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 1251–1300 of 1,978 · page 26 of 40
满意mǎnyìHSK 3satisfied
- satisfied
- pleased
- to one's satisfaction
毛máoHSK 3hair
- hair
- feather
- down
- wool
- mildew
- mold
- coarse or semifinished
- young
- raw
- careless
- unthinking
- nervous
- scared
- (of currency) to devalue or depreciate
- classifier for Chinese fractional monetary unit ( = 角 , = one-tenth of a yuan or 10 fen 分)
- surname Mao
米mǐHSK 3rice
- rice
- meter
- uncooked rice
- meter (unit of length)
- (slang) Chinese yuan
- surname Mi
面前miànqiánHSK 3in front of
- in front of
- facing
- (in the) presence (of)
名单míngdānHSK 3list of names
- list of names
名人míngrénHSK 3personage
- personage
- celebrity
明白míngbaiHSK 3clear
- clear
- obvious
- unequivocal
- sensible
- reasonable
- to understand
- to realize
男人nánrénHSK 3a man
- a man
- a male
- men
- CL:个
男生nánshēngHSK 3schoolboy
- schoolboy
- male student
- boy
- guy (young adult male)
南nánHSK 3south
- south
- Taiwan pr.
- used in 南无
- surname Nan
南方nánfāngHSK 3south
- south
- southern direction
- (in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of the Yangtze River
难nánHSK 3difficult (to...)
- difficult (to...)
- problem
- difficulty
- difficult
- not good
- disaster
- distress
- to scold
难过nánguòHSK 3to feel sad
- to feel sad
- to feel unwell
- (of life) to be difficult
难看nánkànHSK 3ugly
- ugly
- unsightly
难题nántíHSK 3difficult problem
- difficult problem
难听nántīngHSK 3unpleasant to hear
- unpleasant to hear
- coarse
- vulgar
- offensive
- shameful
年级niánjíHSK 3grade
- grade
- year (in school, college etc)
- CL:个
年轻niánqīngHSK 3young
牛niúHSK 3ox
- ox
- cow
- bull
- CL:条,头
- newton (abbr. for 牛顿)
- (slang) awesome
- surname Niu
努力nǔlìHSK 3to make an effort
- to make an effort
- to try hard
- to strive
- hard-working
- conscientious
女人nǚrénHSK 3woman
- woman
女生nǚshēngHSK 3schoolgirl
- schoolgirl
- female student
- girl
爬páHSK 3to crawl
- to crawl
- to climb
- to get up or sit up
怕pàHSK 3to be afraid
- to be afraid
- to fear
- to dread
- to be unable to endure
- perhaps
- surname Pa
拍照pāizhàoHSK 3to take a picture
- to take a picture
盘子pánziHSK 3tray
- tray
- plate
- dish
- CL:个
胖pàngHSK 3fat
- fat
- plump
- healthy
- at ease
啤酒píjiǔHSK 3beer (loanword)
- beer (loanword)
- CL:杯,瓶,罐,桶,缸
平时píngshíHSK 3ordinarily
- ordinarily
- in normal times
- in peacetime
瓶子píngziHSK 3bottle
- bottle
- CL:个
其实qíshíHSK 3actually
- actually
- in fact
- really
其他qítāHSK 3other
- other
- (sth or sb) else
- the rest
奇怪qíguàiHSK 3strange
- strange
- odd
- to marvel
- to be baffled
骑qíHSK 3to sit astride
- to sit astride
- to ride (a horse, bike etc)
- classifier for saddle horses
- (Tw) saddle horse
- mounted soldier
起qǐHSK 3to rise
- to rise
- to raise
- to get up
- to set out
- to start
- to appear
- to launch
- to initiate (action)
- to draft
- to establish
- to get (from a depot or counter)
- verb suffix, to start
- starting from (a time, place, price etc)
- classifier for occurrences or unpredictable events: case, instance
- classifier for groups: batch, group
起飞qǐfēiHSK 3(of an aircraft or rocket) to take off
- (of an aircraft or rocket) to take off
- to lift off
- (fig.) (of an enterprise etc) to start to develop rapidly
汽车qìchēHSK 3car
- car
- automobile
- bus
- CL:辆
铅笔qiānbǐHSK 3(lead) pencil
- (lead) pencil
- CL:支,枝,杆
前年qiánniánHSK 3the year before last
- the year before last
前天qiántiānHSK 3the day before yesterday
- the day before yesterday
清楚qīngchuHSK 3clear
- clear
- distinct
- to understand thoroughly
- to be clear about
请假qǐngjiàHSK 3to request leave of absence
- to request leave of absence
请客qǐngkèHSK 3to give a dinner party
- to give a dinner party
- to entertain guests
- to invite to dinner
秋天qiūtiānHSK 3autumn
- autumn
- CL:个
球场qiúchǎngHSK 3stadium
- stadium
- sports ground
- court
- pitch
- field
- golf course
- CL:个,处
裙子qúnziHSK 3skirt
然后ránhòuHSK 3then
- then
- after that
- afterwards
热情rèqíngHSK 3cordial
- cordial
- enthusiastic
- passion
- passionate
- passionately
认得rèndeHSK 3to recognize
- to recognize
- to remember sth (or sb) on seeing it
- to know
认为rènwéiHSK 3to believe
- to believe
- to think
- to consider
- to feel
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.