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 1601–1650 of 1,978 · page 33 of 40
商场shāngchǎngHSK 2shopping mall
- shopping mall
- shopping center
- department store
- emporium
- CL:家
- the business world
上来shàngláiHSK 2to come up
- to come up
- to approach
- (verb complement indicating success)
上面shàngmiànHSK 2on top of
- on top of
- above-mentioned
- also pr.
上去shàngqùHSK 2to go up
- to go up
上网shàngwǎngHSK 2to go online
- to go online
- to connect to the Internet
- (of a document etc) to be uploaded to the Internet
- (tennis, volleyball etc) to move in close to the net
身体shēntǐHSK 2the body
- the body
- one's health
生日shēngrìHSK 2birthday
- birthday
- CL:个
时shíHSK 2o'clock
- o'clock
- time
- when
- hour
- season
- period
- surname Shi
- old variant of 时
事情shìqingHSK 2affair
- affair
- matter
- thing
- business
- CL:件,桩
手shǒuHSK 2hand
- hand
- (formal) to hold
- person engaged in certain types of work
- person skilled in certain types of work
- personal(ly)
- convenient
- classifier for skill
- CL:双,只
手表shǒubiǎoHSK 2wristwatch
- wristwatch
- CL:块,只,个
书包shūbāoHSK 2schoolbag
- schoolbag
- satchel
- bookbag
- CL:个,只
舒服shūfuHSK 2comfortable
- comfortable
- feeling well
送sòngHSK 2to send
- to send
- to deliver
- to transmit
- to give (as a present)
- to see (sb) off
- to accompany
- to go along with
虽然suīránHSK 2although
- although
- even though (often used correlatively with 可是 or 但是 etc)
所以suǒyǐHSK 2therefore
- therefore
- as a result
- so
- the reason why
疼téngHSK 2(it) hurts
- (it) hurts
- sore
- to love dearly
踢tīHSK 2to kick
- to kick
- to play (e.g. soccer)
- (slang) butch (in a lesbian relationship)
题tíHSK 2topic
- topic
- problem for discussion
- exam question
- subject
- to inscribe
- to mention
- CL:个,道
- surname Ti
条tiáoHSK 2strip
- strip
- item
- article
- clause (of law or treaty)
- classifier for long thin things (ribbon, river, road, trousers etc)
跳舞tiàowǔHSK 2to dance
头tóu / touHSK 2head
- head
- hair style
- the top
- end
- beginning or end
- a stub
- remnant
- chief
- boss
- side
- aspect
- first
- leading
- classifier for pigs or livestock
- CL:个
- suffix for nouns
外国wàiguóHSK 2foreign country
- foreign country
外面wàimiànHSK 2outside (also pr. for this sense)
- outside (also pr. for this sense)
- surface
- exterior
- external appearance
完wánHSK 2to finish
- to finish
- to be over
- whole
- complete
- entire
万wànHSK 2ten thousand
- ten thousand
- a great number
- surname Wan
- used in 万俟
网上wǎngshangHSK 2online
- online
往wǎngHSK 2to go (in a direction)
- to go (in a direction)
- to
- towards
- (of a train) bound for
- past
- previous
- old variant of 往
忘wàngHSK 2to forget
- to forget
- to overlook
- to neglect
为什么wèi shénmeHSK 2why?
- why?
- for what reason?
位wèiHSK 2position
- position
- location
- place
- seat
- classifier for people (honorific)
- classifier for binary bits (e.g. 十六位 16-bit or 2 bytes)
- (physics) potential
希望xīwàngHSK 2to hope
- to hope
- a hope
- a wish
洗xǐHSK 2to wash
- to wash
- to bathe
- to develop (photographs)
- to shuffle (cards etc)
- to erase (a recording)
- used in 洗马
洗手间xǐshǒujiānHSK 2toilet
- toilet
- lavatory
- washroom
下来xiàláiHSK 2to come down
- to come down
- (completed action marker)
- (after verb of motion, indicates motion down and towards us, also fig.)
- (indicates continuation from the past towards us)
- to be harvested (of crops)
- to be over (of a period of time)
- to go among the masses (said of leaders)
下面xiàmiànHSK 2below
- below
- under
- next
- the following
- also pr.
下去xiàqùHSK 2to go down
- to go down
- to descend
- to go on
- to continue
- (of a servant) to withdraw
小孩儿xiǎoháirHSK 2child
- child
- CL:个
小时候xiǎoshíhouHSK 2in one's childhood
- in one's childhood
笑xiàoHSK 2to laugh
- to laugh
- to smile
- to laugh at
- old variant of 笑
姓xìngHSK 2family name
- family name
- surname
- to be surnamed ...
姓名xìngmíngHSK 2surname and given name
- surname and given name
- full name
颜色yánsèHSK 2color
- color
- countenance
- appearance
- facial expression
- pigment
- dyestuff
眼睛yǎnjingHSK 2eye
药yàoHSK 2medicine
- medicine
- drug
- leaf of the iris
- medicine
- drug
- substance used for a specific purpose (e.g. poisoning, explosion, fermenting)
- CL:种,服,味
- to poison
- variant of 药
药店yàodiànHSK 2pharmacy
- pharmacy
- drugstore
爷爷yéyeHSK 2(coll.) paternal grandfather
- (coll.) paternal grandfather
- grandpa
一会儿yíhuìrHSK 2a moment
- a moment
- a while
- in a moment
- now...now...
- also pr.
一起yìqǐHSK 2together
- together
- (in) the same place
- together
- in company (with)
- altogether
- in total
- an instance of
- a case of (murder, accident, dispute etc)
已经yǐjīngHSK 2already
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.