difference
- to distinguish
- to discriminate
- to make a distinction
- CL:个
取qǔHSK 4to take
- to take
- to get
- to choose
- to fetch
取得qǔdéHSK 4to acquire
- to acquire
- to get
- to obtain
取消qǔxiāoHSK 4to cancel
- to cancel
- to call off
- to revoke
- to rescind
全quánHSK 4all
- all
- whole
- entire
- every
- complete
- surname Quan
全部quánbùHSK 4whole
- whole
- all
全都quándōuHSK 4all
- all
- without exception
全球quánqiúHSK 4the whole world
- the whole world
- worldwide
- global
全身quánshēnHSK 4the whole body
- the whole body
- (typography) em
缺quēHSK 4deficiency
- deficiency
- lack
- scarce
- vacant post
- to run short of
缺点quēdiǎnHSK 4weak point
- weak point
- fault
- shortcoming
- disadvantage
- CL:个
缺少quēshǎoHSK 4lack
- lack
- shortage of
- shortfall
- to be short (of)
- to lack
却quèHSK 4but
- but
- yet
- however
- while
- to go back
- to decline
- to retreat
- nevertheless
- even though
- old variant of 却
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.