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 1301–1350 of 1,978 · page 27 of 40
认真rènzhēnHSK 3conscientious
- conscientious
- earnest
- serious
- to take seriously
- to take to heart
容易róngyìHSK 3easy
- easy
- straightforward
- likely
- liable to
- apt to
如果rúguǒHSK 3if
- if
- in case
- in the event that
伞sǎnHSK 3umbrella
- umbrella
- parasol
- CL:把
- damask silk
- variant of 伞
扫sǎoHSK 3to sweep (with a brush or broom)
- to sweep (with a brush or broom)
- to sweep away
- to wipe out
- to get rid of
- to sweep (one's eyes etc) over
- to scan
- (bound form) a (large) broom
沙发shāfāHSK 3(loanword) sofa (CL:条,张)
- (loanword) sofa (CL:条,张)
- (Internet slang) first reply to a forum post
山shānHSK 3mountain
- mountain
- hill (CL:座)
- (coll.) small bundle of straw for silkworms to spin cocoons on
- surname Shan
上衣shàngyīHSK 3jacket
- jacket
- upper outer garment
- CL:件
勺子sháoziHSK 3spoon
- spoon
- ladle
- CL:把
身边shēnbiānHSK 3at one's side
- at one's side
- on hand
身高shēngāoHSK 3(a person's) height
- (a person's) height
生活shēnghuóHSK 3to live
- to live
- life
- livelihood
生气shēngqìHSK 3to get angry
- to get angry
- to be furious
- vitality
- liveliness
声shēngHSK 3sound
- sound
- voice
- tone
- noise
- reputation
- classifier for sounds
声音shēngyīnHSK 3sound
世界shìjièHSK 3world
市shìHSK 3market
- market
- city
- municipality (administrative unit)
- (literary) to trade
- to buy and sell goods
试shìHSK 3to test
- to test
- to try
- experiment
- examination
- test
室shìHSK 3room
- room
- work unit
- grave
- scabbard
- family or clan
- one of the 28 constellations of Chinese astronomy
- surname Shi
收shōuHSK 3to receive
- to receive
- to accept
- to collect
- to put away
- to restrain
- to stop
- in care of (used on address line after name)
收到shōudàoHSK 3to receive
- to receive
受shòuHSK 3to receive
- to receive
- to accept
- to suffer
- subjected to
- to bear
- to stand
- pleasant
- (passive marker)
- (LGBT) bottom
受到shòudàoHSK 3to receive (praise, an education, punishment etc)
- to receive (praise, an education, punishment etc)
- to be ...ed (praised, educated, punished etc)
瘦shòuHSK 3thin
- thin
- to lose weight
- (of clothing) tight
- (of meat) lean
- (of land) unproductive
叔叔shūshuHSK 3father's younger brother
- father's younger brother
- paternal uncle
- form of address used by children for a male one generation older
树shùHSK 3tree
- tree
- CL:棵
- to cultivate
- to set up
数学shùxuéHSK 3mathematics
刷shuāHSK 3a brush
- a brush
- to paint
- to daub
- to brush
- to scrub
- (fig.) to remove
- to eliminate (from a contest)
- to fire (from a job)
- to swipe (a card)
- to scroll on (a phone)
- (gaming) to grind
- to farm (for experience points, equipment, levels etc)
- (onom.) swish
- rustle
- to select
双shuāngHSK 3two
- two
- double
- pair
- both
- even (number)
- surname Shuang
- variant of 双
水平shuǐpíngHSK 3horizontal
- horizontal
- level
- a standard
- a level (of ability, development etc)
司机sījīHSK 3chauffeur
- chauffeur
- driver
四季sìjìHSK 3four seasons, namely: spring 春, summer 夏, autumn 秋 and winter 冬
- four seasons, namely: spring 春, summer 夏, autumn 秋 and winter 冬
太阳tàiyángHSK 3sun
- sun
- sunlight
- sunshine
- temple (on the side of the human head) (abbr. for 太阳穴)
糖tángHSK 3sugar
- sugar
- sweets
- candy
- CL:颗,块
- old variant of 糖
特别tèbiéHSK 3especially
- especially
- special
- unusual
- special
- very
- especially
- particularly
- expressly
- for a specific purpose
- (often followed by 是) in particular
提高tígāoHSK 3to raise
- to raise
- to increase
- to improve
体育tǐyùHSK 3sports
- sports
- physical education
体育馆tǐyùguǎnHSK 3gym
- gym
- gymnasium
- stadium
- CL:个
甜tiánHSK 3sweet
- sweet
- (fig.) pleasant
- endearing
- lovely
跳tiàoHSK 3to jump
- to jump
- to hop
- to skip over
- to bounce
- to palpitate
听说tīngshuōHSK 3to hear (sth said)
- to hear (sth said)
- one hears (that)
- hearsay
- listening and speaking
挺tǐngHSK 3quite
- quite
- very
- straight
- erect
- to stick out (a part of the body)
- to (physically) straighten up
- to support
- to withstand
- outstanding
- (coll.) quite
- very
- classifier for machine guns
同事tóngshìHSK 3colleague
- colleague
- co-worker
同意tóngyìHSK 3to agree
- to agree
- to consent
- to approve
头发tóufaHSK 3hair (on the head)
- hair (on the head)
突然tūránHSK 3sudden
- sudden
- abrupt
- unexpected
图书馆túshūguǎnHSK 3library
- library
- CL:家,个
腿tuǐHSK 3leg
- leg
- CL:条
- hip bone
- old variant of 腿
外地wàidìHSK 3parts of the country other than where one is
- parts of the country other than where one is
外卖wàimàiHSK 3(of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal
- (of a restaurant) to provide a takeout or home delivery meal
- takeout (business)
- takeout (meal)
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.