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 601–650 of 1,978 · page 13 of 40
确实quèshíHSK 4indeed
- indeed
- really
- reliable
- real
- true
然而rán’érHSK 4however
- however
- but
- yet
热闹rènaoHSK 4lively
- lively
- bustling
- full of activity
- to make things lively
- to have a good time
- a scene of bustling activity
- excitement
人生rénshēngHSK 4life (one's time on earth)
- life (one's time on earth)
人数rénshùHSK 4number of people
- number of people
人员rényuánHSK 4staff
- staff
- crew
- personnel
- CL:个
任何rènhéHSK 4any
- any
- whatever
- whichever
任务rènwuHSK 4mission
- mission
- assignment
- task
- duty
- role
- CL:项
扔rēngHSK 4to throw
- to throw
- to throw away
仍réngHSK 4still
- still
- yet
- to remain
- (literary) frequently
- often
仍然réngránHSK 4still
- still
- as before
- yet
日常rìchángHSK 4day-to-day
- day-to-day
- daily
- everyday
日记rìjìHSK 4diary
- diary
- CL:则,本,篇
日期rìqīHSK 4date
- date
日子rìziHSK 4day
- day
- a (calendar) date
- days of one's life
入rùHSK 4to enter
- to enter
- to go into
- to join
- to become a member of
- (bound form) to conform to (as in 入时)
- (on product packaging, after {number n} + {classifier}) containing (n pieces) (from Japanese 入 "iri")
- abbr. for 入声
入口rùkǒuHSK 4entrance
- entrance
- to import
入学rùxuéHSK 4to enter a school or college
- to enter a school or college
- to go to school for the first time as a child
入住rùzhùHSK 4to check in (at a hotel etc)
- to check in (at a hotel etc)
- to move into (a house)
散步sànbùHSK 4to take a walk
- to take a walk
- to go for a walk
扫码sǎomǎHSK 4to scan a QR code or barcode
- to scan a QR code or barcode
森林sēnlínHSK 4forest
- forest
- CL:片
伤心shāngxīnHSK 4to grieve
- to grieve
- to be broken-hearted
- to feel deeply hurt
商量shāngliangHSK 4to consult
- to consult
- to talk over
- to discuss
商品shāngpǐnHSK 4commodity
- commodity
- goods
- merchandise
- CL:件
上门shàngménHSK 4to drop in
- to drop in
- to visit
- to lock a door
- (of a shop) to close
- to go and live with one's wife's family, in effect becoming a member of her family
稍shāoHSK 4somewhat
- somewhat
- a little
- used in 稍息
稍微shāowēiHSK 4a little bit
- a little bit
少见shǎojiànHSK 4rare
- rare
- seldom seen
- (formal) it's a rare pleasure to see you
少量shǎoliàngHSK 4a smidgen
- a smidgen
- a little bit
- a few
少年shàoniánHSK 4early youth
- early youth
- youngster
- (literary) youth
- young man
少数shǎoshùHSK 4small number
- small number
- few
- minority
社会shèhuìHSK 4society
摄氏度shèshìdùHSK 4°C (degrees Celsius)
- °C (degrees Celsius)
申请shēnqǐngHSK 4to apply for sth
- to apply for sth
- application form (CL:份)
身shēnHSK 4body
- body
- life
- oneself
- personally
- one's morality and conduct
- the main part of a structure or body
- pregnant
- classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset
- Kangxi radical 158
身份证shēnfènzhèngHSK 4identity card
- identity card
- ID
深shēnHSK 4(lit. and fig.) deep
- (lit. and fig.) deep
- old variant of 深
甚至shènzhìHSK 4even
- even
- so much so that
生shēngHSK 4to grow
- to grow
- to give birth
- to produce
- to be born
- to arise
- to occur
- to light (a fire)
- to live
- to be alive
- life
- raw
- uncooked
- unprocessed
- unfamiliar
- strange
- (bound form) student
- person engaged in a field
- (bound form) male role in traditional opera
- (bound form) life
- lifetime
- (bound form) means of livelihood
- (bound form) very
- intensely (as in 生疼)
- (bound form) in a forced manner (as in 生拉硬拽)
生命shēngmìngHSK 4life (as the characteristic of living beings)
- life (as the characteristic of living beings)
- living being
- creature (CL:条)
生意shēngyiHSK 4business
- business
- CL:笔
省shěngHSK 4to save
- to save
- to economize
- to be frugal
- to omit
- to delete
- to leave out
- province
- provincial capital
- a ministry (of the Japanese government)
- (bound form) to scrutinize
- (bound form) to reflect (on one's conduct)
- (bound form) to come to realize
- (bound form) to pay a visit (to one's parents or elders)
剩shèngHSK 4to remain
- to remain
- to be left
- to have as remainder
- variant of 剩
失败shībàiHSK 4to be defeated
- to be defeated
- to lose
- to fail (e.g. experiments)
- failure
- defeat
- CL:次
失去shīqùHSK 4to lose
- to lose
失望shīwàngHSK 4disappointed
- disappointed
- to lose hope
- to despair
师傅shīfuHSK 4master
- master
- qualified worker
- respectful form of address for older men
- CL:个,位,名
师生shīshēngHSK 4teachers and students
- teachers and students
十分shífēnHSK 4very
- very
- completely
- utterly
- extremely
- absolutely
- hundred percent
- to divide into ten equal parts
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.